My Two Cents: Worth Every Penny

Janet here. My opinion may be worth only a couple of pennies, but with the price of copper these days that two cents could be worth far more, maybe a whole nickel.     

Seekerville’s resident poet, philosopher, romance devotee and writer, Vince Mooney, has called my prose crystal clear. I didn’t pay Vince to say this so naturally I appreciated the compliment. Vince and I have talked about the topic. He compared crystal clear prose to a lake so crystal clear we can see the bottom. In today’s world that’s rare.

Crystal clear makes me think of fine stemware. When you run a damp finger around the rim of crystal, the glass will hum. Even sing. Good stories sing. Clarity is one reason a story sings.

I’d considered writing a post about the subject long before this, but I hesitated.

Why?

First, I’m not sure how to write with clarity so how can I teach others? I decided the topic was important enough to try.  

Second, what if my post is confusing and I look like an idiot? I opted to take that risk. After all, this is Seekerville, a safe place to share our thoughts.   

Why should writers try for crystal clear prose? On the flipside, what’s wrong with ambiguity? 

 ·         When readers must reread a sentence or passage to figure out  what the author meant, they’re ripped out of the story.

·         When words and descriptions are vague or farfetched, readers lose interest and set the book aside.

·         When our words don’t reveal a clear-cut point for the scene, the stakes won’t rise for the reader.
  

We writers want to make sure our style is easily understood, orderly and logical. How to achieve that clarity is harder to pin down. Here’s my two cents.  

·         WRITE EVERYTHING YOU WRITE WITH CLARITY. I’ve followed that advice for years.

Write that email, note or memo with clarity. Put your thoughts in sentence form. Write as if the reader is someone you want to impress, like an editor or Grammar Queen. I’ve even learned the importance of clarity on the grocery list since my retired husband does the shopping. Rice doesn’t work, not when wild rice, converted rice, brown rice and minute rice are on the shelves. When I’m not clear about what I want, I deserve what I get. That applies to far more than grocery lists. But I digress.   

I hear groaning. Do you think writing everything with clarity is a waste of valuable time? Perhaps rereading and, if necessary rewriting messages, will waste time at first. But, practice makes perfect. When you make sure your words convey the meaning you intend, you develop the habit of writing with clarity until crystal clear prose comes naturally.

·         WATCH THOSE LITTLE THINGS THAT CAN CONFUSE THE READER. To learn more about revising for clarity, read here.

     BEWARE OF IT. When undefined, IT can be vague and clutter up   your prose.

Example: He entered the dark house. It was scary.

What was scary? The house? The dark? The sound of the creaking floorboards beneath his feet? Replace generic “it” with rich details that illicit emotion and clarify events. When you can, rewrite sentences to eliminate “it.” You will write tighter and with more clarity.

BEWARE OF PRONOUNS. Use names when pronouns might confuse the reader. Or give the character an action that makes his identity obvious. This is especially important when a character thinks about someone of the same gender.

BEWARE OF DOUBLE WORDS. Double words stop me every time. Example: Though he’d hurt her her heart would mend. Adding a comma between the two hers helps. Or use her proper name. Though he’d hurt her, Julie’s heart would mend. Or reword.

BEWARE OF USING WORDS FOR WORDS SAKE. Long convoluted sentences bog a reader down. Straightforward words chosen with care read smoothly. Simple, short sentences can carry a wallop. The reason suspense writers use them.

BEWARE OF IMPROPER GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION. A missing comma, a poorly constructed sentence, a dangling participle can confuse.

·         GIVE CHARACTERS EXPLICIT GOALS, MOTIVATIONS AND CONFLICTS. When those important story elements are absent or vague, readers won’t connect with and root for the characters. Show and tell the reader what the character wants early on.   

·         WRITE SCENES THAT FORWARD THE PLOT. When we write a scene without a point or without a character goal, the scene doesn’t advance the plot or raise the stakes. Pointless tea scenes add nothing to the story and leave the reader perplexed. Or scenes that take forever to get to the point slow the pace.  

·         DO YOUR RESEARCH. When writers don’t know what they’re describing sometimes they try to cover a lack of research with vague descriptions that confuse the reader or worse, leave her dissatisfied, even angry.

These suggestions for crystal clear prose range from word choice to sentence structure to plot elements, even research. If that wide range is overwhelming yet you want to work on clarity, tackle one.

If clarity is your strength, share your suggestions for crystal clear prose.

I brought eggs, bacon and toasted bagels for breakfast. The eggs are over easy, not scrambled. The bacon is straight and crisp, simple to handle. The bagels are crunchy, easy to chew. Our menu is rich with clarity. LOL

Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of The Bride Wore Spurs. If you bought my novel, thank you from the bottom of my heart! Still, why not put your name in the hat. If you win a second copy, you can share the story with a friend.