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'Tighten up your work' - anyone know the meaning of?

purplequeenpurplequeen
edited January 2008 in - Writing Problems
I am getting a little tired of hearing this term as though everyone knows what it means.

I recently read 'after you have tightened it up' in an article and have myself been victim to the expression 'could be tighter' when getting feedback.

Could anyone please define what this is suppose to mean, in technical terms?

Personally I think it would be a good idea if Writers News/Magazine did a series on the meaning of such terms.

Any help gratefully received.

Comments

  • heatherheather
    I would take it to mean:-
    i)Remove extraneous words (adverbs/adjectives/repetitions)
    ii)Simplify and clarify
  • Jay MandalJay Mandal
    And see if your opening paragraph can be dispensed with.
  • BillBill
    And your last
  • TracyTracy
    I recently had to reduce my 130,000 word novel down to 80,000 words. Talk about focus... I'd agree with Heather, extraneous words that you may overlook and I think everyone has a subconscious favourite - words such as - as, and, just, then - to name a few. You can lose these and often make the writing stronger / tighter.
    Adverbs can be an issue if overdone, especially on speech tags. Although I'm not a great fan of paring everything down as I think adjectives have a place especially in kids books, they can have more impact if not overused.
    Also, scenes - sometimes condensing scenes and focus can tighten the work and emphasis could be placed on other important issues.

    Hope that helps - though I too am a novice but reviewing on Youwriteon helps to see these points because you're looking at other people's work and are therefore removed from the extract.
  • BetsieBetsie
    'Tight' writing sparkles - anything bogged down with unnecessary words is laborious for the reader. In short story mode: if it doesn't move the plot along you don't need it.
  • flyingtartflyingtart
    Can't add much to these excellent answers except to say look for instances where one word could replace a phrase.
  • NephNeph
    Wonder if anyone told Tolkein or King this?

    I dunno sometimes stuff I read is so stripped down it might as well be a black and white picture.
  • dorothyddorothyd
    It depends a lot on when and where the advice is given. If it is an article or short story then yes, pare it to the bone. Use one word instead of six. In a novel you can sometimes get away with it, provided the reader isn't yawning by the end of page 3, remembering your first reader is your prospective editor or agent! I have ditched many a book sent here to me because I am bored senseless by page 6. If that happens to me, the reader will be equally bored, so the book is not good because of it. Tighten up means removing the words which interrupt the flow, the movement of the story itself.
  • purplequeenpurplequeen
    Mmm, interesting. Thanks for all the feedback.

    Personally King doesn't need to do any tightening, he is my No.1 author, love him and his characters - although he is successful enough to beable to go meandering into his characters and his constant readers will lap it up.

    Tolkien had me struggling by the middle of the 2nd novel - very yawning, far too much description.

    So tightening means sort of cut out the crap, nothing too rich, less is better - much like dieting!! ( ; >
  • CarolCarol
    That sums it up nicely. Every word has to work for you.
  • NephNeph
    Funny isn't it, i love Tolkein but can't stand King (I think he waffles far too much).
  • purplequeenpurplequeen
    Depends what type of waffling you like.

    I am a naturally nosey person, who likes to know as much detail as I can about people, their background, who they are, what they feel about life, and I am a big people watcher and like to 'speculate' on who they are and what they do when watching. So maybe that is why I love SK and his digressions into characters and intimate details and listening to them tell their individual stories.

    I find descriptions of landscapes boring, I would rather see it in the flesh. It just doesn't move me, I find it tedious. So although I have total respect for Tolkien's descriptive imagery and the scale of work that Lord of the Rings took to write, I would rather watch the movie than read the book! (although I know that some of the story is not quite right, but was HUGELY impressed with how it was interpreted - but then the detail of description allowed that to happen).

    I never watch movies of SK books, very few have been done well. I can only think of The Green Mile and and Stand.

    Anyway, I digressed into an analysis then. Interesting.
  • ambolineamboline
    Purplequeen: what about The Shawshank Redemption? Apt Pupil? Stand By Me? Three of the best films of the last 25 years, I reckon.
  • bochokbochok
    The Shawshank Redemption is my favourite film. Some SK films I've found a bit tedious, like Cujo, and The Shining, for example.
  • FlickFlick
    In its time, The Shining was exceptional. I agree about Cujo though, but the book was good! I like King too, though not every book he's ever written. I like the conversational style but a new writer wouldn't get away with it. He DOES ramble. I've had to cut from 125,000 to 100,000 myself and its hard. Now I have a 30,000 word story I need to make 55,000 and I'm finding its just as hard. I daren't tackle the 160,000 monster lurking on my hard drive.
  • NephNeph
    Tell me about it I have one 180,000 that needs trimming down, an 80,000 that needs extending and its driving me nuts.
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