Skipping the parts that bore readers should be a no-brainer. And yet this a surprisingly common pitfall. Why? To some extent, writers struggle with know what will bore readers—mostly, because we don’t all agree on what is boring. Lengthy battle scenes turn some readers off, long descriptions are dreaded by most, and I even ran across one reader […]
June 30, 2010 by 29 Comments Story SettingsUse All 5 Senses to Bring Your Setting to Life
Unlike movies, which are inherently visual and auditory, your written fiction depends solely on your power of description to evoke reaction of the senses from your readers and bring your setting to life. This is tricky business, since you want to bring the scene to life, but you don’t want to bore readers with lengthy explanations. So […]
May 26, 2010 by 31 Comments Characters3 Ways to Manage a Huge Cast of Characters
Ever read a book in which a huge cast of characters was dumped in your lap in a short amount of time? Confusing, isn’t it? Sometimes it’s even confusing to the point you put the book down and look for something more straightforward. As a writer, you want your book to be the straightforward one readers […]
May 12, 2010 by 41 Comments CharactersWhat if You Love Your Characters TOO Much?
Just like good parents, writers are often certain their stories and characters are the cutest little thing that ever breathed. You may not carry pictures around in your wallet or brag when your baby takes his first steps before the neighbor’s kid does. But you still want everyone to understand how brilliant/brave/beautiful (you fill in […]
May 5, 2010 by 30 Comments DescriptionOne Example of Why Less Is More When Writing Description
In trying to make scenes come to life for readers, you may be tempted to begin writing description after tantalizing description—all the vivid metaphors and similes you can think of. If one vibrant image is good, then two should definitely double your money, right? Ironically, just the opposite is true. As fellow fantasy author Jane Lebak once […]
October 4, 2009 by 16 Comments DescriptionGood Writers Are So Lazy, They Make Readers Do All the Work!
This is a guest post by Jason Black. Read any half-dozen writing blogs, and they’ll be full of advice on how to craft dramatic scenes, how to write realistic dialogue, how to create vivid settings, and all that jazz. Add in the need for a compelling hook, character arcs, rising tension and stakes, and it […]
July 5, 2009 by 22 Comments DescriptionDo You Have the Two Necessary Skills for Using Details to Bring Your Fiction to Life?
Most of the time when we think of great stories, we think of just that: stories. We don’t often think about the bits and pieces that make up the composite whole, the 206 different bones beneath the polished flesh, the mosaic chips that form the complete picture. But it’s these bits, bones, and chips that decide whether a story […]
March 15, 2009 by 62 Comments Description4 Ways to Make Readers Instantly Loathe Your Character Descriptions
Fiction once began with the face, with the act of observation of the faces of others. Does it still? It’s arguable. I can imagine a skeptic wondering what difference it makes whether writers describe faces or not. Does anything of importance really hang in the balance? Who cares? Does it make any difference to the […]
November 20, 2008 by 27 Comments Description3 Ways Colors Can Transform Your Writing
Arguably, no single descriptive attribute can transform your writing as quickly as color. We can spend hundreds of words laboring over a description of a springtime meadow or a shipwrecked boat, when a single color is all it takes to burst the scene upon the reader’s eye with perfect clarity. Consider the following quotations: Then, still […]
August 24, 2008 by 20 Comments DescriptionThe 3 Must-Know Rules for Using Metaphors and Similes
I love using metaphors. I admit it. I love the paradox that sometimes the best way to evoke the essence of something is to describe something else. I love finding that perfect comparison between two seemingly incomparable subjects and thereby shedding new light on one or both subjects. I love the poetry of speaking metaphorically, […]
