tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post901436451296434331..comments2023-09-05T12:51:25.656-05:00Comments on edittorrent: R.U.E.Edittorrenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-54651558479574773432012-04-26T10:38:33.745-05:002012-04-26T10:38:33.745-05:00"...trust your reader to understand what'..."...trust your reader to understand what's happening."<br /><br />I think that's the key to the problem - not writers not trusting themselves, but not trusting their readers to figure it out. I think that's why readers find it so annoying. It's like talking down to them.R. E. Hunterhttp://rehunter.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-60737547843504839082012-04-25T21:02:26.582-05:002012-04-25T21:02:26.582-05:00PatriciaW said "When I can tell the author re...PatriciaW said "When I can tell the author researched a particular issue, then they've probably included too much information."<br /><br />That helps me understand why, when reviewing a book I don't like, I often find myself making the point that it was well-researched! Obviously the research showed too much. I should have been so absorbed in the story that I didn't notice - but I did. However, I get even more annoyed when authors have obviously failed to research, which I guess makes me hard to please...<br /><br />So, DO the research, but then RUE the research.Iolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17199141868703826943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-40596057868851475922012-04-25T20:28:55.531-05:002012-04-25T20:28:55.531-05:00I've had beta readers say..."first she...I've had beta readers say..."first she's thirsty and now five pages later she's drinking? When did she get a cup?" kind of comments. It's kind of frustrating... <br /><br />But I think it's more frustrating when you mention "someone trained x years to learn something" in context of something else and DON'T remind the reader, then have them say, "How'd she know how to do that?" <br /><br />GRRR Sometimes I feel like highlighting passages and sending them back LOL mostly cuz I don't know how to fix the problem. My beta readers and CP partners are all intelligent people. So how do you make sure they remember w/o doing what you just said is bad? LOLLeonahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11786326364037397675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-26549024800407364092012-04-25T15:36:15.753-05:002012-04-25T15:36:15.753-05:00I learned about RUE from Self-Editing for Fiction ...I learned about RUE from <i>Self-Editing for Fiction Writers</i> (great book). While redundancy and useless detail are problems in their own right, I've always associated RUE specifically with the lack of confidence issue. The author tries to convey something with subtext, but is unsure that the point came across either because he/she doesn't have the skill or because he/she doesn't trust the readers to get it. When going over my own work, I reserve RUE markings for these show-<i>and</i>-tell cases.<br /><br />Although I'm aware of the problem, and I can point to it on my own pages, I often have a hard time deleting those little explanatory sentences. A lot of my work is in first person, so I'm always tempted to justify the summary as the narrator's <i>interpretation</i> rather than actual redundancy. Part of me knows it's a cop-out excuse, but it works more often than I'd like to admit.Adriannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-85888250138551113272012-04-25T11:54:43.038-05:002012-04-25T11:54:43.038-05:00Research and backstory dumps might fall into R.U.E...Research and backstory dumps might fall into R.U.E.<br /><br />She pulled out her Colt 45 and put a bullet through the barrel.<br /><br />This followed by several sentences or paragraphs explaining why the Colt 45 was the right gun to use over other options in this scenario because the author researched guns.<br /><br />When I can tell the author researched a particular issue, then they've probably included too much information.<br /><br />On backstory, it's when the author feels the need to explain everything that happened in the character's life that led up to the story action.<br /><br />Linda stayed home from her mother's funeral. No way she could attend. Not after all she'd been through. When she was five, her mother forced her to eat every green pea on her plate. Again and again and again. As she got older, Linda and her mother butted heads over any number of topics, from the length of her skirts to her boyfriends, even what she chose to study in college. Then...<br /><br />You get my drift.<br /><br />In both of these cases, either the information was necessary <i>for the author</i> in order to write the story, but the auithor mistakenly assumed the reader needed it to, or if in some way it helps to move the story, the author failed to drop it in bits at a time.PatriciaWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04572087157439187319noreply@blogger.com