Three’s a crowd—especially when authors have to juggle three or more characters in a single scene. One character? No problem. Two characters? Eh, that’s in the bag. But three or—heaven forbid—more characters? How do we juggle scenes in which multiple characters are all supposed to be acting and talking? How do we keep a dozen […]
December 21, 2011 by 17 Comments CharactersHow to Write Strong and Silent Characters
One of fiction’s great archetypes is that of strong and silent characters. You know the type: broad shoulders, tortured past, Clint Eastwood squint. He doesn’t say much, but, hey, since he oozes charisma out of every pore, he really doesn’t have to. But how do you convince readers of your character’s supposed strength, when his […]
November 9, 2011 by 23 Comments DialogueAre Your Dialogue Beats Repetitious?
Even the most scintillating dialogue scenes require more than just dialogue to stay afloat. They need dialogue beats—and good ones at that. You must pad the characters’ speech with dialogue tags (he said, she whispered, etc.), internal narrative, and body language and action—otherwise known as action beats. Often dialogue beats will flow naturally from the […]
September 4, 2011 by 24 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Nothing Happening in Your Scene
What happens next? is the question we all want to inspire (in breathless tones) from our readers. But in order for something to happen next, something has to happen to begin with. At first glance, that’s a no-brainer, but it’s actually ridiculously easy to write scene after scene in which one big fat stinking hunk […]
August 10, 2011 by 21 Comments DialogueAvoiding Info Dumps in Dialogue
Dialogue is one of the most exciting and fun bits to write in any story, not only because it gives you the opportunity to hear your characters speak, but also because it’s one of the prime breeding grounds for conflict. However, this only works if you’re avoiding info dumps in dialogue. The trick to good […]
August 3, 2011 by 8 Comments NarrativeThe Simplest Trick for Avoiding Info Dumps
Sometimes authors are faced with the necessity of avoiding info dumps while feeding the reader large chunks of information via internal narrative. The problem, of course, is that, faced with pages of straight narrative in solid blocks of text, readers often grow restless. Vital as the information may be, readers want to get back to […]
April 17, 2011 by 51 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Misused Speaker Tags and Action Beats
Don’t jeopardize your characters’ witty dialogue with punctuation and stylistic mistakes. Let’s a take a look at two means for indicating speakers and varying the rhythm of speech and narrative: the speaker tag and the action beat. How Not to Use Speaker Tags The speaker tag, which in its most basic form consists of the […]
March 16, 2011 by 37 Comments DialogueHow to Use Dialogue to Avoid Lengthy Info Dumps
Stories are about sharing information with readers. This information can be anything from the main character’s mysterious former life as a trapeze artist to something really technical, such as how to disarm a nuclear weapon… or in the case of Neal Stephenson’s science-fiction tome Anathem, heavy-duty mathematics and philosophy. The trick for any author is […]
March 14, 2011 by 8 Comments DialogueWant Fantastic Dialogue? Flee These 6 Fearsome Fillers
The oft-quoted recommendation to make your dialogue as realistic as possible is sometimes the worst advice imaginable. The next time you’re in a conversation—or, even better, eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation—draw back a bit and evaluate what you’re hearing. Those “ums,” “you knows,” and “so, likes…” that pepper our everyday speech may be realistic, but […]
March 6, 2011 by 56 Comments Editing Your Novel3 Things I Love Lucy Can Teach You About Writing Tics
Quick, what annoying trait do writers and I Love Lucy share? In the classic episode “In Palm Springs,” Lucy and her gang drive each other up the wall with their irritating habits: Ricky’s finger tapping, Lucy’s coffee stirring, Ethel’s noisy eating, and Fred’s key jingling. Writers aren’t much different. We tap, stir, slurp, and jingle […]
