Novel Writing - Things to Avoid

Advice from J.F. Penn

• Not reading books in the genre and understanding what readers expect
• Not reading dialogue aloud
• Editing while writing

Advice from J. Thorn

• The book has no single, identifiable genre
• The title and/or cover does not clearly convey genre
• Making your book description longer than a few sentences or a paragraph

Advice from Randy Ingermanson

• Failing to learn the basic craft and figuring stuff out yourself
• Rewriting the same chapter over and over in a pursuit of impossible perfection
• Comparing yourself to other writers, especially famous ones

Advice from Adam Croft

• Thinking too much
• Writing stilted dialogue
• Not making time to write

Advice from K.M. Weiland

• Not writing for the love of it, first and foremost
• Not writing unless you have to
• Scrimping on the small stuff - not studying how to make your writing as best as possible

Advice from Kevin Tumlinson

• The wrong focus - on tools instead of the writing itself
• Like I said... a writer's job is to write - not putting other stuff on the backburner
• Letting everyone else have a say in your work - taking everyone's opinions as law

Advice from Johnny B. Truant

• Putting EVERYTHING in it
• Overexplaining
• Needing it to sell well

First Person Stories - 8 Ways to Start

1. Make your reader care

   Introduce affecting details. Charles Dickens describes in opening paragraphs how David Copperfield visits his fathers grave.

2. Start with revealing actions

   Try actions that create suspense (e.g. running away from something or hiding an object) or convey emotion.

3. Don't spill everything at once

   Leave some of the most interesting tidbits about your character for later. A little mystery keeps readers seeking answers.

4. Give your “I” narrator a voice

   Use personality - is your narrator mostly optimistic or negative? What adjectives do they use most? Are they wordy or clipped?

5. Use active voice

   “The letter was sent by me” reads strangely. Make your character an active, acting subject.

6. Confide in the reader

   Secrets and intimate revelations create curiosity and intimacy. Try have your narrator share personal history.

7. Avoid filter words

   Instead of "l saw that the building was collapsing," say, "The building was collapsing." This creates less distance.

8. Introduce other characters

   Try having your first person narrator mention someone the reader is yet to meet to create extra intrigue and anticipation.

Story Structure: 7 Narrative Structures All Writers Should Know

Romance Tips

• Consider what your characters like about each other
• Compliment their personalities. How can character A help with character B's weaknesses?
• Create boundaries
• Make the characters notice each other's quirks
• Have your characters get annoyed by some of their quirks
• Go slow on getting them together
• Build trust between characters
• Give them a life outside of their relationship
• Let your characters be vulnerable in front of each other
• Have scenes where they're helping each other
• What makes your characters want to stay together?
• If your romance is a sub-plot, how much attention to they give the other character?
• What does character A notice about character B?

Scenes 101

6 Questions to Ask

1. What needs to happen in this scene?
2. What's the worst that would happen if this scene were omitted?
3. Who needs to be in the scene?
4. Where could the scene take place?
5. What' the most surprising thing that could happen in the scene?
6. Is this a long scene or a short scene?

5 Things to Do

1. Brainstorm three different ways it could begin.
2. Play it on the screen in your head.
3. Write a scribble version.
4. Write the full scene.
5. Repeat as many times as necessary.

Great Beginnings

All Great Story Beginnings…

• Describe:
  • The setting
  • The main character
  • The Action
• Contain good dialogue
• Set the stage for what comes later in the story
• Create a mood or feeling that you want the story to have
• Keep readers hooked and engaged for more

Great Story Beginnings do NOT start with waking up, because…

Starting your story with your character waking up (from a coma, from being knocked out, from being asleep, etc.) is not only cliche, but boring.

Even worse is when you take your character through their banal morning routine. lt's not interesting. If you start this way, some- thing interesting better be happening and you should have a good reason to start this way.

Great Story Beginnings do NOT start with dreams, because…

Like waking up, starting your story with a dream is another cliché and it cheats the reader. We've already spent time reading the beginning, only to find out it wasn't really the beginning. And then we go into the real beginning, which is your character waking up.

Again, you need a good reason to start with a dream. The beginning of the movie Inception was a dream, but the dream was an active part of the story and it was interesting. It made sense.

Great Story Beginnings do NOT start with a backstory, because…

We don't care about your character yet! Get right to the action. Don't start with an info dump of background information on your character. Sprinkle that information throughout the story instead.

How to Use "Show and Tell" Properly

Showing emotion will bring the reader closer to the characters, to understand their reactions better. But readers don't need to read about how slow she was moving due to tiredness.

Likewise, when you do show, keep it to a maximum of three sentences. Two paragraphs of 'how she was sad,' with no dialogue or inner thought is just as boring.

Types of Story Conflict

Person vs Person

• Friction and tension between friends, lovers, or protagonists and antagonists

Person vs Nature

• Conflict between characters and environment (i.e.: natural disasters or harsh weather phenomena)

Person vs Self

• AKA Internal conflict (i.e.: fear and self-doubt, self-destructiveness)

Person vs Society

• The struggle between individuals and social codes in their world

Person vs Supernatural

• Conflict between characters and paranormal or otherworldly events

Person vs Technology

• Conflict between characters and the results of scientific discovery

Writing Fight/Combat Scenes

Have a Purpose

• Why are these characters in physical conflict?
• Is it to…