3 Pet Writing Peeves
It’s impossible for us to attain perfection with every sentence we write, but we do need to check our work for as many errors as we can before putting it out in the world. I keep encountering certain things in books I read that drive me nuts. Here’s my favorite three. The Case of the Missing Pants As we set the reader in our story world, we need to describe characters. If you chose to describe a character’s outfit, please don’t stop mid-way through the description. A server in a crisp white shirt, red vest, and red bow tie approached. As I read, I form a mental picture of a character. From this abbreviated description, I can’t help butwonder if the bottom half of his body is naked. And if so, why didn’t the other characters notice? How about A server dressed in a crisp white shirt, red vest with red bow tie, and gray pants approached. While this isn’t the complete picture, his socks and shoes are missing, and maybe a watch–you get the picture. ...