Writers on Writing is our regular conversation with a writer or industry professional about the writing craft, industry insights, and their own practice. This week, we spoke to Emily Bitto about focusing on the sentence level of writing in the drafting and editing process, and about how to tap into a playful, experimental part of your writing.

How does your writing process include working on prose? Do you focus on individual sentences in the drafting stage, or more in the editing stage?

I’m very focused on the sentence level when I write, even in the drafting stage. Most of what’s usually described as ‘voice’ happens on the sentence level, and I find that I need to work out what kind of ‘voice’ I want a particular story to have before I can really dive into it, write scenes, etc. However, the way of figuring that out is to write a lot of scenes, or at least partial scenes, and slowly work out what feels right, in terms of things like rhythm, syntax, sentence length, diction. I know that most of what I write during this very early stage won’t make it into the finished version, but that’s just the way it goes for me. Then, once I’ve got a bit of a handle on the ‘voice,’ I’ll often read back over the last few pages I wrote, ideally aloud, before I write the next section, as a way of trying to get myself back into the swing of the prose style I want to continue with. Then, in the editing stage, I’m mostly cutting. A lot. Superfluous words, sentences, scenes, etc. But everyone is different, so this process may not work at all for someone else.

What are some tips for writers wanting to avoid clichés in their writing? 

When you come to describe something in your writing, especially if you’re about to use a verb or adjective, or create a simile, the first words or images that come to mind will often be clichés. Our brains are trained through repetition to connect particular words or images together. So, for example, if you are describing someone who’s angry, verbs like ‘raged,’ and ‘thundered’ are likely to come to mind, or as are images of storms, volcanoes, wildfires, etc. But if you think a bit more, there are plenty of other verbs and images available to draw on. Focusing on verbs and adjectives is a really good place to start. Go through your draft and circle all the verbs and adjectives, looking for the places where you’ve made lazy choices. Another tip: read poetry! Poets (or the good ones, at least) can’t get away with clichéd words and images, because they don’t have plot and character to distract their readers!

How can writers avoid getting ‘stuck’ at the sentence level while still crafting exquisite sentence constructions? Should they free-write, or edit as they go? 

I do think that the initial drafting stage and the later revision stage require very different things, and the mindset that’s useful in the editing and revision stage (analytical, critical, discerning) can actually hinder us in the initial drafting stage. So I guess I’d say that if you feel like focusing on the sentence level in the drafting stage is activating your inner critic too much, then just free-write, because you can always improve your sentences later. But for me, I can actually get around that inner critic by focusing on playing with things like the rhythm of my sentences, sound-patterning, choosing interesting words… If I can have fun with it, I can actually tap into a more playful, experimental part of my brain, and that’s when surprising things can happen.

Can you give some examples of writers who write beautiful sentences?

There are so many, it’s hard to choose. In terms of writers still alive and writing… I love the English writer Max Porter. He’s a novelist, but his sentences are those of a poet. Often wild and surprising. In Australia, Michelle De Kretser is an absolute master of the sentence. A national treasure!