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<blockquote data-quote="wbmcdermott" data-source="post: 222963" data-attributes="member: 2419"><p><em></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>You are right. Writing is a craft, and my experiences as an editor probably taught me more about the craft of writing than any classes I ever took. It's about varying your sentence construction (short for action, long for description), cliffhangers at the end of chapters or scenes (to keep the reader's interest), avoiding the same words or phrases over and over again, and rewriting to get every word perfect. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>But, as these things become more natural for you, the art takes over again. That's when you can start to find your voice. It's not always easy and for crafters, I think, it's harder. Some writers are "Swoopers" (that's what my editor called them). They swoop in and let the words flow out onto the page, not worrying about form, sentence structure, or anything but the words. Others are "plodders" who agonize over every word, rewriting sentences and sections over and over again with every pass through the story.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>As an editor, I can tell you that I prefer the plodders because that means less work for me. But, they do tend to blow deadlines. But you often get more inspired work from the swoopers because they let it all hang out when they write. It just takes a lot more work for the editor, sometimes, to take that stream of consciousness and assemble it into something the reader can follow.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>I think the swoopers are the artists (generally) and the plodders are the crafters. At least that's how I am (plodding crafter). Still, if you want to swoop, you really need to know the craft of writing. It has to be second nature. Otherwise, you just get a jumbled mess of words and your editor will scream.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Sabre</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="wbmcdermott, post: 222963, member: 2419"] [i] You are right. Writing is a craft, and my experiences as an editor probably taught me more about the craft of writing than any classes I ever took. It's about varying your sentence construction (short for action, long for description), cliffhangers at the end of chapters or scenes (to keep the reader's interest), avoiding the same words or phrases over and over again, and rewriting to get every word perfect. But, as these things become more natural for you, the art takes over again. That's when you can start to find your voice. It's not always easy and for crafters, I think, it's harder. Some writers are "Swoopers" (that's what my editor called them). They swoop in and let the words flow out onto the page, not worrying about form, sentence structure, or anything but the words. Others are "plodders" who agonize over every word, rewriting sentences and sections over and over again with every pass through the story. As an editor, I can tell you that I prefer the plodders because that means less work for me. But, they do tend to blow deadlines. But you often get more inspired work from the swoopers because they let it all hang out when they write. It just takes a lot more work for the editor, sometimes, to take that stream of consciousness and assemble it into something the reader can follow. I think the swoopers are the artists (generally) and the plodders are the crafters. At least that's how I am (plodding crafter). Still, if you want to swoop, you really need to know the craft of writing. It has to be second nature. Otherwise, you just get a jumbled mess of words and your editor will scream. Sabre[/i] [/QUOTE]
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