Fluffy Or Sparse: What Kind of Writer Are You?

Just like how most diet advice and studies turn out to be tailored for men, I've had to come to grips with the fact that most writing advice seems tailored towards the ramblers, the fluffy, the verbose. Given, I'm a texter and a blogger and I can ramble with the best of them, when it comes to writing fiction, I tend to cut to the chase. No complaints from me, really-- business, advice and life is often tailored most to where it's most sought, so when you're not on the beaten path, there's a lot of beauty in being the pioneer for change too.

So if you're like me and you scratch your head when it comes to the word count butchering advice, then this guide to bulking it up instead is for you. 

First off, there's some universal advice I believe goes for everyone-- don't spend too much time fiddling with a first draft. If you can, make notes of the things you want to change or add but keep moving. If you must scratch an editing itch, then try to stick only to small blocks or chapters. Some of the things you insist on changing may very well change again as the story develops. You really should go forward as much as possible, really feel the story flesh out before you start picking. I've seen so many writers tangle their heads and stories so badly with the impulse to correct constantly that they lose a solid sense of the story. They forget what changed or revert to old plots they subconsciously come back to instead. If you are the sort to track it all on style sheets, good on you, but if you find that micromanaging is killing the heart of your story, dampening your voice by making it too methodical, focus on the damn draft and step off what belongs in the editing phases anyway.

And really, be cool with stepping away. If you REALLY get to panicking when you're not being prolific, start a blog or find some other way to get in those comfort counts. As I've said before, my first series took more than ten years to realize. I didn't know if I ever wanted to share it, if there was even away, but just like college was a pipe dream until online options came along, self-publishing came along with the ability to release it as I wanted it to be.

If you're at peace with all of that and you're feeling up for some tips, let's get on with it.

So let's assume your first draft is finished or at least at a solid stopping point (I actually divide my epic length stories into 'parts' and run a full edit at the end of each). What comes next?

1) Determine pace. 

I wish I could say there's a sure-fire of doing this, but the best way I've found is to print your draft and break out a red pen. You're going to play the reader here. While reading, I try to take note of what is too slow or fast, lengthy or rushed and just mark it (s or f for slow or fast, something that doesn't break away from reading). Any kind of quick shorthand or symbolism will do. If I made any notes about what I suspected needed work, I can compare it to these marks later and it can really help decide where to edit or confirm I still think it needed work. For starters, this is just helping me organically come by where I laid down the map and where I lingered.

2) Talk it through.

While I've seen the advice to read aloud or run it through dictation software, that's not what I'm going for here (good advice though, so worth a mention). No, this actually entails looking at conversation more carefully. Is this how people really talk? Are there distinctions in the voices? Does it fit the character closely or do they say something atypical (and unintentionally). I've found that plotters (yes, like me) tend to baseline conversation sometimes and it sometimes needs more attention, more substance, more humor or wit-- or stupidity, if it applies. I also like to make sure I didn't use conversation purely for info-dumping. As a gamer, tutorials piss me off no matter how charmingly voice acted it is. I keep this in mind when sweeping through a story. Did I take a shortcut that could really benefit from a slow burn? Talk to yourself, talk to your story, listen to what it needs to say.

3) Write some back stories.

If you're really floundering with a flat character (it happens to the best of us), cutting them out may not be the only option. You may have used them as a device but didn't consider who they were beyond it. It's perfectly okay to have free-written characters as you drafted so, rather than fumble with reworking the draft right away, you might need to wander from the actual work. I've seen plenty of people that hesitate to do this, simply out of some sense that it doesn't count. They've become too obsessed with word counts or exclusivity to the main story that they can't wrap their head around planning AFTER drafting. Give it a try. If you struggled to flesh out your story before, this is one way you can help that hesitation melt away. Doctors and scientists often writes hundreds of smaller studies before it supports a breakthrough. Why should a writer be any different? We also benefit from study, method and application, not just creativity. Use that to weave some stronger threads into your storytelling.

4) Back up off it!
I mentioned it prior to breaking off into the numbers, but one thing all stories need at some point is for you to shake off the magic of the moment. I like to assault my own work in both the best and worst moods, to really test my commitment and scrutiny by forgetting it as much as possible. I'm not saying to sit on it for months or years. Sometimes a solid week can detach you before an edit. You're always going to have a sort of blind spot with it, always going to know it's your work and treat it according to your ego, for better or worse. If you know your story needs more, but you're afraid to fiddle with it, chances are it needs to become less precious. Look, I know those happy-go-lucky, I-live-in-my-story-24/7 types are out there, and they probably spend suspicious amounts of time in chatrooms and forums trying to convince you their stories are otherworldly and groundbreaking, but they're not putting out much at all, if anything, and you? You're terrific where you are, believe that. Update all you like, but constantly sharing it for approval, talking about it, and wearing it will not make it its absolute best. At some point, you might just have to hate it to figure out if you really love it enough.

Really, that last one might be a first one in a sense. Before you decide to add to your story, do you even want to? It's perfectly okay to toss it aside if it's lost its luster. Go ahead and work on something else if not. We come back to the things that really matter creatively. Rightly so since we can't possibly do all of the thousands of things that we swear we really want to do. The more you invest in a piece, the more difficult it might be to toss it aside-- yet it's a HUGE sign of discipline if you can admit that you're not quite ready to tell the story it needs to be yet.

Remember, you can absolutely do it anyway too. I always want to make it clear that there is no one path, no matter what you tend towards. You can release a story you're still reaching with. Many writers decide to let one go, only to explore it in later stories. It's definitely not hands-off a subject or theme once you've done it once. Organically, you'll revisit things that are important to you. You'll think about them from different angle, think of a new or better way to use them.

You'll also find that your usual sparse first drafts in some stories will fluff up beyond usefulness on others. Certain genres will grow up differently. You'll enjoy new methods and discover new things.

Advice is really just about affirmation, discovery and community. Sometimes I just want to see what other writers are thinking. Sometimes I'm on the same page, sometimes I'm okay with not being in the same book, the same library or the same planet. It's such a privilege to be able to have the world at my fingertips, whether I'm writing or exploring the many worlds others make and the general world we share.

Take a page from me if you like. Burn it even. I always have copies.