CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? A Rebel Writer’s Guide to Breaking the Rules of Writing

By Kathleen Y’Barbo Turner @KathleenYBarbo

When my daughter was in kindergarten, her teacher asked the children to interview an adult about his or her job and come back to class the next day with a report on what they learned. Hannah grilled me about my job as a writer, and I answered her questions about how I constructed my stories. The next afternoon when I picked her up, the teacher couldn’t wait to tell me what my daughter had reported to the class. Apparently what she got out of my in depth explanation of plotting, voice, and story structure was this gem:

“My mom listens to the voices in her head and writes them down.”

Did I mention that she couldn’t remember the name of what my job was called and had no idea whether I’d had any of my novels published? This is how much my children are
impressed that their mother is a writer. But I digress.

Thank goodness her teacher was one of my readers else I’d have sounded like I’d lost my mind.

All these years later, however, I’ve decided that Hannah’s kindergarten description of what a writer does is possibly the best one I’ve heard. After all, don’t we listen to the voices in
our head and write them down? I must admit I do.

The question is what do we do with the voices we “hear”? If you’ve been around the writing world for long, you’ll realize there are lots of rules about writing. While characterization
is key for a novel, I believe that these rules can sometimes make your characters hard to “hear”. For example, the rules of grammar require that sentences are complete with a subject and verb. Writing rules often state that excessive use of adverbs isn’t a good idea. But is that how we talk to one another? Not always.

So I’m going to suggest something radical. Something that goes against some of the rules of writing you may have learned.

Being a rebel. A writing rebel.

Write with a voice that gives characters the driver’s seat while you strap on a seat belt and go along for the ride is the key. Following the rules can sanitize your manuscript and make your characters sound like everyone else’s. Once you learn to break the rules and silence your inner editor, your characters will speak, both to you and to the reader.

And they may even use incomplete sentences!

Sounds good, right? But how do we do that? Listen to your character. No two characters sound alike, even identical twins. Ideally, you should be able to tell who is speaking in a conversation without using tags. Entire books have been written on character voice. There are so many factors that make up each of your story people. How do you make each sound unique?

Each has a unique backstory made up of geographical, educational, and socioeconomic factors. Each will have a different set of experiences, likes and dislikes, and word preferences. Word preferences? Uh oh. Isn’t that just another word for weasel words?

Gasp. Yes. It can be. This rebel writer is here to tell you that sometimes using weasel words is the mark of good characterization. I know, right? Probably not what you’ve been taught. But if your hero has a favorite way of saying something or words that he prefers, then use them. I’m not advocating lazy writing here. Actually, this won’t be easy at all. You must know your characters well enough to be able to discern these preferences and use them. Know not only what your hero will say but also why he says it. Your reader may not have any idea of the why—that’s backstory that helps the author flesh out the character—but she will applaud you for writing a story person who seems real enough to step off the page.

And isn’t that what we want?

So, are you ready to become a rebel writer? Remember, it’s not about rules; it’s about how that character thinks and speaks. If he or she has favorite words, then use them.

Here’s to weasel words and rebel writers!

Publishers Weekly Bestselling author Kathleen Y’Barbo-Turner is the author of more than one hundred books with over two million copies in print. A tenth-generation
Texan and paralegal, Kathleen and her husband are parents and in-laws of a blended family of Texans, Okies, and three adorable Londoners. Find her at www.kathleenybarbo.com.