...or, How to Dig Yourself Out of Deeper Pitfalls - In Part 2 of this three-part series, we explore writing fiction pitfalls that take more work to fix.
1.) A good story that could be told in 100 words, gets stretched out into five long pages by way of adverbs, adjectives, and details that did nothing to move the story forward. Arrrgh.
2.) Anachronistic language eg The Greek centurion saying "Way to go!" An alien asking "What's happening?" No!
3.) The mixing of language registers drives me mad. eg When the character should say "Who was it for?"or "I laid on the bed." because that is the incorrect grammar THAT character would use. Not "For whom?" or "I lay on the bed." Are you telling a story or writing an essay? The language you use with your buddies is not the language you use with the local priest? Be sensitive to language.
I've read novels that clearly started out as short stories or novellas, but the publisher said, "Make it longer!" and they stick in 17 more chapters in the middle that don't really flow with the rest or feel like the rest or really fit in with the rest, so that the beginning and end are great, but the middle is a half-hearted attempt at making a publisher happy.
Make the story the story and worry about the length after, is what I try to live by!
I rejected a story once that didn't have these pitfalls: the characters were developed with care and the location was so well done you wanted to go there and spend some time. And that was the problem. The author liked the people and the place so much that she forgot that we were there for a story. Fifteen pages of lovely setting and 2 pages of slapdash plot conclusion because "oh silly me, we need to know who killed that guy!"
Thanks for the mention
No problem! Love your suggestions, and believe they're worth sharing!
1.) A good story that could be told in 100 words, gets stretched out into five long pages by way of adverbs, adjectives, and details that did nothing to move the story forward. Arrrgh.
2.) Anachronistic language eg The Greek centurion saying "Way to go!" An alien asking "What's happening?" No!
3.) The mixing of language registers drives me mad. eg When the character should say "Who was it for?"or "I laid on the bed." because that is the incorrect grammar THAT character would use. Not "For whom?" or "I lay on the bed." Are you telling a story or writing an essay? The language you use with your buddies is not the language you use with the local priest? Be sensitive to language.
Great ones!
I've read novels that clearly started out as short stories or novellas, but the publisher said, "Make it longer!" and they stick in 17 more chapters in the middle that don't really flow with the rest or feel like the rest or really fit in with the rest, so that the beginning and end are great, but the middle is a half-hearted attempt at making a publisher happy.
Make the story the story and worry about the length after, is what I try to live by!
I rejected a story once that didn't have these pitfalls: the characters were developed with care and the location was so well done you wanted to go there and spend some time. And that was the problem. The author liked the people and the place so much that she forgot that we were there for a story. Fifteen pages of lovely setting and 2 pages of slapdash plot conclusion because "oh silly me, we need to know who killed that guy!"
Ha ha - yup!
Stay tuned for Part 3...