Brush Strokes
In my WIP novel, I'm guilty of using too many of them. A brilliant crit buddy, Barb, explained it to me this way...
At the museum, we teach people to analyze paintings by first considering the subject matter. Then we look at brush strokes: overlay, method, etc., and if those brush strokes get in the way of the subject matter, the painting loses some meaning.
(My apologies to Barb for the marginal paraphrasing.)
So I'm working to exorcise my manuscript of too many brush strokes, otherwise known as B.S. You know, those clever asides and one-liners that get a chuckle the first couple of times they apprear in the manuscript, but then just get annoying and muck up the story. I hope to be cured of the B.S. soon by being able to recognize them immediately for the "fingernails on a chalkboard" that they are. Thanks, Barb!
Happy Revising~
Laura