She gives you compliments. Explains things in great detail, trying to gain your respect and attention. She calls you every day to tell you what's been going on in her fascinating world. Every word she utters seems to come from a well of desperation. "Like me, please!" she seems to say.
I feel fairly confident we've all met a person like this sometime or another in our lives. Annoying, isn't she?
Yet many of us one time or another create a story that tries too hard to get the reader to like it. We throw in metaphors and similes and decide, "Yes! Now the reader will understand what I'm trying to say and I've created an ingeniously creative way to say it!" Or we give the reader so much description we drown the story in detail. Or we make sure the reader understands our point by repeating our message, stating it a different way each time, as if we feel the reader will get it eventually. After all, if you can't swallow a pill, you can split it into pieces and take it bit by bit, right?
Annoying, isn't it?
Take a look at your work from an objective point of view. Are you trying too hard to get the reader to like what you've written? Is the story lost in your prose? It's a delicate balance, using beautiful imagery and lyrical narrative. Rick spoke about gorgeous writing, but it takes years of practice to get right. Five metaphors in one paragraph might be too much. And your reader might decide to turn you away after all your hard work trying to get him or her to like you.
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One lesson I've learned is that readers aren't dumb. Sometimes the way we write makes it very obvious that we think they are.
ReplyDeleteWhy repeat things three times? Didn't they get it the first time?
Why explain things to death, or throw in a huge amount of backstory?
Readers are smart. They don't need to be spoonfed. They like the mystery. It's what keeps them reading.
Thanks for the great post, Kim.