Writing Tip: Less is More.
Ernest Hemingway believed that through omission you could strengthen your story. The reader then must fill in those gaps with their own feelings and emotions. His Iceberg Theory states:
If a writer of prose knows enough of what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.
- Ernest Hemingway in Death in the Afternoon
When Stephen King was in high school, submitting short stories to magazines, he received a rejection letter with a critique that he has used throughout his admirable career.
"Not bad, but PUFFY. You need to revise for length. Formula: 2nd Draft = 1st Draft - 10%. Good luck."- Stephen King in On Writing
Both of these quotes speak to not over writing. Get to the point. Get to the action. Describe selectively and focus on things pertinent to the story, driving it forward. Let the reader fill in the gaps. Take out the fluff. The leaner story should be more clear and flow more gracefully. There is an elegance to simplicity. Less is more.
Provex City News
Have you checked out the Provex City review from Allison at Geek Banter? If not, then I've got just the link for you! CLICK HERE. Geek Banter is also a great blog to follow, so don't be shy.
I've been so focused on this blog that I haven't really gotten out and campaigned Provex City around the web. I'm looking into utilizing Goodreads and the Kindle Forums more. I think that's a good place to start, but do you have any other suggestions?
I have to make a decision soon as to whether I'll remain exclusive to Amazon to keep Provex City on the Kindle Lending Library or take the opportunity to put it up on Smashwords, which will distribute the ebook to other sites like Barnes&Noble and iBookstore.
I'm up to 16 reviews on Amazon, which is a great start. Now, how can I make it 100?
Work in Progress
Currently, my WIP is the second book in the Lorne Family Vault Series. For now, I'll just refer to it as Book 2. I've promised myself not to start using the title until I finish with my first draft, and as you can see from my left sidebar, I'm at 82,000 words with an estimated 110,000 for completion. It may only end up being 100,000, it's hard to tell, but I don't want to rush the climax. My writing has slowed as of late due to competing priorities, so my goal of finishing in a month's time is sliding back. Now, my goal is two months, and to hopefully have the book available by Halloween. Now that I've given myself some public deadlines (or estimated times of completion), I can't wait to see how I do.
How is your WIP going? Have you set goals for yourself? Do you have rewards planned for when you reach your goals? How much do you typically cut from a manuscript? Have you read a book by a fellow blogger that you'd like to recommend (I just finished CassaStar currently reading Slipstream, and just downloaded The Backworlds)?
