= THE COMSIE METHOD #6 =

Comicality · November 5, 2010

It's the same as a football or basketball team watching videotaped footage from their previous games. It's an opportunity to see things from an 'outside' perspective, and use it as an opportunity for improvement. To find mistakes, predictable patterns, and to find parts of your writing that you really liked and want to figure out how to do it again the next time. Maybe even BETTR next time. Any time that you're given a chance to evolve as a writer...TAKE it!

Something that I do for myself when I'm writing, is create my own little 'highlight reel' as I look back over what I've done. And from that reel, I can see what I'm doing, not doing enough, or overdoing, in terms of what I want the story to be. As far as errors in your writing...there are 'mistakes', and there are 'weaknesses'. ANYBODY can make a mistake. It's natural, and it's normal and it's going to happen every now and then. Nobody's perfect. 'Weaknesses', on the other hand, have to be fixed. You have to actually make an effort to seek them out in your writing, and try to find ways around them. Mistakes are random and happen every once in a while. Weaknesses are specific, and they pop up every single time. I'm sure you guys get the point. That's what the highlight reel is designed for. It's a technique you might want to try if you already have something that you've written out already.

There are three reasons why it helps me, personally....

1) It helps to seek out repetition in the way I write. It might seem like a little thing, but some habits can really stick out when someone else is reading your story for the first time. A lot of authors write the way that they 'speak', and our thoughts and speaking voice can get easily addicted to certain phrases and terms that we're completely unaware of. It's a HARD habit to break. IMPOSSIBLE if you're not even aware that you're doing it.

So take a few minutes, look back at something you've written, and see if you can pick out any little 'speech hooks' that you used over and over again without realizing it. Terms like:

"Before I knew it..."

"All of a sudden...."

"Anyway..."

"If you ask me..."

"In all actuality..."

"On the other hand..."

All of these phrases are perfectly normal, of course. But they are examples of 'speech hooks' that end up showing their faces over and over and over again in a single chapter without the author being aware of it. Mostly because it just seems natural to say it. It becomes a part of your everyday lingo. But in a story, you don't want to look back at a 10 page chapter and find that you started 14 different sentences with the exact phrase, "Words can't describe...", followed by whatever you were trying to write. That's a weakness that takes time and practice to fix so it doesn't take over your whole project. See how many times you use these hooks, and try to think of other ways to phrase them. That way you can mix it up a little bit and still get the same feeling across when you write. It won't be easy. Believe me. Hehehehe, they can be really addictive. I still have a bunch that I can't get rid of, and have to work hard to avoid using them so much. Just try not to use them as a crutch. Strengthen those muscles and try something new.

2) Spelling mistakes and mechanics errors. I know that spellcheck makes things really easy when it comes to correcting mistakes each and every time you put out a new project...but there are some mistakes that you should definitely learn to avoid entirely on your own. So if you're constantly misspelling the word 'receive' every time you write something down, take NOTE of that. That's a weakness, not a mistake. It's just going to keep popping up until you fix it in your mind and get it right. So look up the right spelling, type it out, and keep it in the back of your mind. If every time you run a spellcheck, the word 'separate' comes up misspelled, take a few minutes and get the proper spelling. Commit it to memory for next time. This also goes for words that are hyphenated or should be capitalized. Whatever the rule is, find it, and consciously make it a point to avoid that mistake in the future. Don't let bad habits linger if you can help it.

Another thing to take notice of are words that sound alike, but have different spellings and meanings. 'Affect' and 'Effect', 'Alright' and 'All Right', 'Farther' and 'Further', 'Conscious' and 'Conscience'. If you meant one and accidentally used the other, make a note of it, and make sure that you know the difference so you don't make the same mistake again. If you're constantly using 'it's' when it should be 'its' (no apostrophe)...then start training yourself to get that right as well. There will be times when you might slip here and there, but concentrate on not letting that weakness appear again and again in your work. Just keep building up a collection of words that usually trip you up, and come up with ways to remember how to correct them as they happen. Our brains have more than enough room to hold it all. Hehehe! And eventually, you'll get it right automatically without even thinking.

3) Concepts and themes are also something else that I try to scan for in my writing. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE writing! I highly doubt that I'll ever run out of ideas for something new. Not ever. BUT...I've only lived ONE life! I only have one perspective and one set of life experiences to draw from. So it's only naural that I accidentally repeat myself at SOME point or another with certain themes and conflicts in my work. The struggling single parent, the abusive father, the boy in the closet, the threat of a really cute love rival, and staring at the boy across a crowded high school lunchroom...they're all things that I've done and talked about before. And I don't want to go down those same roads again. At least not in the same way. So I try to keep everything in mind all at once (which isn't easy at ALL, believe me!), and I try to keep any similar themes as 'original' and as fresh as I possibly can. So readers aren't moaning, "Arrrgh! Comsie's doing the cheating boyfriend thing again?" Hehehe, it's TOUGH! But with practice, I think any author can tell his one life story a billion different ways, and no one would be the wiser.

So there you have it! (<--- One of my speech hooks, by the way!) Make a mental highlight reel of your personal habits when you discover them, and then do what you can to break them. Remember, this isn't about being self critical to the point of discouraging yourself. There's nothing WRONG with what you do with your story. It's not meant to bash your work or overthink your mistakes. It's all about finding your strengths and making them stronger. You've already got the gold...now just give it a nice 'polish' and share it with the world! Be excited to learn and evolve as a writer! The sky's the limit!

Give it a try! You might be surprised at some of the things you find in your own work!

I always am!

***Just A Humble Lesson From The 'Comsie-Method'! Enjoy!***