Comments on: Four Things That Make Your Writing Boring (and how to fix them!) https://writershelpingwriters.net/2024/11/four-things-that-make-your-writing-boring-and-how-to-fix-them/ Helping writers become bestselling authors Fri, 29 Nov 2024 19:58:04 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 By: Raymond Walker https://writershelpingwriters.net/2024/11/four-things-that-make-your-writing-boring-and-how-to-fix-them/#comment-778802 Fri, 29 Nov 2024 19:58:04 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=56941#comment-778802 Now I’m a bit of a weirdo as many writers can be and whilst I loved your advice I worried about a couple of little bits. Although often frowned upon, dialogue can be the mainstay of any story or novel. As a former magazine publisher, I love tales centered on dialogue. The readers loved them and better still film makers loved them. They are easy to adapt. Thomas Harris suggests the coffee shop approach and he has sold the odd book or forty million. On our payroll we had a very shy writer who found it difficult to talk in public but he had an imagination that could build mountains from dust. To learn dialogue, I sent him to a Pub where he sat all night with a glass of water (didn’t drink) and just listened. A month later Robert Anderson sent me “From the Top” A short story about an extra-terrestrial invasion that all takes place in telephone conversations. I published it in both “Wondrous Tales” and “Astounding stories, Amazing Tales” It was bought by “Interzone” (if you don’t know sci-fi, you may not have heard of it, but it is the top Sci-fi mag) It is now in pre-production for a film and there is talk of a TV series.
Also, I wish to mention cliches. I agree with all you said about them but cliches have a sisyphus complex. One day they are not fasionable and the next they make a resurgence. Back in the nineteen thirties it seemed that every “Blues” song started with the line “I woke up one morning”, (da, da, da da. twelve bar blues) now the line evokes that feeling. Another cliche “the ghost of christmas past” now you already have Dickens in your head, Scrooge, tiny tim, poverty, dark skies cobbled streets. Cliches have a way of conjuring a feeling within a reader. A trick too rarely used in my opinion.

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By: Weekly News: 18th November 2024 - Author Help https://writershelpingwriters.net/2024/11/four-things-that-make-your-writing-boring-and-how-to-fix-them/#comment-778362 Mon, 18 Nov 2024 09:15:20 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=56941#comment-778362 […] Make your writing less boring. […]

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By: Trump threatens Penguin Random House (This week in books) - Nathan Bransford | Writing, Book Editing, Publishing https://writershelpingwriters.net/2024/11/four-things-that-make-your-writing-boring-and-how-to-fix-them/#comment-778262 Fri, 15 Nov 2024 20:00:21 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=56941#comment-778262 […] And Suzy Vadori has a good post on four things that make your novel boring. […]

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By: James Scott https://writershelpingwriters.net/2024/11/four-things-that-make-your-writing-boring-and-how-to-fix-them/#comment-778235 Fri, 15 Nov 2024 02:29:32 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=56941#comment-778235 I had to laugh immediately after reading about clichés. Way back in high school, my creative writing teacher made us write a short story with as many clichés as possible. His reasoning about clichés was the same as yours and he wanted to make a point and be sure that we leave them out of our writing. I also like the advice on dialogue and find it very helpful.

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By: suzy vadori https://writershelpingwriters.net/2024/11/four-things-that-make-your-writing-boring-and-how-to-fix-them/#comment-778220 Thu, 14 Nov 2024 19:10:57 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=56941#comment-778220 In reply to V.M. Sang.

Sending you the best writerly vibes, thanks for letting us know these tips were helpful!

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By: suzy vadori https://writershelpingwriters.net/2024/11/four-things-that-make-your-writing-boring-and-how-to-fix-them/#comment-778190 Wed, 13 Nov 2024 20:10:56 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=56941#comment-778190 In reply to Lilyann.

I’m so glad you are excited to go write after reading this! Your first draft of dialogue might be the longer version, as you imagine what your characters might say, but then challenge yourself to tighten it up on a second draft, leaving the sparkly bits to do their thing!

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By: V.M. Sang https://writershelpingwriters.net/2024/11/four-things-that-make-your-writing-boring-and-how-to-fix-them/#comment-778174 Wed, 13 Nov 2024 09:47:16 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=56941#comment-778174 A timely reminder of what we do and don’t need in our writing.

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By: Suzy Vadori https://writershelpingwriters.net/2024/11/four-things-that-make-your-writing-boring-and-how-to-fix-them/#comment-778155 Wed, 13 Nov 2024 03:11:00 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=56941#comment-778155 In reply to LIsa.

I am fascinating with the brain science behind what readers find entertaining, and what they don’t. So I love finding patterns to help writers figure this out! Hope it helps!

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By: Suzy Vadori https://writershelpingwriters.net/2024/11/four-things-that-make-your-writing-boring-and-how-to-fix-them/#comment-778154 Wed, 13 Nov 2024 03:09:17 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=56941#comment-778154 In reply to Tarzan.

Hey, nobody wants to write boring, I just call it out 🙂

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By: Lilyann https://writershelpingwriters.net/2024/11/four-things-that-make-your-writing-boring-and-how-to-fix-them/#comment-778146 Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:04:30 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=56941#comment-778146 Thank you for this! It makes me want to grab my novel and write it. I especially liked your section on dialogue, because I may be the type to try and make my dialogue ‘realistic’ and therefore super boring , haha.

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By: LIsa https://writershelpingwriters.net/2024/11/four-things-that-make-your-writing-boring-and-how-to-fix-them/#comment-778122 Tue, 12 Nov 2024 18:47:15 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=56941#comment-778122 Oooo, this is so good! I can recognize boring writing, but I never knew why I found it boring. This is so interesting!

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By: Tarzan https://writershelpingwriters.net/2024/11/four-things-that-make-your-writing-boring-and-how-to-fix-them/#comment-778117 Tue, 12 Nov 2024 18:01:59 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=56941#comment-778117 The one person I trust to tell me what I suck at and how to make it better. Love this, Suzy!

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