Have you ever had to read the same page of a book over and over again, and by the third or fourth read you still aren’t sure what happened? When it happens to me, I usually assume I’m too distracted or tired and put the book down with promises to come back tomorrow. But every now and then, I find myself still unable to grasp at the words on the page after a long break.
This is the experience of a reader who has come into contact with authorial bias. Authors are so intimately connected to the story – fully able to see every stroke of a scene in their mind -- that they may not realize they’ve left a key detail out that clarifies the beat.
Sometimes you have that story bursting inside you, and your fingers can hardly keep up. Getting all of that on paper in a way that moves quickly enough while giving the detail that brings your vision to others can be hard, but it’s not impossible. Here are some tips to mitigate authorial bias in your writing process.
Overwrite and Edit Later
I like to encourage my authors to really enjoy living in their scenes and write down all of the minutia that come to mind. During writing time, try not to judge anything that hits the page, and keep the description rolling. If you spend too much time reconsidering, you may cut the detail that makes the scene stand out clearly in a reader’s mind. Finish getting everything on the page, take a long break, and then on another day, week, month, come back to the scene and edit. Giving yourself that space will help you solidify what needs room to breathe and where you can afford cuts. It’s always easier to cut when the pace gets impeded than to expand when your beta readers come back confused about what happened way down the line.
Ditch the Clichés
Frightened to death.
Sweating like a sinner in church.
Light as a feather.
All of these phrases are meant to give a reader a sense of how a character has perceived the world around them. But the reality is that these phrases are so common that our brains skip over them and never internalize what the author is trying to get across. This can lead to confusion down the line when a character’s fears come back to haunt them or if something that was once heavy is now light. The reader won’t catch it. Instead, try original phrases based in personal experiences:
She stopped stiff, too overcome for fight or flight.
He reeked of old onions despite his generous lathering of deodorant this morning.
She squatted to hoist the box and nearly fell over with surprise to find it so light.
Appeal to the Senses
If a paragraph seems long and sluggish, it’s likely your word choice isn’t sharp enough. Indistinct language can make sentences blur together and cause confusion for readers, but taking the extra time to select the right word based in sensory language will naturally engage new parts of their brain and keep them focused. If your readers can taste, see, feel, hear and smell your scenes, they’ll stay hooked on your content. Need help getting started? Here’s a great sensory language list as a jumpstart.
Cut the Fluff
Once you have taken a long break from your scene (see: at least a day, but the longer the better) and are ready to edit, be ruthless with unnecessary moments/words/expressions. This is where the now common “kill your lovelies” comes in. You have to love what you produce, but if it isn’t serving the reader in some way, it has to go. One of the quickest ways to get rid of a little faff is by eliminating crutch words such as just, definitely, very, or basically. They help your brain fill space while you’re searching for the next word to write but don’t add anything to your sentence.
The bigger the fluff, the harder it is to find and eliminate on your own. Yes, you should always review and edit your own work first, but at some point an outside perspective is key. Authorial bias is something all writers have and need help filling in holes. Without it, a lot of plot holes can make it to publication. The more you’re able to uncover it for your own story, the better of an experience you’ll have with your editorial team.
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