When readers open a book, they usually know what they’re going to be getting. First- or third-person narrative voices, told in the past tense, in a linear timeline, are the most common narrative forms. Readers are familiar with these forms and comfortable with them, and, because these forms allow a nice blend of flexibility and […]
August 3, 2011 by 9 Comments NarrativeWaiter! There’s a Smphurphle in My Fantasy Novel: Do’s and Don’ts of Made-Up Words
One of the joys writing fantasy is the necessity of creating made-up names for your unique worlds, races, creatures, and technology. However, even the best of fantasy writers occasionally take this to a worrisome extreme when they start slapping made-up names on things that really aren’t so fantastical after all. In Alchemy With Words (edited […]
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 […]
June 5, 2011 by 132 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Overpowering First-Person Narrator
Stories told by a first-person narrator are increasingly popular these days. First-Person: “I went to school today.” Third-Person: “She went to school today.” First-person is often a narrative perspective that’s tricky to get right. The first-person narrator, more than any other type of narrator, is inclined to lapse into self-centered telling, in which the narrating […]
February 23, 2011 by 21 Comments NarrativeIs Authorial Voice Different From Character Voice?
This whole idea of “authorial voice” is something many authors struggle with, in part because they’re not always sure what “voice” means. Is voice something that remains the same in every one of an author’s projects? Or is it something that changes from story to story? This is a question that causes a lot of […]
February 20, 2011 by 51 Comments Narrative5 Ways to Write Character Thoughts Worth More Than a Penny
One of the key benefits of written fiction is also one of the most difficult techniques to master: the characters’ inner narrative. The inner narrative of the characters—their thoughts put on paper—is the essence of fiction. Mastery of that essence equals mastery, in large part, of the art form of fiction itself. No wonder it’s […]
February 9, 2011 by 32 Comments NarrativeThree Places Where You Should Tell Instead of Show
Amid all the demands for authors to show, instead of tell, it can be easy to forget telling is still a vital part of any story. There are moments when summarizing is a decidedly better choice than dramatizing. The Reverse of the Medal, the brilliant eleventh installment in Patrick O’Brian’s esteemed Aubrey/Maturin series, offers several examples […]
February 6, 2011 by 49 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Poor Cause and Effect
As creators of story worlds, authors are privileged with a certain amount of inside information. We almost always know what’s going to happen to the characters before an event actually occurs. We understand cause and effect intuitively. The readers and the main character might not have seen that left hook coming from the antagonist, but […]
February 2, 2011 by 13 Comments NarrativeControl Your Speed, Control Your Pacing
Controlling and influencing your readers’ experience of your story is one of your most important jobs as an author. One of the most trustworthy ways to accomplish this is through pacing. In a sense, pacing in a story is like the soundtrack in a movie. Like the ominous music before a murder or the swell […]
December 29, 2010 by 27 Comments DescriptionHow to Bring Adjectives to Life
As a writer, you’re always being told you’re not supposed to pile on the adjectives to describe something. But how else can you share with readers the nuanced vision you see in your own mind’s eye? David Guterson’s lyrical study of life and death in East of the Mountains offers a surprisingly simple and effective […]
