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Over-Explaining in Writing and How to Avoid It

March 14, 2018

Literature

creativity, literature, over-explaining, patience, writing

Besides a linear narrative progression and not optimal narrative endings, another problem area for authors of fiction is over-explaining. By over-explaining in writing, we mean the tendency of a writer to provide too much factual information. This is usually detrimental to the overall pace of the novel, but it’s not the only repercussion, as we will see further below.

In today’s article I’ll show you where over-explaining in writing comes from (in other words, why fiction writers tend to over-explain), as well as how to avoid it. As a sneak preview, I could reveal that over-explaining in writing is very much related to an author’s relationship with their audience. In more detail, fiction authors who over-explain do so out of fear that their readers will not understand the story.

over-explaining in writing
Art is NOT about facts; it’s about affect. To over-explain means an author is preoccupied with facts where s/he should have focused on showing affect
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Too many Photos, not enough Experiences

March 12, 2018

Experiencing

experience, life, mediocrity, nostalgia, photos, social media, time

I’ve said in the past how memory is everything for a writer. More importantly, however, it’s precisely the memorable experience that is useful for authors. In other words, experiencing something that affects you helps create an image of the experience. This mental image, though accessible only by and through your mind, is very vivid and powerful in terms of affect. Perhaps it is its very nature – abstract, rare, living its ghostly existence only in your consciousness – that gives it its power. Compare that with the modern habit of taking too many photos without the experiences associated with them.

It’s insidious.

I doubt – though nowadays, you never know – you took actual photos during your first date with your loved one. Which one do you remember the best, particularly in terms of affect? The first date from ten years ago with zero photos or a vacation four years ago with hundreds of actual photos (and plenty more selfies)?

Taking too many photos without the experiences the photos refer to renders them both meaningless. Let’s see why, and it’s particularly from an author’s standpoint I’m examining this. It all began… with a dream.

too many photos, not enough experiences
I’m using this image to connote the concept of “memorable experience”. But from the couple’s own perspective, the only image of their experience worth having is the one in their minds
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Use of Tenses in Fiction: How to Pick the Right One

March 9, 2018

Fiction Writing Tips, Writing

change, creativity, grammar, literature, time, writing

The use of tenses in fiction (and writing in general) seems like a self-evident thing. You use the past tense when things happened in the past, the present tense when they happen in the present, and the future tense when they will happen in the future. It seems so simple, and yet picking the right tense at the right time is a crucial element for success in writing fiction.

You see, one major aspect that most writers don’t seem to grasp, is that a novel is not an exercise in writing “proper” English. Instead, a work of fiction is a necessary medium for an author’s thoughts to reach an audience. As a result, rules are secondary; affect is primary.

Still, even within a “playing-by-the-rules” context, the choice of the right tense isn’t always an obvious thing. In today’s article I’ll let you know how to pick the right tense at the right time. By “right”, we mean the tense that allows affect to be expressed. We are not concerned about “proper” English. We are concerned about affective power.

use of tenses in fiction
Often in photography it’s not about what you show, but about what you don’t. It’s the same in narrative, and choosing the right tense can be crucial about “nudging” the narrative in the proper direction, temporally and emotionally.
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