Casting On
I've been having a knitting crisis. You see, I've got nice, neat little stitches, but somehow, the second row after casting on is always a mess. So I jury-rigged a system whereby I was fixing the second row, but my jury-rigged system was a pain--and I had this extreme sense of frustration, like, "What am I doing wrong?"Mom to the rescue. We sit together at night and knit now that she's staying here for a month, so I had her watch me cast on last night--and "Ah-ha!" I was doing something wrong. My casting-on system--actually my FIRST row--was incorrect. Oddly enough, MOM has a jury-rigged casting-on system that she has been using for 50 years because it was the way HER mother taught her (which thus makes the system 100 years old). But her system works. So . . . problem solved.
Which brings me to writing. Every writer gets frustrated over something. Maybe it's the 100th query that gets no response from an agent, and the writer knows SOMETHING must be wrong, but what the hell is it? Maybe it's the proposal they can't sell from--some writers can nail a proposal that wows editors . . . others just can't. Maybe it synopses. Whatever it is, we all have that one area we know, deep down, we are not doing correctly because damn, that row is sloppy.
And then . . . the "Ah-ha!" moment. Whatever jury-rigged system we have . . . we suddenly have an eye-opening moment. Maybe we get to look at someone else's jury-rigged system. Maybe an editor points it out to us. Maybe our agent does or our critique partner. But finally, we get it.
My "sloppy second row" was passive voice. I can thank my friend Joyce for knocking me upside the head on that one. I was in a writers' group--a large one--and routinely got glowing responses to my short stories. But one day, this woman Joyce said to me, "I heard a lot of 'was' and 'is and passive voice in your story. Let me see it." (We read aloud.) And she circled a SLEW of them in pencil. I was 23 or 24, and as far as I was concerned, how the heck could you write without was and is? I didn't even UNDERSTAND the concept of passive voice. Well, it took me a little bit, but after she SHOWED me how to choose more active verbs, I had a lightbulb moment. How had I not SEEN it before? After that, I was vigilant about it. And as an editor moving on in my career, it helped me evolve . . . I edited the passive out of other writers along the way (at least I wasn't the ONLY one casting on improperly!).
So how about you? Do you have a moment of casting-on illumination?
Labels: bad writing habits, frustration, passive voice
posted by Erica Orloff at 7:08 AM
16 Comments:
Love it that you're using the same knitting technique your mom and grandmother used.
I've had many casting-on illuminations. In queries for a book about a year ago, I knew my query was good but wasn't getting any bites. I added "quirky women's fiction" in the first paragraph, and a short third paragraph about the off-beat characters in the small town.
I immediately started getting bites. Now I know it's important to tell in the query what's different about the book. Competent isn't enough; it needs to stand out.
My current exercise of writing a screenplay is forcing me to look at scenes in terms of sight and sound, and I think it's helping me envision the piece as a cohesive whole.
Maybe I'll have a good screenplay when I finish, but what I'm really aiming for is a solid "first draft" of the novel, a detailed outline augmented with dialogue.
It probably seems like an odd way to go about it, but so far it's working for me.
Hi edie:
That is one of the truest statements I have EVER read!! I may have to steal it for a blog entry. Competent most definitely isn't enough. I used to read through slush piles. Competent romances or competent chick lit just was not enough. An editor has to pick it up and in the first three pages go "WOW." Same with the query.
E
Jude:
Whatever works! :-)
E
Competent isn't enough; it needs to stand out.
That's great, Edie.
I'm going to write that on a banner and tack it in front of my desk.
Well, I'm not sure I can explain it properly, but it's to do with endings. I've been finding endings that tie up the couple's journey and the plot, but what I think I missed is that the last crisis needs to complete the emotional journey of the main character by forcing her to use her newly-acquired whatever. I had her completing her emotional journey early, then them as a couple completing it later, but I think it's stronger if it all happens at once.
Who knows. I'm really struggling with endings, can you tell?
And yeah, Edie, that's a great statement!
PS: I wish I knew your system! I just cast on 45 stitches on Saturday. Now I've got to finish a dishcloth, LOL!
Hi Spy:
I think we all tend to figure out/grow regarding character journeys. Endings are tricky--climax too soon and it's like . . . well . . . climaxing too soon.
E
My synopsis. Competent. That's it. 'Nuff said. :(
I had to give up knitting because it made me want to poke the needle in my eye. I start out okay, and then a few rows in my stitches get tighter, and tighter until the wool is squeaking in protest against the needles. My children and grandchildren will have to learn to darn those cozy socks I've saved for years that MY grandmother knitted, because they sure won't get any from me. *sigh*
Hi Lainey:
I love synopses. But I am SO in the minority. You have lots of company.
E
lemme see... casting-on moments... like in your previous blogs where we learned about the overuse of "that" and "just"? Where we learned about passive voice and 'saidisms'?
I think that I have one of those moments every day that I read your blog.
Seriously, between your blog, Joe Konrath's and Kristen Nelson's there is such a wealth of information for writers it should really be used as an online class in novel writing and editing.
The hardest part is keeping it all in my head while writing. I'm make progress every day, but some things just don't stick :) I guess that is what a stapler to my forehead is for...
ewoh:
Thank you. That's pretty heady company you put me in. ;-)
E
Erica, go ahead and steal. I hope it helps someone. :)
Someday, maybe if you're feeling inspired, will you do a blog on why/how/what you love about writing synopses? I know you've blogged on some pointers, but how do we love them? Maybe if we can find the love, LOL, they'll be easier ...
Edie:
Steal it I will.
:-)
E
Spy:
I think I'll do that Friday!
Thanks!
E
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