The second best writing tip ever!

On the heels of posting the single best writing tip ever, I'm tapping into the momentum, posting the second-best writing tip I've ever received.

Once again, no long, drawn-out build-up; here it is:

Words are stones; feel the weight of them. 

I heard this tip at the first writing workshop I'd taken through Gotham Writers Workshop in 2005. The class was taught by writer/visual artist Peter Selgin though I don't think this tip was Peter's original sentiment. As I recall, he was sharing someone else's tip, one he always remembered, for our gain. (My apologies if my memory doesn't reflect the truth.)

The concept of words as stones is a weighty one for beginners to grasp. Nearly six years later, I fully appreciate its simple wisdom and struggle to achieve it.

When those of us who write book-length fiction consider we have to create a tale 75,000-words long, the idea of words weighty as stones strikes us as impractical. We're trying to hit an expected word count and filler words slip into the prose to help us realize the length the genre demands.

Now that I've completed three novels, I find this tip applies more than it ever has. In rewrites, when you're building muscle and cutting fat, each word is a stone that can weigh down your prose or ground it.

As you're rewriting, as you're polishing, view each word as a stone. Examine it. Weigh it. Polish it. If it's not serving your prose, then skip it off the page and out of the book.