My 8th grade son is working on a social studies project that’s due tomorrow.
He’s carefully portioned out the work over the space of a week. He’s researched, cited sources, found images, organized data, and decided on a format.
His teacher gave a grading rubric and he’s meticulously followed it, ticking off each thing as he’s worked.
I decided to look over the assignment before he handed it in. The research and mechanics and presentation? Wonderful.
The problem? “Sweetie,” I said, “this is supposed to be an advertisement. Your brochure needs to convince people to move from overcrowded 1735 Britain to the New World to settle in Massachusetts. The facts are right. But it has to be persuasive.”
That was the whole point of the project. Not, however, listed on the rubric. :) He rewrote the material.
I think lots of writers do the same sort of thing. I know I did when I was new to writing— I followed a mental checklist. What was my hook? Did my first sentence grab the reader? Did I use too many adverbs? Show instead of tell? Write too much description…or not enough?
But, really, I was missing the whole point, which should have been: had I written a good story? Had I entertained the reader? Because most of us are writing to entertain.
Instead I should have been asking:
Did my characters come to life on the page? Were there moments of excitement? Humor? Characters for readers to relate to—and characters for them to hate? Was there something at stake for my protagonist?
Would the reader keep turning the pages… for the character depictions, the quality of the writing, or the exciting plot?
The other stuff can be fixed in revisions. Everything, ultimately, just boils down to the story.
It can be hard to get rid of the rubric in our heads—the checklist of the writing rules. How do you return the focus onto your story?
Hope you’ll join me tomorrow in welcoming Alex Cavanaugh to Mystery Writing is Murder. He’ll be talking about the importance of test readers.
It’s difficult to be correct AND creative. I am much happier being creative.
Right now, I’m blank, blocked, pathetic. This too shall pass.
Elizabeth – I’m archiving this for my own students. One of the things we focus on in the teacher education classes I teach is how to help students understand what the underlying, “big picture” purpose of an assignment is…
When it comes to my writing, I find that waiting a little between the time I write something and the time I revise helps me to get that kind of “big picture” perspective. I can come back later and look at it with fresher eyes. I also have very helpful beta readers who don’t let me get away with something that doesn’t tell a good story.
Excellent post, you are absolutely right. I have become so bogged down with those first considerations I’m losing the fun part of my writing that the readers look for. I’m trying to get back into that swing now. :O)
My first drafts aren’t publishable because while I’m writing them, I’m focused on attaining The End. I turn off the editor in my head who wants me to polish every sentence. For me, the Big Picture in a first draft is finishing the story.
I shift the focus of the Big Picture in subsequent drafts. Much of the style that appeals to my readers evolves during revisions. By the time I’m on the fourth draft, the manuscript is singing.
I’ve been through those rubrics with my kids. I think rubrics are great for making first drafts. :-)
Suzanne Adair
I’m so bad about following rules. I tend to focus on the characters’ GMC and work out scenes based on that. Then I go back and make sure those wonderful scenes and fantastic character arcs actually move the story forward. Not knowing the entire story when I start means I’m more or less taking general compass headings rather than sticking to the marked trail.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Elizabeth, this is a great post.
There ARE some writers who are so obvious in trying too hard. They’re trying so hard to write “well,” they forget to give us the entertainment part.
This is such an important lesson and how lucky your son is to have a mom who caught that before he handed in the assignment.
karen
A great post. I agree the story and characters have to be there to entertain. It’s so easy to bog down in all the other.
Hope your son aces his project!
Good point. I trip up going the other way sometimes. I’m having such fun with the story, I forget that mental checklist and have a lot of “fixing” to do.
It is easy to get so focused on the formal details of writing that one can forget about the basic fact that one is supposed to be writing a story! My test is to read a section from whatever I’m working on. If I’m bored by it or wondering ‘why is this here?’ it’s a fairly good indicator that I’ve been focusing on the trees rather than the forest.
Wonderful post. I have been there and I even still go there at times. Luckily, I recognize the landscape these days and can pull myself back and refocus on the story.
Looking forward to tomorrow!
I missed most of the checklist and went for compelling characters and story first. Guess maybe that was a good thing I didn’t know about the rules and checklist!
Oh and see, I totally have the opposite problem. I am a ‘trees? What trees?” gal. I think actually, writing mystery is really good for me, as I’ve been more inclined to believer there are ‘parts’. In my early suspense stuff, there were several of those questions I had never even THOUGHT of, and they really DO need to be clear (though yes… can all be handled in the rewrite, so all is not lost)
As you say, it is probably all about writing that good story!
I think I have become better at keeping the focus in my first draft, and afterwards I revise in stages: focusing on language one day, point-of-view another day, plot holes & inconsistencies a third day etc. That is the only way I can *see* those flaws.
I struggled with that when writing my non-fiction book more than anything.
So true!! Great post. I hope your son’s advertisement was effective!! :)
Madeleine–And it ends up being less fun for us, too. And that’s no good…we don’t feel as motivated.
Suzanne–I’m with you on the manuscript drafts. My first drafts are a *disaster*. Really. I don’t want anyone to read those.
I think you’re right about the rubrics–they’re good to see what the teacher will grade on…then they need to make sure they’ve got the OTHER stuff in place!
Teresa-I wouldn’t worry about being correct now…just have fun with the story and everything can be fixed in revisions.
Margot–Thanks! And I think beta readers are worth their weight in gold. :)
Linda–But that’s what revisions are for. :) At least you’ve got a great story in place.
Janice–Congrats on your release! Yes, I think that’s one of the things experience is good for.
Alex–I’m looking forward to hosting you! Congratulations on your release!
Terry–I think your approach means that you’re actually keeping it fresh and entertaining as you go.
Kaye–Thanks! I’ll admit that I’ll roll my eyes when the writing gets too flowery or abstract. I think it just shows the puppet’s strings when I notice that type of stuff as a reader. For me, I want to be entertained–to have a little escapism. :)
Karen–I wonder how many other kids have done the same thing in the class. You want them to be independent–but at the same time, I hated him to just get it all *wrong*. At least he corrected it all himself….maybe next time he’ll look really hard at the description of the project. :)
Hart–You know, the funny thing is that folks who are first time writers and *don’t* read all the writing rules, or research craft, probably end up with a better *story* right away. But it’s not marketable until they do all the checklist type stuff to it…it’ll never make it past the gatekeepers. I think sometimes writers who always *intended* to sell their work, carefully researched the industry, etc–it seems like we are the ones who get bogged down in the details. But we end up *making* it–as long as that story is good.
Carol–It’s looking really good now! He’s turning it in tomorrow. :)
Elspeth–I’ve done some of that, too. I do a revision pass that’s looking for stuff that’s *boring*. I think those are the “uhhhh” moments when I was just trying to decide what to write next.
Diane–Now THAT would be tough. For nonfiction, the purpose is to inform, but to inform in a way that’s as entertaining as possible, to keep readers reading.
Dorte–I like the way you assign a different thing to revise each day. I may have to try that!
Looking forward to this book. (=
Hi Elizabeth – the story about your son’s homework made me smile and was a great lead into the point of your post! You hooked me right in. When I do outlines for my stories I borrow from Elizabeth George’s suggestions in her book called Write Away. At the end of each chapter she suggests that writers (1) make sure there are tantalizing, unanswered questions and (2) consider the domino effect of scenes cascading one onto another. Once I started using these suggestions my writing process accelerated. If anyone is interested, I’ve discussed her book more thoroughly on my blog :) http://www.onewritersvoice.com