Writing Tip: How To Be A Writing Rebel
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- 5/5/2010 |
- 10:00 am
No, it doesn't mean writing something outrageous, or trying to shock people. That's the cheap way out. I want you to be a rebel by avoiding the obvious. Here's what I mean...
In many of my writing workshops I am flooded with shortcuts by students. That means that when given the chance to write something creative and interesting, a student will instead write the obvious paragraph, write the obvious dialogue, or write the obvious characteristics of their lead characters.
I want you to take just a few moments, quit trying to hurry through your writing, and invest some quality thought into your story. When every other writer wants to make the cat black, why not make your cat a dirty yellow? When everyone else makes it a stormy night, why not enchant your readers with an evening that smells like rain, even though it's dry. When others might tell us that the car ran out of gas or had a flat tire, what if your car actually had the wheel come off? Yikes!
The point is, it doesn't take much more time to create something unique versus something stale and tired. It doesn't mean that everything in your story has to be wild and exotic, but keep your eyes open for opportunities to surprise your readers with the unexpected. Be a writing rebel!
