10 Ways to Avoid Bad Writing According To a New York Literary Agent
By: Linda Caroll
Tags: Books, Writing, Reading, Advice, Inspiration

According to a New York literary agent, it only takes 5 pages to reject a book. Seems his taste is on point — his clients include Pulitzer Prize nominees, NYT best-selling authors and American Book Award winners.

Having spent 2 years reading manuscript submissions at an indie publisher, I can relate. So many people have a great story to tell — and so many of them tell it very badly. Having a good story and telling it well aren’t the same.

I saw an American Idol clip of JLo crying about sending someone home.

It’s hard, she sobbed. You feel like you’re killing their dreams.

That’s how I felt every time I read bad writing.

How do you tell them?

Because they think it’s good.

You know what the problem is, right?

Good writing is subjective…

Problem is, there’s no such thing as good writing. Good is subjective. I might love a book — you think it’s a dud. Taste is personal. And on top of preference and taste, no two people read the same book.

That’s why no one can teach good writing. College can’t. Writing classes can’t. Take as many classes as you want, they can’t teach you good writing because what makes writing good is entirely subjective.

All they can do is teach you not to write badly.

What trips up writers…

The subjective nature of “good writing” trips up writers. When an agent or a publisher (or a publication) rejects their work, they think it’s subjective. Well, “that” person didn’t like it. So they submit elsewhere.

Sometimes that is the case. Sometimes a piece of writing just isn’t a good fit, whether it’s for a publication or a publisher.

Other times, it’s bad writing, but no one wants to say that. No one wants to be JLo telling a singer they’re not good enough yet. So they use the boilerplate rejection and say it’s not a good fit.

You only need to read 5 pages to spot bad writing…

I read a book called The First Five Pages, written by New York literary agent, Noah Lukeman, who says he only needs to read 5 pages of a manuscript to know whether to reject it or not.

5 pages.

Think about it. You write an entire book.

All that work — rejected in 5 pages.

According to Lukeman, some of the most common reasons manuscripts get rejected are things I talk about over and over. Like:

— A weak opening

— Overuse of adjectives and adverbs

— Lack of progression (pace)

— Weak tropes and cliches

— Rambling lack of focus

When the book came out, the Editorial Director of Kirkus Reviews said it should be read by all novice writers.

The book doesn’t tell writers what to do.

It tells them what not to do.

That’s the key to good writing; avoiding the most glaring mistakes.

It’s not about “rules” for good writing.

There aren’t any rules for good writing. I’m not fond of rules to begin with, least of all in writing. There’s little more dreadful than formulaic writing.

Some of the best and most creative artists are the ones who break the rules mercilessly. They don’t just break them, they bend, twist and mutilate them until they are unrecognizable. That’s how art evolves. Writing included.

The best writing advice doesn’t tell you what to do.

It tells you what not to do.

10 Ways to Avoid Bad Writing

The most common advice people give is “write more” — which is horrible advice because if you’re making mistakes, you’re going to keep making the same mistakes. And the habits become more deeply entrenched.

Bad writing isn’t limited to using too many exclamation marks, run on sentences or grammatical errors. Often, bad writing boils down to lazy little habits that are easy to correct once you know them.

So here you go. 10 ways to avoid bad writing.

1. Show, don’t tell.

Writing is seeing. Don’t tell me he was disheveled. Tell me his shirt was half unbuttoned, his eyes were wild and there was blood above his right ear.

Don’t tell me she was sobbing hysterically, tell me there was mascara running down her face as she wiped tears, snot and lipstick across her sleeve.

And don’t tell me about the sleeve, it’s not important. Writers often describe too much. It minimizes the tears. If someone you loved was sobbing does what she’s wearing matter? Only if she’s crying about the clothing.

Only describe what you need to. Good writing starts in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.

Writing is seeing. You cannot paint with words if you don’t see in the first place. Good writing comes from good observation.