Comments on: White Space in Writing

By: dholcomb1

dholcomb1 — Sat, 28 Mar 2020 05:31:48 +0000

great thoughts. a good formatter and editor can help with some of it.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Sat, 28 Mar 2020 04:20:44 +0000

I'm adamant about using short paragraphs in my contemporary romances. I just think it makes the story easier to read. Sometimes my editor wants to combine two shorter paragraphs. At times, I'll allow it, but other times, I pass on the suggestion. So many people read romances on devices now that I just want to leave the reader with some space to rest their eyes a bit. It's also better for print books. When I format my books for publication, I check to see if any pages look "blocky."

By: Terry Odell

Terry Odell — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 23:33:41 +0000

In reply to ecellenb. Yes, although most of the books were of the "I wouldn't have chosen that to read" variety. I did find some I enjoyed, although not enough to spend that much of my time in that group. The last straw for me was when the self-appointed group leader said, "all these books have been published and have been edited, so we shouldn't talk about the writing, just the story."

By: ecellenb

ecellenb — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 21:00:58 +0000

In reply to Terry Odell. Wow. The book had two strikes against it for you. Did your past book club mix up the genres?

By: ecellenb

ecellenb — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 20:43:45 +0000

In reply to janetsm. I am sorely remiss with my own website and need to check to see if I am practicing as I preach. LOL. Spacing really makes a difference in readability.

By: ecellenb

ecellenb — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 20:40:04 +0000

In reply to Eldred Bird. Thanks, Eldred! I believe many of us have a sense of white space without really thinking about it. Glad to know I've given you something to ponder.

By: ecellenb

ecellenb — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 20:37:08 +0000

In reply to vanderso. Thank you so much for the share. That's awesome!

By: ecellenb

ecellenb — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 20:35:23 +0000

In reply to Ontyre Passages. Thank you Ontyre! When I see those long, blocky paragraphs I want to get in there and break it up into smaller chunks. I love critique groups that help with this part of writing.

By: Terry Odell

Terry Odell — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 16:48:15 +0000

When my former book club chose "Hamilton" I flipped through a few pages and decided that there was no way I could get through it. The fact that the genre wasn't anything I'd read was only part of the issue. Talk about dense. Which is my problem with a lot of 'literary' fiction.

By: janetsm

janetsm — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 16:38:51 +0000

I'm making a conscious effort to incorporate white space in my blog posts by writing shorter paragraphs and sometimes inserting separators or skipping an extra line between sections. You make a lot of good points. Thank you.