Wherein I muse about a particular writing tick, and discuss how I turned it from a flaw into a strength.
?? WRITING THREAD! One of my major ticks is that my first drafts are overflowing with similes. Like, chockfull to bursting. Everything looks or feels or sounds or emotes like something else. Now that I’m aware of it, I work to smooth this out on subsequent drafts. 1/5
— Aidan Moher ???? READ YOUNGBLOOD RAWR (@adribbleofink) September 10, 2018
BUT, I also just go with it in that first draft. I used to fight it until I realized that they’re the result of my writers brain searching for the right texture, colour, and emotion for the story. Seeking to connect my inner feelings to the text. 2/5
— Aidan Moher ???? READ YOUNGBLOOD RAWR (@adribbleofink) September 10, 2018
So, on subsequent drafts, those similes give me a very clear idea of the raw emotion I want the reader to feel from any scene/description. During revisions, I can massage the prose to evoke those emotions in a more elegant manner. 3/5
— Aidan Moher ???? READ YOUNGBLOOD RAWR (@adribbleofink) September 10, 2018
(None of this is to say similes are bad, but they’re certainly not *good* at the rate I use them in first drafts. They’re like a popcorn air popper filled with too many kernels.) 4/5
— Aidan Moher ???? READ YOUNGBLOOD RAWR (@adribbleofink) September 10, 2018
I think it’s important for writers to analyze their work/process in a manner that allows them to recognize flaws and turn them into strengths. Understanding my use of similes in first drafts is one area in which I’ve done this—and come out the other end a better writer. 5/5 ?
— Aidan Moher ???? READ YOUNGBLOOD RAWR (@adribbleofink) September 10, 2018
