How to Write Right

Longing to make your writing sit up and smile? Here are a few tried and true methods to polish off the dross and buff up the beauty.

1)         The shorter the better. Short words bring “punch” to writing.  Recently, I read an article with the word existence sprinkled throughout the text. This article read much more easily when existence was replaced by the word life. As a rule, the shorter your words the better the overall read. 
 2)        Focus on fresh phrases. Go through the final edit with a red pencil. Scratch out phrases like in spite of, in view of or the fact that, and replace them with fresh language. Stock phrases sound canned, even if the idea is catchy. 
 3)        Vary your sentence length. When you follow long or medium length sentences with a short sentence, your script “pops.” In Enders Game by Orson Scott Card, we read:  Alai reached his bed and turned around to see Ender. Their eyes held for only a moment, locked in understanding. Then Ender left. The fact that Ender left heightens suspense, because of varied sentence length.
4)         Use natural language. Mark Twain’s masterpiece Huckleberry Finn is a brilliant example of the use of natural language. Instead of a super-cerebral vocabulary, we read dialogue with a backwoods drawl. Words are simple and heartfelt, the hallmark of classic literature. For example - Not a sound, anywheres—perfectly still—just like the whole world was asleep, only sometimes the bullfrogs a-cluttering, maybe...you see the mist curl up off of the water, and the east reddens up…and next you've got the full day, and everything smiling in the sun, and the song-birds just going it!   
5)         Trust your ear. As a final test, read your work aloud. Does it sound prosaic? Pseudo-intellectual? Unintelligible? Reading writing aloud is like examining it with a microscope. The tone is magnified, especially when read by someone other than the author. So, spend an evening with friends who are honest but kind. Critique your final draft, with a nurturing ear.  
6)         Start in the kill zone. Begin your tale at a key moment, when characters and plot are already in motion and your high concept shines. Capture your reader with the hook of suspense. It works, every time!