Comments on: This Happened…and Then This Happened: The Dangers of Anecdotal Writing https://writershelpingwriters.net/2020/06/this-happenedand-then-this-happened-the-dangers-of-anecdotal-writing/ Helping writers become bestselling authors Mon, 11 Sep 2023 03:02:43 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 By: Michelle Barker https://writershelpingwriters.net/2020/06/this-happenedand-then-this-happened-the-dangers-of-anecdotal-writing/#comment-692469 Mon, 15 Jun 2020 20:16:47 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=38909#comment-692469 In reply to Vivienne.

Yes, there’s a great video on YouTube by the writers of South Park all about avoiding ‘and then’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGUNqq3jVLg&t=9s

Glad this post was timely for you!

]]> By: Vivienne https://writershelpingwriters.net/2020/06/this-happenedand-then-this-happened-the-dangers-of-anecdotal-writing/#comment-692329 Sun, 14 Jun 2020 10:43:41 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=38909#comment-692329 I try to avoid ‘then’ in my writing if possible. I think doing so makes it less likely, although not impossible, of course, to have anecdotal writing.
This is a superb post, and has come at the right moment as I’m now editing the first draft of my wip.

]]> By: Top Picks Thursday! For Writers & Readers 06-11-2020 | The Author Chronicles https://writershelpingwriters.net/2020/06/this-happenedand-then-this-happened-the-dangers-of-anecdotal-writing/#comment-692125 Thu, 11 Jun 2020 17:02:12 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=38909#comment-692125 […] Barker warns of the dangers of anecdotal writing, James Preston suggests you visualize your story through storyboarding, Jami Gold discusses […]

]]> By: Michelle Barker https://writershelpingwriters.net/2020/06/this-happenedand-then-this-happened-the-dangers-of-anecdotal-writing/#comment-691656 Sat, 06 Jun 2020 14:23:42 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=38909#comment-691656 In reply to September C. Fawkes.

Good! Definitely worth thinking about so that you can spot it and fix it in your work.

]]> By: September C. Fawkes https://writershelpingwriters.net/2020/06/this-happenedand-then-this-happened-the-dangers-of-anecdotal-writing/#comment-691602 Sat, 06 Jun 2020 02:18:05 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=38909#comment-691602 This is something I’ve been thinking about lately. Well said.

]]> By: Michelle Barker https://writershelpingwriters.net/2020/06/this-happenedand-then-this-happened-the-dangers-of-anecdotal-writing/#comment-691570 Fri, 05 Jun 2020 15:46:16 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=38909#comment-691570 In reply to Linda Thorne.

Thank you. I’m glad it was helpful to you.

]]> By: Linda Thorne https://writershelpingwriters.net/2020/06/this-happenedand-then-this-happened-the-dangers-of-anecdotal-writing/#comment-691509 Fri, 05 Jun 2020 00:56:10 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=38909#comment-691509 This was very interesting. I’ve seen it in stories and novels, but I’ve never seen it with this label of anecdotal writing. Very good.

]]> By: Michelle Barker https://writershelpingwriters.net/2020/06/this-happenedand-then-this-happened-the-dangers-of-anecdotal-writing/#comment-691479 Thu, 04 Jun 2020 15:36:44 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=38909#comment-691479 In reply to ANGELA ACKERMAN.

Yes. As an exercise to figure out who your characters are, it can be useful to write anecdotes—but they’re better as a form of note-taking than they are as storytelling.

]]> By: ANGELA ACKERMAN https://writershelpingwriters.net/2020/06/this-happenedand-then-this-happened-the-dangers-of-anecdotal-writing/#comment-691472 Thu, 04 Jun 2020 14:52:50 +0000 https://writershelpingwriters.net/?p=38909#comment-691472 Thanks, Michelle. 🙂 I have noticed in early drafts I’ve read that this comes up when writers are still trying to understand the story and the character, and they believe that sharing an anecdote will make them interesting to readers and/or allude to them having a colorful, varied past. Really though, it’s just filler. I totally agree that if it doesn’t push the story forward in a significant way, it needs to go.

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