#9 - A Novel in a Year
Trimming, metaphors, and staying true to your idea
Hello,
For newer readers, this post is a little different to the other things that I share here at The Best of Intentions. At the beginning of this year, I started a creative writing project with the aim of working through Louise Doughty’s book A Novel in a Year. Each month I compile a digest of the exercises and occasionally share some of my own work. These posts help keep me accountable and also act as a place to log my progress. If you would like to learn more about this project, you can find previous posts here.
However, if you couldn’t care less about reading these, I will not be offended! There will be a post about something completely different on Wednesday.
A confession… I have lost some focus with the ANIAY exercises over recent weeks. No decent explanation beyond that my attention has been drawn elsewhere (re: work). So while I have continued to steadily read Louise Doughty’s book, I have not been particularly disciplined with completing the accompanying exercises.
However, the ideas behind the exercises stick in my mind, and in some ways, this feels like a good thing, even if I am not immediately putting the ideas into practice.
Week 33
This week begins with a review of the original entries to the activity about the weather (from week 31). Apparently, a lot of people shared pieces where weather was an irritant (my piece, which I didn’t share last month did the same).
Doughty also discusses pruning or trimming your writing, a skill that comes with practice. She refers to Stephen King and his excellent book On Writing, where he provides a simple formula:
Second draft = first draft - 10 per cent
The accompanying exercise for this week is an interesting one. Doughty asks you to pick a section of writing (this could be from your novel or something else), do a word count, and then cut the words by a quarter.
Start by cutting all the adverbs, then the adjectives. Don’t just cut out whole paragraphs; that’s cheating. I want you to trim sentence by sentence, so that everything that happens in the first version is still there, but pared down to the bones.
She then asks, if you think the longer version was better.
I used to think that I had some innate talent for using ten words when two would work just fine, but since I have been writing more regularly, I am feeling more confident when I trim as I go. (This doesn’t mean the writing is any better, of course!).
Week 34
How do you know when to cut work?
This is a question that I have long agonised over, whether that is with creative writing, academic work, and especially here on Substack.
Doughty recommends that large-scale edits should wait until your first draft has been completed. This seems like an important ‘rule’ from an established writer, and seeing as I am some way off this, going forward I will try to refrain from killing as many of my darlings in one go.
Instead, Doughty suggests a nip ‘n’ tuck approach where you make editing a habit and also:
I wouldn’t advise heavy re-writing every day but I would advise this. Each time you sit down to write, read through what you wrote last time and trim the odd word here and there. You should never feel comfortable reading your own work unless you have a pen in your hand or a finger close to the delete key.
Week 35
Another review. This time of the samples shared for Week 33.
Doughty stresses that although cutting words is difficult, it does become easier. However, if you find yourself struggling to cut, maybe you should ask yourself why:
If it was simply that the timing wasn’t right and you needed to get more words under your belt before you felt ready for it, then that’s fine. If it was because you regard your words as sacrosanct, it isn’t. There isn’t a good writer on earth who isn’t also a good rewriter.
And then an exercise…
How are you with metaphors?
I have to be honest I tend to be a little fearful of figures of speech generally. I worry that I don’t use them correctly, as though I am trying to shoe-horn them in a sentence and the result is all a bit ham-fisted (see, I tried). But Doughty asks you to write three sentences that include a metaphor and then in a later chapter, she will examine why these “are such dodgy little blighters”.
Week 36
Final chapter for this month and it’s all about sex, violence and swearing.
Doughty encourages you to think about whether the above offer something necessary and true for your book. Sex and violence, in particular can be hard to write well:
… they are both physical acts and the physical manoeuvring of a character often causes writers difficulties.
Therefore, she suggests that unless you believe that the sex, violence and/or swearing are integral to the story and a character, it is always possible to use alternatives. Often, it’s the things that are unspoken that can be the most powerful.
Are you working on any creative writing projects? How do you include figures of speech without things reading like cliches? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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Take care,
Sarah
I read somewhere that cliches are a no-no, so I generally avoid them if I want the piece to be published. It forces you to find new ways of expressing yourself, and I've often been delighted by the result. I can't think of any particular examples, but that's not helpful. So, I'll say, for my Substack, it's called No Girl is an Island, and we all know it originally was penned No Man is an Island by John Donne. This is the easiest example I can think of, of switching something out to make it original.
As far as edits go, I try to remember the point of the post. If it doesn't fit, then it has to go, no matter how clever I was here or there. I used to pride myself on tangents and making odd connections, but early on in a writing group, I got the advice that while that's great, I needed to hone it in. xo