From The Unhappily Uninspired Writer’s Guide to Kick Starting Creativity (& Gaining Back Creative Confidence!)
Stop worrying about whether others will “get it” — instead, aim to make them think. They don’t have to “get” it for it to be good writing. Sometimes, my favorite writing is absolutely a mess (House of Leaves by Daniel Z. Danielewski, anyone?), but it’s that reckless messiness that makes it so textured & fun to read. All my journalism classes stressed the importance of simplicity–& yes, if you’re writing the front page story for a newspaper, you better make sense. But if you’re writing (or drawing/sculpting/jewelry-making/glass-blowing/collaging/designing outfits for mythical mermaids), mix it up a little. Throw in something that will totally confuse the hell out of your audience–& feel the creative juices start to pour in.
A fatal flaw in any fiction writing is telling too much and not letting the reader come to their own conclusions or imagine the scene and the details for themselves. There is nothing that makes a good plot become boring to read, like over narration. I don’t want every last detail, every possible thought in the character’s head to be written, narrated, as if I can’t figure it out for myself. I’m reading a series now, with a super plot -it’s even about dragons!- but reading the books is ploddingly slow and dull. Every smallest thought is written, over done, over and over and over… Zzzzzz….