WORD BY WORD

Hi all. I am ever conscious of how my novels develop, how important it is to build the story word by word, paragraph by paragraph. When it comes to description, it is far too easy to use familiar phrases which have almost become cliches. What matters is, whether these words accurately describe the situation or are they just words that sound good? Do the individual adjectives give the reader additional information or merely repeat the obvious?

For example, in the novella I am currently writing, STATE OF MIND, a psychological drama, my main character, Jenna, runs off to the Lake District to escape terrible images in her head. The Lake District is, of course, famous for its fells. In describing these, my immediate inclination was to describe them as 'high fells,' 'towering fells,' 'impressive fells,' but, of course, the reader knows already that fells are high, impressive and towering. These adjectives tell the reader nothing new. (more)

This is what I mean by building up the story, word by word. In the end I decided on 'craggy fells' as this provides information which is not entirely repetitive. This all takes time and conconcentration, first of all to spot the places where these automatic words appear and then to consider carefully which replacement would be best. I also have to consider how often certain descriptive words are used throughout the novel. I am horrified if I find the same word has cropped too many times. It's surprising how this sticks in your mind when you are reading. Best wishes to you all for now. You can contact me with comments, if you have any, through this website. Julie END