From the think tank this morning I fished out this title. “Some Famous Author’s Pet Peeves About Writing.” We always seem to make it a point to write about their famous quotes and words of inspiration, and even sometimes what habits they’ve formulated through time that helps them to be the successful authors they are. But what about the hidden things that bother those same authors when they are in the trenches of their creative process?

In my scavenger hunt to find an answer—here are a few off that shelf of fame who have a little something to squawk about…

J.K. Rowling finds overused clichés distracting and prefers fresh language. Some say that too many cliches are the kiss of death. Yet Bridges of Madison County has a cliche on every page, in almost every paragraph. And still millions of people read it and loved it. So I would then suggest that Robert James Waller didn’t abide by that rule. In his case cliches are in the eye of the beholder.

Our horror writing king Stephen King, no pun intended, dislikes adverbs, considering them often unnecessary and weakening the writing. When I first took on writing as a serious task this one stuck out for me and still does. Although I do us adverbs in my books I try to keep it to a minimum. We learned in school that adverbs provide additional context, such as how, when, where, to what extent, or how often something happens. But, in the writing realm, I generally, (lol) try to stay away from them as much as possible.

Author of The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway was strongly against unnecessary words and overly descriptive language, advocating for a minimalist style. His writing style has been often defined as  the iceberg theory, a simple style of writing that reveals minimal detail on the surface, with deeper meaning hiding below.

Mark Twain praised as the “greatest humorist the United States has produced,” disliked overly formal writing and preferred a conversational tone. I remember being introduced to that writing style when reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), which is still considered a classic American novel that is still read and studied worldwide today.

Jane Austen considered improper grammar and poor character development to be major flaws. Her works are implicit critiques of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her use of social commentary, realism, wit, and irony have earned her acclaim amongst critics and scholars. This author of Pride and Prejudice is one of which I do agree. Even if you write a bad book your grammar and character development should be without question.

There you have it. For more reading…
Are Cliches Really Bad?
How To Avoid Cliches In Writing
The Internet’s Best List of Clichés

What are your writing pet peeves? Drop me a line—let me know. Now that you’ve gotten some more tips—tiptoe to that keyboard and start clicking those darn keys!!!

Thank you for your continued readership and support. Until next week…blessings and peace!

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