My experience:
Most writing advice is editing advice. In my experience, it’s rarely helpful in writing a novel-first-draft. If you worry about how to craft a perfect sentence, you’ll go slowly. When you take time to find the perfect word, spell correctly, punctuate appropriately, the hours, days, and weeks will pass. Sequencing, pacing, developing characters all take careful thought, attention, focus and can’t be rushed. I think this may hold true whether writing poems, short stories or memoirs, too. (Experiences vary–no two writers are exactly alike.)
Getting to “the end” of a first draft
The kind of writing that produces a perfect manuscript, i.e. editing, is a slow, deliberative process. But in order to have something to edit, you have to have something written. One reason I found NaNoWriMo so helpful was the advice of its founder, Chris Baty, to put away your inner editor and just write. All words are good words in the world of novels written in 30 days.
I have written many first drafts over the two decades I participated in NaNoWriMo. Even though the official program has gone up in smoke, I still use the techniques I learned and dedicate November for writing a first draft novel.
A metaphor for my writing style
I’m also a “pantser” meaning if write by the seat of my pants. I don’t usually outline. I have a germ of an idea and as I write, I may plan a few plot points out, and then keep going. An apt metaphor for me is the image of car headlights lighting just 10 yards in front of you when driving in a bad snowstorm. You can manage the entire journey in this way. (I forget which lovely author contributed that to my well of inspiration. I remember the idea, but not the author.)
Finally, the playground!
But however you write your first draft of a novel, I recommend having a list of literary devices handy. Every author should indulge their love of writing and play! Literary devices are the playground fixtures in our writing landscape. Find your slide! Swing high. Spin on your personal merry-go-round. Climb and explore on a jungle gym. Run, jump, bounce, twirl–or even kick-sand—whatever you enjoy in your author’s playground.
Literary devices are the playground fixtures in our writing landscape.
Here are nine of my favorite author playground options:
One
Alliteration. The repetition of a sound at the beginning of multiple words. Okay, this is overdone, but it’s still fun. J. K. Rowling used it in dialogue, putting it into the mouth of the estimable Professor McGonagall: “… babbling, bumbling band of baboons.”
Two
Cacophony: a blend of unharmonious sounds. Make a list of your favorite “ugly words” and have fun stacking them in a sentence or scene. (You can find ideas online or in reference books like THE ILLUSTRATED COMPENDIUM OF UGLY ENGLISH WORDS, Tyler Vendetti, Rebecca Pry) Experiment with words that turn into tongue twisters when placed next to each other. Or make up your own ugly words “Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gymble in the wabe. All mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome wraths outgrabe.” Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll.
Three
Colloquialism: find those local expressions that help place your novel on the map. Another J.K. Rowling quote—because they’re so good I remember them— where she starts with euphemism (see below) and quickly elaborates with colloquialisms: “Unfortunately, the brilliance that Bathilda exhibited earlier in her life has now dimmed. “The fire’s lit, but the cauldron’s empty,” as Ivor Dillonsby put it to me, or, in Enid Smeeks slightly earthier tone, “she’s nutty as squirrel poo.”
Four
Euphemism: using mild words in place of harsh, blunt ones. If you have a character who is too nice, he or she may use soft, indirect expressions rather than the harsher word that means what they want to say. “Passed” rather than “died.” And you can go to extremes and create some truly unique expressions for sensibilities about food, or clothes, or movement, or activities of any type. They say “honest to a fault” rather than rude. Or “economical with the truth” rather than “dishonest, lying.” “Let go” not fired; “between jobs” not unemployed; “pre-owned” not used; “under the weather” not sick. These are so common they may feel trite, like “bun in the oven (pregnant) and “over the hill” (old), but a character who uses them comes into full bloom if you write them well.
Five and Six
Imagery and onomatopoeia: Imagery is vivid language that appeals to the senses and forms a picture in your mind. This is especially fun to write when combined with onomatopoeia, the literary device where words sound like their meaning. The whistle of wind; the crack of the whip, the crunch of tires on snow. Rustle, slippery, silken, brilliant, soporific, garlicky, pungeant, acrid, din, giggle, murmur and a million other words can all be used in tandem for imagery and onomatopoeia.
Seven and Eight
Malaprops and spoonerisms: These are two of the most fun to use with quirky characters. Malapropism is the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar sounding word. “Dance the flamingo” (flamenco); took her for granite (granted); old timer’s disease (alzheimer’s disease); “states are lavatories of innovation” [Rick Perry meaning laboratories] “oranges” [Donald Trump meaning origins]. These can also appear in writing: “unpresidented” [Donald Trump meaning unprecedented].
Spoonerisms are similar, but different: where sounds in the word are disarranged. Another J.K. Rowling example! Mrs. Weasley is so discombobulated by her unexpected guest, the Minister of Magic, that she offers him “a little purkey or some tudding.”
Last but not least, Nine
Stream of consciousness. A flow of thoughts lacking linear structure. Let your client’s mind range from topic to topic. A word in one thought leads to a tangent leads to another tangent. Stream of consciousness is a fun way to explore and develop a character’s interior life.
For further investigation
You can find other literary devices of your own choosing that may better suit your needs. Enjoy the playground of writers. Use them to your advantage in writing a first draft novel.
And remember them when editing, too. They add richness, texture, vibrancy, and fun to your written stories, poems, memoirs, and novels.
Photo by Aedrian Salazar on Unsplash