FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Davina Jamison: What are some of your pet peeves when reading science fiction? The stuff that just gets stuck in your craw, gets your undies in a twist and feels like fingernails on chalkboards? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat
We’ve all seen it or done it. When you’re writing, it’s easy to fall back on clichés because they are a sort of universal short-hand. Use one and your reader instantly knows what you are trying to convey. But clichés can also have the effect of making the writing seem stunted and, well, cliché. One of my editors called me on the use of: “He let out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.” She urged me to find a more original way to express that sense of anticipation and nervousness, which I did, and the story was stronger … Read more