Verilian tagged me! She's asked me to divulge 5 strengths I have as Writer.
It's not easy being objective about your own writing. I mean - only 5? LOL. If you really know me, you'll know I'm horribly critical of my own writing, love to tear it apart, will agonize over it, and I have many more weaknesses than strengths. (Especially spelling...) But I'll try to find what I consider my 5 best strengths:
1. My vocabulary. I hardly ever need to search for the right word to describe something. I think this comes from having, as a toddler, an old encyclopedia that I carried around with me. I literally cut my teeth on words.
2. Dialogue. I have a good ear for dialogue, and for what sounds authentic. I'm not bragging when I say I've never had an editor tell me to redo or rework part of my dialogue. The characters speak in their own voices - I hear them - and write down what they say. Proof of insanity, but a certain strength when it comes to writing.
3. Imagination. I think, "What if..." and a whole new whole opens up to me. A myriad of paths fan out from a single idea, and I can make horses travel through space, a meteorite wipe out only the adults on earth, or a woman can time travel back to interview Alexander the Great and get kidnapped by him.
4. I'm a nit picker. I will write and rewrite and re-rewrite in order to get it perfect. I'm not afraid to take a book apart and put it back together. I'm not afraid of chopping text, pruning uneeded prose, or getting rid of useless information or even characters. I'm ruthless when it comes to editing - subscribing to the 'slash and burn' method. I'm a careful writer, and I turn in a clean copy.
5. I love to do research and I love to read. Science, history, space, crime, sports, religion...anything is fair game to be included in my books, and I love to research. Recently I researched the FBI. I spent over a year researching Alexander the Great before I started writing. When I wrote Angels on Crusade, I researched the Middle Ages. I contact people over the internet, I go to public libraries, and I read, read, read....I think reading is a strength when it comes to writing.
I tag everyone who wants to play, and I hope you will!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Your post reminded me about a writing experience I had with my brother years ago. We were writing a series of 12 short stories loosely based on our family. We edited each other's work. Rewrote, reworked, re-edited. Anyway, I was always happy to unload the stuff that wasn't necessary to the story or slowing down the action. My poor brother just agonized over every word I cut. It sort of became a running joke between us.
The good part was it did help him clean up his writing for other things like work. He's in marketing and writes stuff all the time. He even calls me occasionally and asks for help when he needs to pare down.
Now this is a useful "meme."
And you mention very necessary strengths.
Hi Rosie -
I can see where your brother is coming from - I used to be like that. The first time someone edited me, it felt Awful, lol. I've since become quite ruthless.
:-)
Bernita - thank you! I hope you'll play!
I like this meme. I'll try to post my answers on Friday.
Post a Comment