As a writing coach and book editor, I’ve seen too many novelists, with the very first line they write, destroy their chances of ever getting published. A good novel will grab the reader’s attention with its first words, create characters the reader wants to know, create a situation the character must resolve, create suspense, create…
Category Archives: Fiction Writing
Write a Novel – The Difference Between Voice and Tone
One of the best ways to understand something is to provide different treatments of the subject. Thomas Mann’s eight stories in the popular Vintage imprint with DEATH IN VENICE as the lead title is ideal to work from, since each story is written in a different voice. Yet his masterpiece, THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN, depicts his…
Write a Novel – How to Get Published
To write a novel that will be appealing to a major royalty publisher involves more than just talent and hard work. It requires creating a plan from the outset and the discipline to follow it. Everybody Has a Story Worth Telling If you have begun reading this article, there’s a good possibility you have either…
Write a Novel – Point of View and Techniques for Effective Shifts
The first question some people might ask is why any writer would need to learn techniques related to Point of View. Doesn’t POV automatically synchronize with the character’s thoughts as soon as these feelings are expressed by the writer? And isn’t the POV of a scene easily identified by an attribute or obvious implication? If…
Writing Tips For Novelists – Inserting Dialogue to Improve Narrative Pacing
It would be nice to relate that few writers ever have pacing issues, but as any novelist knows, the story’s tempo is often–as it should be–on the forefront of an author’s mind.In the writing workshops I facilitate that are sponsored by the Palm Beach County Library System, budding authors often ask about ways to better…
Writing Tip For Serious Fiction Writers – The Prudent Use of Contractions to Create Fluent Dialogue
With an Ear for the Reader, Understand the Value of Contractions for Realism in Dialogue A major hindrance to realistic dialogue is the inability to recognize the value of contractions to enable fluency. Dialogue quickly becomes stilted due to the non-use of contractions, and the narrative tends to read like dissertation material or a legal brief. …
Four Authors of Classical Contemporary Literature Defined the Craft of Writing Perfect Prose
There are four aspects of the craft of writing that many who understand literature would argue have never been better addressed: Steinbeck’s perfection with dialogue, Faulkner’s depth of characterization, Hemingway’s precise narrative, and Fitzgerald’s palpable creation of mood. One of the quickest ways to appreciate John Steinbeck’s brilliance in the realm of dialogue is to…
Writing Better Fiction – Beware when Action does Not Constitute Movement
One of the most serious issues facing many writers is the ability to maintain the action throughout the narrative. Unfortunately, the mere creation of a dramatic occurrence does not guarantee plot movement
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