Cutbanks- the Prince George Cultural Website
Writing advice, courtesy of Ed Zaruk
By Tyler Clarke, editor
A small group of eager local authors gathered January 28 at UNBC in order to hear the sage advice of accomplished Quesnel author Ed Zaruk, who recently received an IPPY award for best fiction in Western Canada for his first published novel Altar and Throne.
Upon sending your book to agents, you’ll get one of these, Zaruk told the crowd, pointing to a PowerPoint presentation that featured one of the many rejection letters he’s received. Sometimes the rejection letter will be just that, a rejection, and sometimes it will contain constructive criticism that one can use to improve their writing. Building off of criticism he’s gotten over the years through feedback, letters, and writers’ conferences, Zaruk prepared the material for his presentation, which he intends to make more of in the future.
The three main points touched upon, which agents and editors tend to find important, according to Zaruk, are point of view, active versus passive voice, and show don’t tell.
Elaborating on point of view, Zaruk said that it’s important that the reader know which character’s point of view is being expressed at any given time.
“Each scene needs to have one point of view character per scene,” Zaruk said, adding that if the point of view changes it must be clear to the reader, otherwise you might lose them. “When you lose the reader, you lose the flow of the story.”
Writing in an active voice is also important, Zaruk said, as a passive voice can very easily become boring.
“If you always write in a passive voice, all of the action has already taken place, and who cares?” Zaruk asked.
As an example, Zaruk suggested that a better, more active version of “She was surprised by a knock on the door,” would be “A knock pounded on the door, surprising her.”
Show don’t tell, Zaruk said, “is the holy grail of fiction writing.”
In addition to using an active voice, not telling the whole story and allowing the reader to use their imagination to some degree is an important thing to do.
“You want to plant an idea in the reader’s mind to let that grow,” Zaruk clarified.
Descriptions of surroundings and characters can be good, Zaruk added, but there can be a place where that becomes too much, and the writer’s imagination overshadows that of the reader.
“You don’t want to stifle the imagination of the reader,” Zaruk said.
After enthusiastically going over several additional points, as well as a half-hour over time, Zaruk concluded his presentation by thanking his wife Marian, who has helped the author a lot over the years with editing. Zaruk also dismissed the idea of writer’s block, saying, “To me, writer’s block is just a tree in the road – you just go around it.”
For more on Zaruk and to find out when his next workshop in Prince George is to take place, go to the author’s website, http://edzaruk.com.
A small group of eager local authors gathered January 28 at UNBC in order to hear the sage advice of accomplished Quesnel author Ed Zaruk, who recently received an IPPY award for best fiction in Western Canada for his first published novel Altar and Throne.
Upon sending your book to agents, you’ll get one of these, Zaruk told the crowd, pointing to a PowerPoint presentation that featured one of the many rejection letters he’s received. Sometimes the rejection letter will be just that, a rejection, and sometimes it will contain constructive criticism that one can use to improve their writing. Building off of criticism he’s gotten over the years through feedback, letters, and writers’ conferences, Zaruk prepared the material for his presentation, which he intends to make more of in the future.
The three main points touched upon, which agents and editors tend to find important, according to Zaruk, are point of view, active versus passive voice, and show don’t tell.
Elaborating on point of view, Zaruk said that it’s important that the reader know which character’s point of view is being expressed at any given time.
“Each scene needs to have one point of view character per scene,” Zaruk said, adding that if the point of view changes it must be clear to the reader, otherwise you might lose them. “When you lose the reader, you lose the flow of the story.”
Writing in an active voice is also important, Zaruk said, as a passive voice can very easily become boring.
“If you always write in a passive voice, all of the action has already taken place, and who cares?” Zaruk asked.
As an example, Zaruk suggested that a better, more active version of “She was surprised by a knock on the door,” would be “A knock pounded on the door, surprising her.”
Show don’t tell, Zaruk said, “is the holy grail of fiction writing.”
In addition to using an active voice, not telling the whole story and allowing the reader to use their imagination to some degree is an important thing to do.
“You want to plant an idea in the reader’s mind to let that grow,” Zaruk clarified.
Descriptions of surroundings and characters can be good, Zaruk added, but there can be a place where that becomes too much, and the writer’s imagination overshadows that of the reader.
“You don’t want to stifle the imagination of the reader,” Zaruk said.
After enthusiastically going over several additional points, as well as a half-hour over time, Zaruk concluded his presentation by thanking his wife Marian, who has helped the author a lot over the years with editing. Zaruk also dismissed the idea of writer’s block, saying, “To me, writer’s block is just a tree in the road – you just go around it.”
For more on Zaruk and to find out when his next workshop in Prince George is to take place, go to the author’s website, http://edzaruk.com.
