Camping Vs. Marching by Shonell Bacon
By APOOO • Jan 5th, 2009 • Category: The Write Life for You •
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Camping vs. Marching by Shonell Bacon
Becoming a Lifelong Learner of the Craft of Writing
By author, editor, educator Shon Bacon aka ChickLitGurrl™
Camping vs. Marching by Shonell Bacon
HAPPY NEW YEAR, PEOPLE! I hope you’ve brought your Veni, Vidi, Vici (I came, I saw, I conquered) to the table because in the ’09, I want all writers – new and old – to bring their best game and goals to the writing table. Let’s get it done!
This month, I’m talking about camping vs. marching. Before I pursued my MFA degree, I knew nothing about this “concept”.
Many writers, for fear of losing readers, will explain everything in their story, not realizing that they will definitely lose their readers this way. So, how do writers tell us everything? They might tell us everything a character has on, explain every piece of furniture that’s in a room, detail an entire conversation from beginning to end, relay every minute feeling that comes through the narrator’s mind, and bring us into every sight, smell, taste, sound, touch that occurs within a story – all in the name of making the story feel real to the reader. In the end, this may make the reader so full off “stuff” that’s unimportant to the actual story that he/she may close the book and find a less tedious (or as I like to say “less chewy”) book to read.
How do writers avoid the clutter? They focus on the story’s purpose. They focus on the themes and ideas they want to convey. Now, let me preface this by saying that this idea should be thought of after writing the book. I can’t state this enough (and I’ll state it in every article I write); if you’re a writer that can easily get hung up on little things and stop yourself from writing, then TURN OFF THE INTERNAL EDITOR AND WRITE. Do not think about grammar or story development. Think about only getting your story – from beginning to end – on the page and then become the perfectionist.
Once you have a story before you, ask yourself the following questions:
• What’s my story’s purpose?
• What themes, ideas am I trying to convey?
• At the end, what do I want the reader to take away from the story?
Having answers to these questions will help you to return to the story and to begin de-cluttering by focusing on each scene you developed.
When you’re in a scene, you have to ask yourself, “Is this scene vital to the understanding of the story?” This, in essence, is the camping and marching question. If a scene (and all of its components) is important to your story and readers will be lost if you do not put it in, then you want to “camp” in that scene for a while and show the reader what he or she needs to continue with the story. If the scene is not vital, then you want to “march” right through it, giving the reader exactly what he or she needs and then moving on to the next scene of your story. What this does is present the reader with a clean, tightly written story – a story in which all the components connect to the reason for the story’s “being” in the first place.
Thanks for checking me out @ The Write Life for You. Next month, I’ll be talking about SHOWING VS. TELLING in your story – and yes, it is a bit different than camping vs. marching, but it’s a great complement to camping vs. marching, too.
ChickLitGurrl ~ signing out
Shon
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APOOO is an online author and reader community dedicated to advancing African American literature. Our mission is to expose readers of all ages to a good book in any genre; to support African American authors, books, literary events and bookclubs; to provide marketing resources, tools and tips to authors; and, to promote literacy within the African American community.
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Great blog Shon. You always teaching us something new, well at least me.
Jennifer C.´s last blog post..Our Choices
Jennifer, I’m not an aspiring author, but I always learn something new from Shon…she’s definitel one of m SHEroes!
Lynne Barrett teaches a wonderful lecture on this topic and adds one more test that might has helped me. How do you determine if a scene is vital to the story? Professor Barret say a secen is vital if it reveals character or develops plot. If a scene does not serve these two purposes, they need to be marched through, or even deleted.
Great blog Shonell. I will have my workshop students read this.
CD
[...] head to APOOOBOOKS.COM to read my latest article in The Write Life for You [...]
Thanks for the comments, guys, an CD, you’re right. That’s something I’m CONSTANTLY telling my clients when I edit their manuscripts. That’s, actually, my MAIN point – if a scene doesn’t do one or both of those things (reveal character or develop plot), we need to march on through that scene and quickly. May even have to decide whether the scene is actually necessary to the story altogether.
Shon Bacon´s last blog post..Camping vs. Marching in Stories
I’m an editor, so you know I’m coming back to state that I should have written “and CD” not “an CD” – LOL@self
Shon Bacon´s last blog post..Camping vs. Marching in Stories
Thank you for this, Shon. I have been reading books by a certain popular author who describes clothing down to every detail, that I’m inclined to skip over. Since her books sell so well, I was beginning to wonder if I should be doing this. I’m so glad you told me better.
saraphen´s last blog post..Starting the New Year …
Hey there, lady. Thanks for stopping by,
Glad my article could help you.
Shon Bacon´s last blog post..Camping vs. Marching in Stories
Thanks for the information Shon, It is very helpful.
Iris B.
No prob, Iris. That’s what I’m here for,
Shon Bacon´s last blog post..Camping vs. Marching in Stories
Very nice. Great food for thought. I have heard these tips before but I need reinforcement and repeating to make it stick. Thanks.
Dera´s last blog post..First Quarter 2009 Reading Challenge
Good info !
Maybe I can get my inner editor a Wii so it can shut up and let me write.
Anthony – LOL – that’s hilarious!
Shon Bacon´s last blog post..Camping vs. Marching in Stories
Many writers, for fear of losing readers, will explain everything in their story, not realizing that they will definitely lose their readers this way.
I recently read a book that almost LOST me because of the many, many details. Thanks for the valuable advice Shon. As always, many KUDOS!
Thanks, Ms. Darnetta,
Shon Bacon´s last blog post..Touch
is this my nellie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!