Tag Archives: Writing Tips

Today’s Writing Tip

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If your novel becomes a series, bear in mind that not all readers will start with book one. Describe your characters again and recap key plot elements. Loyal readers will appreciate the refresher.

Probably the biggest author faux pas is leaving a reader feeling lost, which also tends to throw them out of the story. If they have to stop and backtrack (which is especially difficult and annoying when you’re reading an ebook), it may be because they forgot or it could be you didn’t state it clearly enough. If a reader starts with book two or three of a series, this is especially likely to happen if you don’t do an instant replay of key events in a previous book.

Even those who have read the stories in sequence can use a refresher. It’s highly unlikely that you are the only author they read. Thus, they have probably read other stories between them, especially if a span of time elapsed before the next book was released. They will likewise be more comfortable with the story with a few reminders.

Today’s Writing Tip

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The usual convention is to start your story with the main character. That way,  your reader immediately knows who the story is about. Prologues are the only exception. If something occurs before the main story begins that involves another person, often a prologue functions well to present that information.

Sometimes another character comes along who is so strong, that he or she takes over the story. It’s okay to have several strong characters in a story, but who does it really belong to? This is not always easily answered. Sometimes two characters come together who have separate story arcs. I don’t have all the answers to that situation and am dealing with just that in my current WIP.

However, if someone else clearly takes over, leaving your original main character/protagonist in the dust, then it’s time to reconsider who your protagonist really is. If it changes dramatically, you may have to go back to Chapter One and introduce that person first.

Main characters in complex stories with well-developed plots are not always that easy to identify. How often has your favorite character in a book been someone other than the protagonist? Side and back stories are always an option with these folks as well.

Today’s Writing Tip

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I know I nag a lot about what the author’s job entails. If you’re fortunate enough to have a conventional publisher who provides a cadre of competent editors, then you may have the luxury of simply putting your story down for them to clean up, much as your mother may have done your laundry or cleaned up your room when you were a child.

However, if you’re an independent author, you need to be aware that proper grammar, word usage, punctuation, and so forth is YOUR JOB. Even if you hire an editor, unless you understand there are several types of editors, your work may not be at its best when it goes to press.

One thing that occurs frequently is misuse of homonyms. These are words that sound the same, yet have entirely different meanings. You can find a great list of common offenders as well as words that are often confused on Grammarly here.

Some of my pet peeves are shutter (those louvered, wooden panels you see on windows) versus shudder, which is to shake or tremble; Hanger (what you put your clothes on in the closet) versus hangar, (a building for aircraft storage); their (possessive pronouns for they) versus there (place) versus they’re (contraction for they are); lead (a type of metal or the graphite in a pencil) versus led (past of the verb to lead); whose (possessive pronoun) versus who’s (contraction for who is).

Check out the list on Grammarly. If those terms aren’t firmly implanted in your brain, bookmark the page for future reference.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Flashbacks can be tricky and confusing to a new writer. How to construct them is really quite simple. You introduce flashbacks with past perfect tense, then revert to simple past for duration.

For example, “She’d always known they were an item when their eyes had first met.” After that, you would go to simple past, i.e.: “She remembered that first time clearly, as it stood out so dramatically….” Continue is simple past for the duration of the flashback.

Then, when it’s over and you come back to the present story action, use past perfect again. For example, “That moment would always mean a lot as it had signaled from the start that it would be a special relationship.”

Today’s Writing Tip

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Use active voice as much as possible. If you don’t know what that means, “The boy threw the ball” is active voice.  “The ball was thrown by the boy” is passive voice. Who is performing the action versus what or who is receiving the action?

Not that active voice also eliminates a preposition. The sentence is more clear and there are less unnecessary words. Tighter writing is better writing.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Another skill that separates the pros from the amateurs is comma usage. Personally, I don’t know all the specific grammar rules that apply. There are also a multitude of usage opinions. I actually had an English professor in a university level grammar class tell us they were optional! If he were still alive, I would write him a strongly worded letter regarding why he was all wet.

Granted, there are some who could be called “comma fanatics.” For example, there’s a lot of controversy over what is known as the “Oxford comma.” Most people seem to understand that the elements in a series need to be separated by one. However, whether or not to place one directly before the “and” that precedes the final item is less clear. Most readers can deal with that situation one way or another.

However, with complex sentences, commas help keep the statements from running together. Think of your dinner plate, how most people prefer to keep the meat, potatoes, vegetables, and anything else separated, as opposed to being all slopped together. Commas do this for long sentences, keeping the thoughts separated and more coherent.

Another classic example of how commas change meaning is “Let’s eat Grandma” versus “Let’s eat, Grandma.”

Without knowing all the rules, one way to tell intuitively where a comma belongs is to read your final edit aloud. Where a pause is necessary for clarity is usually a good place for one.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Redundancy is another thing that can slow a story down. One part of speech that helps avoid repetition of a character’s name is the pronoun. You don’t need to keep repeating the character’s name. This is where he, she, it, and they as well as possessive pronouns like his, hers, its, and their come into play.

If a paragraph only involves one person, by all means, don’t keep repeating his or her name. If there are two people involved of different genders, then he and she will work fine. If there are two people of the same gender, then it’s more complicated. If it’s not clear, then it is sometimes justifiable to repeat names.

I read an absolutely dreadfully written story a few years ago where the protagonist was alone, no one else within miles, yet the author repeated his name with nearly every sentence, paragraph after paragraph. It was tedious to the point of being offensive, as if the reader wasn’t intelligent enough to figure out who was doing what.

Today’s Writing Tip

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I’m amazed by how many authors don’t know how to punctuate dialog properly.  I’ve seen periods instead of commas for statements, missing question marks, overuse of explanation points, lack of semi-colons, and multiple speakers in a single paragraph. Knowing these rules is an author’s responsibility. While not all readers will notice if you honk it up, experienced authors will. I remember learning this no later than high school, probably earlier. However, I’ve always been a writer at heart; that may be why that information stuck. Others, if they came to writing later in life, may have never paid attention and simply haven’t noticed it in reading.

Besides punctuation, which really ought to be obvious, the one mistake I see a lot is when one of the characters is on a long-winded speech or monologue. Visually, it’s good to break these into more than one, huge, eye-bogging paragraph. Great. So, if that’s the case. do it correctly.

The way you do that is to start it as you do all dialog with a quotation mark. However, if it goes on to a new paragraph, don’t use a close quote on the first paragraph. This tells the reader there is more to come from the same speaker. The new paragraph will start with a quotation mark, telling the reader it’s still someone speaking and not to be confused with prose.

It’s amazing how many authors don’t know this. Apparently, some editors don’t, either.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Preposition phrases are one thing that get a lot of bad press. If you had the not-so-joyful experience of diagramming sentences in school, you’ll remember that they were placed below the main subject/predicate/object line. This is a graphic illustration that they are add-ons. One way to get around them in many cases is by using possessives. For example, “the pencil’s tip” vs. “the tip of the pencil.”

You’ll be surprised how often this streamlines a sentence, not only be eliminating words, but by compacting the sentence’s meaning, making it easier for the reader to digest. Often prepositional phrases are redundant, too. Give them an evil eye when you’re editing. First see what happens when you take it out entirely. If it contains important information that needs to be included, see if using the possessive form works.

You can’t get rid of them entirely, but assessing their value and then using them sparingly gives them as well as your writing as a whole more punch.

Today’s Writing Tip

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Few writers capture all the elements that make an outstanding story in their first draft. It is comparable to the sketch a master painter uses. It capture the essence, but still requires refinement. My first draft usually is primarily action and dialog. I’ve often thought I’d make a great screenwriter, leaving the other details up to the director and producer. However, that isn’t going to work in a novel.

Granted, some genres are heavier on description than others. A Gothic Romance, for example, is likely to go on and one describing the setting, which would be beyond annoying for a suspense thriller. However, some description is required to fully engage your reader.

I use the acronym IDEAS as a reminder for what to look for when I’m editing. This stands for Imagery; Dialog; Emotion; Action; Suspense. All of these are important story elements. The balance may vary with genre, but each is essential. After you finish your first draft, these are some things to watch for and make sure you haven’t left anything  out. You may have envisioned the story in your head while you were writing, but did you give the reader enough information to do the same?