Day 41

Writing about what you know and your opinion’s relevance

The thought that someone reading your world, be it an article, a short story, a technical diatribe, a novel, or a work of nonfiction, would think at some point that it’s boring would be unthinkable.

But…

You know the subject, you know the bits that interest you; you do not find it boring, no, not in the least.

And yet lost in your own world, it’s fascinating stuff, and it pours out on the pages as liquid gold.

You can not forget that relevant or not the subject matter had to engage the reader and keep them reading until the last pages.

That adage, wiring about what you know, is a good one, but it only goes so far.

So clearly, when writing a novel, the story has to engage the reader at pages 1, paragraph 1, and sentence 1. And believe me, that’s not an easy thing to do.

We’ve been talking about the art of keeping the reader’s attention for a few days now, with various quotes coming from authors who have tackled the problem themselves.

It happens.

It’s why my stories go through half a dozen, if not more, rewrites and edits. I find the first edit after writing a complete story better to be done after leaving it for six months. Then it’s like reading it for the first time, and it’s very easy to pick up the lapses and boring bits.

If there are any.