Current Update: My Personal Website

As I have many blogs and many projects going all at once, I have dedicated one specific blog to showcase them all, accessible here at Sabrina ❤. I will also post this link to my favorite links list for a professional ease of access point.

Writing Descriptions Within Dialogue - A Word of Advice

When you're writing your way through the first draft of your manuscript, many times writers make the mistake of trying to write detailed descriptions as they go, bogging the  down writer down as they become far too focused on if the words sound good enough or if they've accurately described something, or if the picture has been painted vividly enough. My advice is this—don't worry about writing any descriptions the first time through unless you really know what you want to say. Instead it might be far more beneficial to go back through once you're done writing and then add in the details. When I'm writing my first draft, I almost never describe what the characters are doing nor will I incorporate scenery either while they're talking, which means much of my manuscript when it comes to dialogue will read like names floating in space. Here's an example I've taken straight out of my current work-in-progress novel, A Fire in the Wind (©2022):

Nathan looked at me. “You okay?”

“Just reeling,” I said.

“How could you not be?” Max said.

“It’s horrible,” Kim agreed. “Truly horrible. I hate that your mother did that to you. I am truly sorry, Emberly. I really am.”

Now here's what that same scene looks like after I was able to go back through my first chapter and edit it (keeping in mind this is still in rough draft form) –

Nathan studied me carefully and put his own fork down splattering ketchup upon the unclothed wood table. I wondered how much food the mossy center pieces were coated with on a daily basis. “You okay?”

I didn’t want to spill my most inner thoughts in front of people whom were essentially strangers to me, even if they were incredibly nice. Instead I decided to keep my answer short and simple. “Just reeling.”

“How could you not be?” Max asked kindly as the dining hall doors squeaked open and shut once again as if emphasizing his latter-most words.

“It’s horrible,” Kim agreed, her dark black eyes turning downwards as somber creases formed along her cheeks. “Truly horrible. I hate that your mother did that to you, and I hate what was done to you as a result. I am truly sorry, Emberly. I really am.”

The difference is remarkable, certainly, but if I had tried to incorporate all those details while writing through my first time, I would have gotten bogged down by the need to simultaneously write the dialogue I felt needed to happen and allowing myself to get so swept up in the details I know I'd neglect everything else as a result of over-focusing on making the scene perfect. I definitely have those moments where I go into the writing rabbit hole, the point where everything is flowing perfectly that both the descriptions and the dialogue (or even the general story) can be written simultaneously, but as this state isn't always possible for me to achieve, when it comes to dialogue I will often stick to the absolute basics before I do anything else so that I can continue to move forward in my story.

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All excerpts from A Fire in the Wind © 2020 by Sabrina S.K. Regan

Please do not copy or re-purpose without author permission 

The Villainous 3-Letter Word

"Had". It's easy to write making any writer prone to mindlessly incorporate it into their story. But do not be fooled, this small three letter word can impact your story on an incredibly negative level. When I first learned of the negative consequences such a simple and utterly small word like "had" could make thanks entirely to Ann Copeland's book, The ABC's of Writing Fiction I admit I rolled my eyes, until I read a few examples Copeland offered and even then I wasn't entirely convinced. It wasn't until I decided to do a word search in Word's navigation bar locating every usage of 'had' I managed to accumulate in my newest manuscript, and discovered an embarrassing high number, which I will reveal at the end of this post. This prompted me to try an exercise of my own: to find a sentence or two in which I felt could benefit from the elimination of this seemingly inconspicuous word and rewrite it to eliminate "had" from it entirely. After locating and rewriting my first sentence and then my fifth, I realized something--"had" isn't as inconspicuous as I thought. In fact, through its early elimination trial I feel I've managed to greatly improve certain paragraphs.

Not convinced? Let's take a look at one of these trial sentences I've copied right from my current novel, A Fire In the Wind (© 2022). 

Example 1:

Original scene featuring the word "had": 

I studied the book which came out nearly four months before Mother had sold me to the Ghostdragons. “Let’s see what was so important you had to supposedly die over this stupid thing, shall we?” 

Rewritten scene excluding the word "had": 
I studied the book which came out nearly four months before Mother sold me to the Ghostdragons. “Let’s see what was so important you supposedly died over this stupid thing, shall we?” 

Do you see the difference in these two scenes? The first one forces readers to stay locked in the past whereas the rewritten scene propels them forward and allows for forward movement in the story as well. The word 'had' in the first scene also negates a sense of fluidity, forcing the words to be read in a choppy manner. That being said it should be noted that sometimes this word does serve a genuine purpose, but even purposeful, why not try to eliminate it and rewrite a sentence anyways? I have attempted to do so in this next exampled also taken from A Fire in the Wind (©2022): 

Example 2:

Original scene featuring the word "had": 

He crossed his tightly over his chest, his moth slightly agape as if ready to respond except he never had the chance as Jake then walked up to us. 

Rewritten scene excluding the word "had": 
He crossed his tightly over his chest, his moth slightly agape as if ready to respond, though his chance escaped when Jake walked up to us. 

I am entirely guilty of using the word 'had', in excess I should say, but I am working to fix that now, which is to say I should finally define what excess means in my case.

According to a word-search, I have used the word "had" a total of 646 times in my 145 paged manuscript. And that number comes after eliminating and rewriting several sentences containing this useless placeholder, which is ultimately all that this word really is; a placeholder. After realizing how much I've used this word, as per my own exercise and personal challenge I am attempting to eliminate the word 'had' entirely from my current novel. Yes, even when its purpose makes sense. That's not to say I probably won't go back later and write back in a few of those eliminated "had's", but that's a future-me problem. Current-me is excited by this challenge.

And now I challenge you!

My Go-To Book

Happy February! To start off the month, I'm going to recommend my absolutely favorite go-to book for writing.

I can't believe I've never posted about this, but then it wasn't until late last night I was sifting through my many boxes of books in my garage searching for inspiration, and there at the bottom of a box containing at least a baker's dozen of my favorite how-to writing books was my ultimate go-to writing book, The ABC's of Writing Fiction by Ann Copeland. It's been years since I've cracked open this book due to the fact I haven't wanted to sift through all those intimidating unpacked boxes in my garage since I've since moved to Eugene, but wow am I glad I did! How I had forgotten how useful it is, in both inspiration and information. New ideas and new ways of writing have since been flooding my head and flowing onto the pages of my latest novel-in-progress. Then it hit me; I needed to share this book on my blog as I think everyone would benefit from it, even already published authors. I honestly have no idea how Copeland does it, but somehow in just a few short paragraphs she teaches you not just how to write, but how to write better. It's always fun to fall in love with a book, but when it's a book that's geared towards not just learning but improvement—personally, that's the best kind of book there is. 📖💖🤗

You can find out more in my helpful links tab "My Go-To Writing Book"