Skip to main content

How to Fix Bad Writing



A first draft of a novel is never perfect. A first draft of anything you've written is never perfect. We all know that. If you're a serious writer who's been looking through writing websites and generally spending your time reading about writing, well, you're like the rest of us.

Someday, you are going to look back at what you have written, may it be to edit, to remind yourself of how much you've improved, or just to laugh at your writing.

So here's my advice.
If it makes you cringe, do something about it. 

I'm writing a fantasy novel about seven dragons with elemental powers who are trying to bring back flight to a world where dragons cannot fly. As my fingers flew across the keyboard, typing out the words, I came to a scene where one of my main characters has to ask a friend for help. In reply, the friend begins rambling on and on about why she can't help him, but at the end of the chapter, she agrees to help.

When I looked back at that particular scene to begin editing it, something was poking at me in the back of my mind. My inner critic was at it again. Trust me: your inner critic is almost always right. Finally, I came to a conclusion. The scene was poorly written and completely unnecessary to the story.

So, when you come across a scene your inner critic doesn't like, don't leave it as it is. If you are as attached to your novel as I am, your inner critic will keep banging on the walls of your brain. However, all is not lost. 

You have two choices:

1. Fix the scene.

2. Cut the scene.

Fixing the Scene

There's always a chance your scene isn't as bad as you think it is. In that case, lucky you! All you have to do now is tweak your scene and make it the best it can possibly be. If you're not sure if your scene is good enough, check with someone you know. Ask a friend to read it and tell you what they think (although you may have to shove your entire novel in their hands 😄).

Cutting the Scene

This is your last resort, after much argument with your inner critic. You've finally decided: I can't fix this. You've concluded there is no point in keeping the scene any longer. The only way to fix your novel is to delete the scene. If the scene really is unnecessary, deleting it is the best option. Your novel will be better without it. 

Happy writing and God bless,
        Germaine

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Author's Guide to Playtime (Where Grace gets very dark)

Here is a guide for all authors about how they can have fun when playing with their toys.  😇 Stage One First of all, you need to make your reader fall in love with your characters. This can be achieved by: The character having an awesome personality. e.g. Halt (Ranger’s Apprentice), Glory (Wings of Fire), Percy (Percy Jackson), Connor (The Land of Stories) Making your character relatable. e.g. Greg Heffley (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), August (Wonder) The character having gone through a lot so the reader can sympathize with them. e.g. Felix Salinger (Once, Then, Now, After), Newt (The Maze Runner), Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games) A plot twist shining a new light on your character, causing the readers to fall for them. e.g. Severus Snape (Harry Potter), Evly (The Land of Stories) Stage Two This is the time when you wound your victim (cough, cough, I, of course, mean the character, not the reader at all...). Mwahahahaha! Now, there are several ways to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cool Words. Because Why Not?

- Jo - This should come as no surprise to you: I like words. They're useful things on the whole and almost all of them have or have had huge value. However, I am of the opinion that all words are not created equal. Some of them are useful and boring, while others are more fun than a dozen more combined. Now, I don't know if you do this, but I find myself often interrupting myself to remark on my admiration for a particular word that had come up in conversation. Unfortunately, the reasons for this love are as varied as they are arbitrary, so there's no telling which word will next catch my fancy. And you never know, some of these might actually come in handy to you, too. Still, it's important to note that this is by no means a comprehensive list. Gelatinous - I was in the car on the way to church some weeks back and I had a question sloshing around in my head: "Are there words in English that have all five vowels? Surely, right? So, how many of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spoiler-Free Book Review - The Squire's Tales (Gerald Morris)

Okay, so it's technically an entire series, but that's irrelevant. I am reviewing books and it is therefore a book review.  The Squire's Tales , by Gerald Morris, is a series of novels that retell in hilarious fashion the lesser known tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Don't worry, you won't have to hear about the sword in the stone again or anything at all about Arthur's childhood. Because this is where the best part comes in: these stories are told from the perspectives of those that other renditions tend to gloss over, mock or forget entirely. These characters are a squire, (as the title would imply) a page, three women and a knight who is objectively terrible at being a knight. He sings and plays music instead. His name's Dinadan. He's wonderful. Over the ten books in the series, you get seven different characters from whose points of view the stories are told (plus a couple extra in the last book, but that's a spec...
Post a Comment
Read more