No, I’m not talking about a gleeful seer, but striking the right balance between using good rules of writing (grammatical guidelines) and presenting a well-thought out and interesting story. A writer, unless she has some patient and understanding editors and first readers, must write with a lot of things on her mind. Should I put a comma before or after “and”, “but”, “however”? Which word is correct, “affect” or “effect”? Should I use “principal” or “principle”? And, those pesky verbs! They can be a writer’s best friend or her downfall. Instead of saying “she walked slowly down the road”, perhaps “she meandered down the road” would paint a better picture.
A pet peeve of mine is using the active voice instead of passive. We should live life actively, not passively. We should write the same way. Active simply means we do the action. Passive means we are acted upon. An example of passive voice: the paper was blown here and there by the wind. Active: the wind blew the paper here and there. I like this one better: the paper skittered across the playground, blown by a mischievous gale.
True, rules are tiresome and the use of proper grammar is not truly exciting but they are the mechanics, the building materials of writing. With them, a writer forges a memorable tale, the kind of story that makes the reader keep turning pages. However, there’s something more. Being a faultless grammarian does not guarantee a well-written story. The writer has to put herself in the place of her characters and invite her readers to come along for the journey. The writer has to feel, see, hear, smell, touch whatever her characters feel, see, hear, smell, or touch. And she must cause her reader to do the same. As I write, I find that I am in the moment as it appears on the page. I am there as Darcy almost takes a headlong plunge down a well. I feel the ground shake when she and Flora are in an earthquake. I am an artist and words are my brush. I want the finished painting to be accurate, intriguing, and memorable (for all the right reasons).
It’s a lot to think about, rules of grammar, verb choice, a good story line and likable characters. Critique groups are invaluable. So are editors and first readers. But, it is not impossible to master techniques instead of letting the techniques master me. When I am able to strike just the right tone and hear my story come through as I want it to, it’s an exhilarating feeling. I’ve found the happy medium and in doing so, I’m a tired but triumphant writer.
Well said.
Thanks, Helen. Good to hear from you!