Writing Tip #3
It's been a while since I've posted a writing tip (mostly because I have very few brain cells firing this deep into deadline) so I thought I'd toss out another one.Ever get stuck on a word or draw a blank in the middle of a sentence? This happens to me all the time. I used to waste a lot of time staring at the computer screen, waiting for that perfect word that was balanced on the tip of my tongue (or tip of my brain pan, as the case may be) to come to me.
Now, I barely pause when I can't think of the word I mean to use while writing. Instead, I make a grab for whatever word does come to mind & means roughly the same thing as the word I know I really want to use but can't think of. Or even make a little note of what I'm trying to say. I stick it in brackets & move on.
For example, this is a sentence from the beach novella I'm working on right now:
"That's all right," she murmured, surprised she could manage to form words, let alone coherent thoughts.
Of course, the first time through, the word "coherent" definitely wasn't making itself known. So as I was writing, the sentence came out, "That's all right," she murmured, surprised she could manage to form words, let alone [lucid] thoughts. I knew "lucid" wasn't the word I wanted, but it was close.
I do this all the time, then when I go back through my chapters, I keep an eye out for anything in brackets so I can find a thesaurus & look up the word I really want to use.
You can also use brackets for other information...like if you want to use the name of a town, but haven't figure out what it will be yet (i.e. [name of town]) . I sometimes even highlight it so I'll notice it right away during the revision process. This way, I don't have to stop writing or stop the flow of creativity just for a simple word or point of research that can be taken care of later.
Give this a try the next time the right word seems to be giving you the slip & see how it works. Then let me know if it helps. :-)
Currently watching Arrested Development
Currently reading Sleeping with Fear by Kay Hooper
