I hope you’ve never had someone in a
workshop or critique group blatantly declare your work “boring,” but as I know
too well, there are many ways your readers can say “boring” without using that word:
I lost interest here, the pacing is off, we need more tension, I’m not feeling
compelled….and on and on. Yikes.
Here’s a great piece written by one
of the members of my fabulous neighborhood prompt group, Joanne M. Lozar Glenn,
about what to do if you get the dreaded “boring” scribbled onto your manuscript
page. After all, we know it’s better to hear the word from a critique group,
right, rather than waiting for the silence of the editor’s eyes slipping away,
looking to see what else might be in the stack?
Fixing “Boring” Writing
By Joanne M. Lozar Glenn
Has anyone ever told you that
something you wrote was "boring"? Did you think the criticism was
valid?
That's hard to hear. If and when that happens to you, try
this:
- Look
at work you've done that your critic, or others, found engaging. Analyze what you did there that you did not do in the
work your critic found boring. That's a clue to what you do well. Do more
of it.
- Remember
that writing gets interesting when it becomes specific. Use concrete, specific, sensory (sight, touch, taste,
smell, sound) details to make your point.
- Write
about people. Most of us love to peek into
other people's lives.
- When
you write about people, write about a particular person instead of people
in general. E.B. White once said,
"Don't write about men; write about a man." Again--specificity!
- Narrow
your focus. Go deep rather than wide.
Write only what you can see through a one-inch picture frame (metaphor
courtesy of Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird, one of
my favorite writing books). Stay in the moment. Use concrete details to
illustrate abstract ideas.
- Edit
with copies of Strunk and White's Elements of Style and
Gary Provosts' Make Every Word Count nearby. Both
authors offer lots of examples to clarify their advice, and Provost is
easy and fun to read.
- Whenever
you can, tell a story--even if you're writing for business. Stories make facts and information more palatable.
Humans are hard-wired for story. Give them what they crave.
- When
you tell a story, tell the truth.
Readers can tell when you're hiding something. Your emotional honesty
comes through on the page, and readers will not only find that
interesting, but love you for it.
Joanne M. Lozar Glenn is an independent writer, editor, and
educator based in Alexandria, Va. She writes and edits content for clients in
healthcare, education, and business, and leads "destination" writing
retreats (www.wtwpwn.com). Her essays and
poems have appeared in Peregrine, Under
the Gum Tree, Ayris, The Northern Virginia Review, Hippocampus, The Writer,
and other print and online journals. She is the author of Mentor Me: A Guide to Being Your Own Best Advocate in the Workplace
and co-author of 25+1: Communications
Strategies for Business Education and Applying
Evidence-Based Laboratory Medicine: A Step-by-Step Guide.