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 24, 2013 by 24 Comments Prose3 Ways to Add Repetition That Pleases Readers
We all know to avoid “bad” repetition—our overused pet words, unintended echoing phrases, and repetitive sentence structure. But there’s also useful repetition that we can use to enhance our stories. Repetition can be used to reinforce a sense of unity or to supply readers with a satisfying feeling after tying up loose ends. Let’s look at three examples […]
April 17, 2013 by 15 Comments NarrativeWhat to Know About Using Stream of Consciousness in a Story
Stream of consciousness is the term applied to a form of narrative found in deep POVs. It allows authors to delve deeper into their narrators’ minds than just about any other technique. Stream of consciousness indicates a progression of internal narrative that tries to mimic real-life thought patterns: rapid-fire delivery, jumps in association and logic, […]
April 7, 2013 by 66 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Overusing “Suddenly”
What’s one of the most overused and unnecessary words in a writer’s repertoire? Try “suddenly.” Now, at first glance, “suddenly” seems pretty innocuous. After all, it’s just a little adverb. It’s so commonplace, it’s almost invisible. And it’s important. Unlike so many useless modifiers, it tells readers exactly how some important action is happening. It […]
March 22, 2013 by 13 Comments ProseHow Humor Can Make You a Better Writer
This post is by Gene Perret. Following are a few quips that have something interesting in common: You know what an agnostic is? A cowardly atheist. Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today. Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint. The common factor is that they were all created by distinguished writers. The first […]
March 6, 2013 by 27 Comments ProseThe Surprising Effect of Too Much Clarity in a Story
Did you know there’s such a thing as an author being too clear? Most of the time, we worry our heads off to ensure our stories are clear enough. (One of my first questions to beta readers and critique partners is always, “Were you ever confused?”) After all, a story that doesn’t make sense will […]
September 21, 2012 by 8 Comments ProseUse Adverbs to Create Music for Your Readers’ Ears
The problem with modifiers in general, and adverbs in particular, is they are notorious tellers and a hindrance to good showing. Instead of telling us, “He stormed out of the room angrily,” show us by his actions how an angry man storms out of the room. Show us his clenched fists with white knuckles. Let us hear the boom of […]
March 20, 2011 by 66 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Why Vague Writing Is Weak Writing
Vague writing is weak writing. Precision is the domain of the skilled and confident author. As the creator of your worlds and your characters, you will always have the ability to make statements of authority in your writing. After all, if you’re not the authority in your stories, who is? What this means is that […]
February 4, 2011 by 64 Comments Editing Your NovelThe 4 Most Common Mistakes Fiction Editors See
Wouldn’t it be great if nobody ever needed an editor? If all of our stories and novels appeared in readers’ minds just as beautifully and vividly and succinctly they do in our own? Wouldn’t it be great if the story we think we’ve told were, in fact, the story we’ve told? There are more aspiring […]
April 25, 2010 by 63 Comments Editing Your Novel10 Ways to Write Skinny Sentences
If brevity is the soul of wit, then economy is the energy of prose. Let’s hear it for skinny sentences! Don’t get me wrong: I love complex, twisty, beautiful sentences. As Aleksandar Hemon pointed out in an interview with The Writer magazine: I like to push language toward poetry, to activate the dormant possibilities inherent in it. […]
