I had grand plans when I got up this morning at the butt crack of dawn. I was going to get so many pages edited today. In my head, it was going to be so simple. Last night I went through and cut what could be cut and so this morning I just had to polish what was left. I like every scene, so it’s just a few word changes and altering of some sentence structure because I’ve learned so much since I first wrote this story. Piece of cake, right? But I forgot to factor in the symphony of writing.
I’m not certain if anyone else hears it or uses it. We all have individual ways with which we approach our writing. My way of writing uses a cadence. Alison once called it “the lyricism” of my voice.
Basically, I hear a rhythm to my writing, some people call it “the flow”. It’s not one instrument, but a symphony, consisting of the sentence, then the paragraph, then the scene, then the chapter, then the story as a whole. All of it must sound beautifully or I’m not satisfied. To me it’s like listening to music where one of the instruments is out of tune. It completely wipes out the beauty of the other instruments.
So here I am correcting newbie author mistakes, too many “he” and “she”, similar words used too close together, etc. etc. Should be easy, right? It’s not. Because changing one word, can sometimes change the rhythm and I’ll have to rewrite the whole sentence, which sometimes causes me to have to rewrite the whole paragraph. In the end, the information is exactly the same, but the presentation is different to continue the lyricism. Chapter One was a pain because I could hear that something was off-key, but I couldn’t pin it down. In the end, it took 4 cps to pinpoint 4 different things and a bit more tweaking on my part to get the start of the music flowing that would carry through the rest of the story.
I think this is what we mean when we say, “Finding someone who “gets” our writing.” I think it’s also why there are some authors whose writing I can’t enjoy. Their writing is just off-key to me. I can’t get into their flow. This is also why I think some editors will turn away writing that’s good, but “not for them”. They just don’t listen to the same music you do.
Of course, they may all be old news to you, but I’m just catching on. 
So anyway, everything I thought I would get done today didn’t get done, but what is finished has a really nice rhythm. 
But frankly, I’m going to have to speed up the beat a little here. I’m under deadline. 
Thank you, Jaq, for your comments about the Black Lace excerpt. I actually had fun writing it and it’s my only contemporary story so I’m glad it sold.
on December 20th, 2004 at 4:18 pm
Sylvia this makes perfect sense! I don’t read out loud but I KNOW and sometimes I end up changing stuf around like you said to say the same thing a different way for better “rythym”.
Ellen…One writer I’ve found that is VERY lyrical is Marsha Moyer. I still can’t pinpoint what it is about her writing but lyrical is definitely a way to describe it
on December 20th, 2004 at 1:52 pm
I soo totally get where you are coming from with this Sylvia. I’m the exact same way.
Love your BL excerpt by the way. Nice little twist at the ending with the set-up.
on December 20th, 2004 at 11:07 am
Margee!!! LOL
If you can find a rhythm for that mouthful, I’m HUGELY impressed. And a bit awed.
on December 20th, 2004 at 10:51 am
Sylvia,
It’s not just fiction that has to have this flow. I’m a technical writer, and I read aloud some of my stuff. Imagine how entertaining it is to listen to a propoal for the acquisition of a state-of-the-art multipurpose Femtosecond Pulsed Laser Spectroscopy system (FPLS) with corresponding Ultra-fast CCD (UFCCD) framing camera and Atomic Force Microscope. :grin::roll:
on December 20th, 2004 at 10:47 am
Oh good, Joely Sue!! I’m actually relieved to hear I’m not going nuts. (About this anyway!
)
Ellen,
You’re doing something right, Eppie Finalist!!
on December 20th, 2004 at 8:39 am
I have to admit I have never likened my writing to music. I just write and edit till it sounds right. I have no idea if my writing is “lyrical” or not :shock:.
on December 20th, 2004 at 7:21 am
I hear you (literally). I actually read passages outloud to make sure the cadence sounds right to my ears. I enjoy reading authors that do have a definite beat, even if the beat doesn’t jive with mine too well. What I *can’t* read is an author that has absolutely no sense of rhythm in the words. Sometimes it’s actually a disharmony and not just a lack of beat. A little offbeat placed very carefully can help build the suspense, but 400 pages of disharmony is just too painful.
Good luck speeding up the beat, but don’t sweat it too badly. Your beat is there, you hear it, so you’re already ahead. You just need to turn down some of the surrounding noise.
Joely
on December 20th, 2004 at 6:50 am