Waffles Are For Breakfast

I love waffles for breakfast with lots of maple syrup and a sausage or two.  Yum!  Yet waffles of another type often turn up outside the kitchen.  Take writing for instance.  What we call “waffling on” is not a good thing when you’re writing a story.  This kind of waffle makes the reader yawn instead of being eager to turn the page.

“Waffling on” means filling paragraphs with unnecessary words that try to explain, show, or describe something. “Writing waffles” add nothing dramatic or fun to your plot, and they never make your characters richer or more interesting. They don’t even offer maple syrup! All they do is add to the word count. And if you’re writing a picture book or a short story, there’s often a limit on the number of words you can use. So to keep the waffles in your kitchen, you need to practice writing tight and terrific. Tight and terrific is the exact opposite of waffling on.

Tight and terrific writers make the thesaurus their best friend.  Why?  Because that’s where the most active, powerful and evocative words hang out – and these words kick “waffling butt” big time. Think of yourself as a painter of word pictures.  No brush and watercolors needed for this kind of painting. What you DO need is a bunch of active and powerful verbs. Then, sprinkle in some meaningful and evocative adjectives. The idea is to choose words that make your reader “see” the scenes you write and the people you describe, words that offer them an instant mental pictures that draw them into your story. This winning combination makes your characters feel so real they might jump off the page.

By keeping your trusty thesaurus close at hand, waffles will not wander into your writing.  Active, powerful, and evocative words help create tight and terrific sentences, paragraphs, and pages.  This keeps waffles in the kitchen with the maple syrup where they belong.

Look at the top line below. It holds limp and wimpy words that turn your sentences into oversized waffles.  Below them are active and powerful alternatives that spin your sentences into tight and terrific masterpieces.

RED for the waffle words – BLUE for the active and powerful words.

pretty	nice	happy	run	write	fall
appealing	pleasant	joyful	sprint	inscribe	plunge
gorgeous	helpful	blissful	scamper	note down	plummet
lovely	super	high spirited	lope	etch	drop

EXTRA NOTE:
*Beware the sneaky adverb – powerful verbs do not need an adverb to prop them up.
*Never use 10 wimpy words when 5 more powerful ones say it better.
*If a sentence does not move your plot forward – CUT IT.

Our Author

Margot Finke is an Aussie transplant who writes midgrade adventure fiction and rhyming picture books. For many years she has lived in Oregon with her husband and family. Gardening, travel, and reading fill in the cracks between writing. Her husband is very supportive, and their three children are now grown and doing very well.

Margot didn’t begin serious writing until the day their youngest left for college. This late start drives her writing, and pushes her to work at it every day. Margot said, “I really envy those who began young, and managed to slip into writing mode between kid fights, diaper changes, household disasters, and outside jobs. You are my heroes! ”

Her 7x book, rhyming series, “Wild and Wonderful,” offers fun facts about animals from the US and Australia.  Educational and fun, eBooks can be read on a computer, laptop, or various color eReaders. They are great for classroom or home schooling moms. Kids today are computer savvy, and ALL 11 of Margot’s books (both hard copy and eBooks), can be viewed on Margot’s Magic Carpet.

Visit her DOWN-UNDER FUN OR WILD US CRITTERS:  Discover extra fun facts about the animals in this series as well as her other books.

Margot’s Manuscript Critique Service attracts clients from all over the globe, and her website offers a great deal of help for new writers. Nothing gives her a bigger thrill that to hear that a book she helped polish has been published.  “This is always a huge YEA moment,” says Margot.

Margot’s Magic Carpet
http://perfectmagiccarpet.blogspot.com/
Kids Books with a WOW Factor!
(all 11 books on one page)

* Taconoi and Claude – Double Trouble – mid-grade
*Horatio Humble Beats the Big D – dyslexia
*Ruthie and the Hippo’s Fat Behind – big change
*Rattlesnake jam – (for boys)

Guardian Angel Publishing

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“Wild & Wonderful” – 7x fun and educational eBooks
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Manuscript Critique Service – Writing Help
http://www.margotfinke.com