"CRUSIN'"

 

                         The Ebb & Flow of Writing

 

 

 

 

            I’ve always found being around water peaceful. It reminds me of the river watching the waves as they gently flow. Never hurried as if they understood the assignment of peace and tranquility.

 

I remember taking a dinner cruise on the Delta Queen, a big deal for someone who suffers from motion sickness. Yet, it was nothing but smooth sailing from beginning to end.

 

That’s how writing dialogue and Pov’s should be. The ebb and flow should be like a Sunday drive on a smoothly paved road.

 

A lot to ask for, I’m sure. But practice can eventually make your writing perfect. There are ways to achieve this rhythm of taking the reader along for the ride.

 

The goal is to allow them to experience the story fully engaged to the end.

 

Of course, there is no magic involved in real life, but great editing can achieve the same response with these few techniques.

 

1.      Avoid clutch words. They are go-to words used in writing because they’re comfortable but unnecessary and often repeated. If you use an editing tool, like Grammarly or ProwritingAid, they will kindly point these out and suggest other less overused words.

 

2.      Use solid sentences and paragraphs that flow seamlessly to the next.

3.      Word substitution is another feature that takes nothing away from active descriptions but adds by redirecting the attention back to the characters.

4.      Another excellent example of ebb and flow is breaking up paragraphs. Again, Grammarly does a wonderful job of doing this for you.

5.      Transition is another way to create the perfect ebb and flow between paragraphs linking sentences and ideas closer together.

 

We’re not born with solid sentence structure. We learn this as we grow, and the same applies to writing. Necessary when great story details are the link between paragraphs and the characters.

 

If things don’t flow properly, you risk the reader getting lost, therefore losing interest before they can immerse deeper into the story.

 

We want to get this right the first time. As a reader, I understand the importance of concise details. There shouldn’t be a need to reread anything to understand better what’s happening in the story.

If the ebb and flow are correct, no worries; you’ve just lost a fan if it’s not.

 

In the end, writers should be intentional about what they want to convey and achieve through their writing.