Conflict is one of the most essential ingredients of fiction. When a character with a goal meets an obstacle to that goal, conflict ensues. Story ensues. But one-dimensional conflict isn’t enough to plumb the depths of a story’s potential. So just what is one-dimensional conflict? When conflict is coming at the protagonist from just one direction, the […]
June 1, 2014 by 58 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 30: Describing Character Movements
Incorrectly describing character movements ranks surprisingly high among common writing mistakes. Within the confines of a story, a character can do only three things: he can think, he can talk, and he can move. Out of the three, the first two lend themselves most gracefully to written literature, since words are their very foundation. Movement, […]
February 2, 2014 by 46 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Starting Your Story Too Early
One of the most common writing mistakes is starting your story too early. Nothing loses readers faster than an opening weighed down with backstory, routines, or filler before the plot really begins. Instead of grabbing readers with conflict, many writers delay, hoping to set the stage with “essential facts.” But the truth is, when your […]
January 5, 2014 by 78 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Choppy Prose
Choppy prose is one of the most common writing mistakes that can pull readers out of a story. Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, fragmented sentences, run-ons, and punctuation misuse can create an awkward, jarring flow. If your writing feels clunky or hard to read, you may be dealing with choppy prose. This article explores […]
December 1, 2013 by 45 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Weak Character Voice
Voice. It’s one of those elusive elements in fiction that everyone talks about—and no one can quite define. We all nod sagely when agents and editors harp on it, but secretly we’re hoping no one asks us to explain how to actually create it. And just when we think we’ve figured it out for ourselves […]
October 6, 2013 by 53 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Characters Who Lack Solid Story Goals
Characters have to want something, right? That’s the whole point of a story. The protagonist wants something; the antagonistic force gets in the way; conflict ensues. Bing, bang, boom. So it’s totally a no-brainer to point out that a book in which a character lacks solid story goals is a book that’s not going to […]
September 8, 2013 by 28 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Animate Body Parts
If you’re including animate body parts in your prose, you might be writing a horror story and not even know it! Picture this: body parts scattered all over the room. We’re talking a regular massacre. But it gets worse. These aren’t just any ol’ body parts. They’re . . . aliiiiive! What’s that, you say? […]
July 7, 2013 by 16 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Scenes That Focus on What Isn’t Happening
Here’s a little-known secret about stories: they’re about what your characters do. Okay, so maybe it’s not so little known. I mean, duh, right? Your characters do something, and then they do something else—and, presto, you have a plot! And yet, writers often spend a lot of time describing what their characters aren’t doing. It’s true […]
June 2, 2013 by 39 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Overexplaining
Authors are in a tough spot. Readers expect us to supply them with enough info to help them imagine our story worlds and our characters’ emotions in vivid details. But readers also expect us to never provide too many details. They want us to explain; but they never want us to overexplain. Overexplaining can manifest in several […]
May 5, 2013 by 74 Comments DialogueMost Common Writing Mistakes: Poor Use of Dialect in Dialogue
Who doesn’t love a good accent? British, Indian, French, Spanish, Irish, Australian, South African, and Japanese actors, among many others, all bring added spice to their roles on the American big screen. And I suspect the same holds true in reverse (when I visited Australia several years ago, someone told me she loved my accent, which was a […]
