There's a great article here about over explaining and trusting your reader. I hope you click over and give it a read. I see these mistakes a lot in inexperienced writers. I know it's something I've had to work on.
Hmm. I'm not sure I have this problem. I might have the opposite problem -- not making my characters' motivations clear enough to the reader, so that the ending has resonance and gives the reader closure.
I did one or the other when I started - not explaining enough, giving too much info. It's something I depend on my crit partners and editor to tell me. It can be hard for the writer to pull back enough without some outside commenting.
All we can do is write true to ourselves. (The trick lies is finding out who the heck we are... or who we want to be.) It's annoying when a writer over-explains, but it would be annoying to some readers to not be able to understand, too. Like you say, it's a fine line. An editor of "Writer's Digest" critiqued my novel, and had all good things to say about it except one. She thought I should have used more descriptions. One reviewer, however, said I used too MUCH descriptions. One reader didn't think "anything" happened in my book' another said "too much" happened. Bottom line is, we cannot please everybody. We just have to do the best we can, and count on the kindness of beta readers.
Thanks for sharing the article. I just read it. I think it's fine for writers to overwrite a little in their initial drafts just to get their ideas out. But they need to be able to eventually trim their draft to present a readable story.
Hmm. I'm not sure I have this problem. I might have the opposite problem -- not making my characters' motivations clear enough to the reader, so that the ending has resonance and gives the reader closure.
ReplyDeleteIt's a fine line to walk.
DeleteThat is something a LOT of newbie writers do. It is a leaning process and I think almost all of us did this in the beginning.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure we did, or still do.
DeleteI did one or the other when I started - not explaining enough, giving too much info. It's something I depend on my crit partners and editor to tell me. It can be hard for the writer to pull back enough without some outside commenting.
ReplyDeleteCrit partners are invaluable!
DeleteAll we can do is write true to ourselves. (The trick lies is finding out who the heck we are... or who we want to be.) It's annoying when a writer over-explains, but it would be annoying to some readers to not be able to understand, too. Like you say, it's a fine line. An editor of "Writer's Digest" critiqued my novel, and had all good things to say about it except one. She thought I should have used more descriptions. One reviewer, however, said I used too MUCH descriptions. One reader didn't think "anything" happened in my book' another said "too much" happened. Bottom line is, we cannot please everybody. We just have to do the best we can, and count on the kindness of beta readers.
ReplyDeleteSo true.
DeleteThanks for sharing the article. I just read it. I think it's fine for writers to overwrite a little in their initial drafts just to get their ideas out. But they need to be able to eventually trim their draft to present a readable story.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog I enjoyed readiing
ReplyDelete