Top Mistakes in Fiction Writing

This baby monkey has nothing to do with today's post. I just love monkeys! I could watch the chimps at the zoo all day long. Sometimes they make more sense than my kids.

No, today we're going to talk about the top mistakes made by beginning writers--in hopes that you can avoid them and leap ahead of the pack. Every writing professional has his/her own list of big No-No's in fiction writing. Most of them show up in newbie writer's manuscripts, and they happen enough to form a pattern. Thus, The List.

This list is by no means exhaustive, and it is not taken from any particular source, but is rather a conglomeration of the collective input from agents, editors, and authors who have seen them all enough to agree on the big ones. Most of the experts have probably made at least one of these blunders themselves, possibly last week, since it is often difficult to judge your own writing objectively and even seasoned professionals trip up from time to time.

1. A weak opening. Too many first-time writers start with description of the scenery, back story, or bland dialogue that fails to engage the reader right from the start. Think about the last book you bought. After lifting a brow at the price tag, you probably read the back cover copy, and then opened to the first page. Something on that page captured your attention, made you want to know more. That's because the author had a strong opening to suck you in. And it worked. You had to know more.

2. Not enough conflict. Conflict, both internal and external, are what drives the plot. Without it, the narrative just lies there on the page. It doesn't go anywhere--except back to the library! Even literary fiction has conflict, usually internal: the hero has some private pain he must overcome or...or what? That's what you want to know. Every book doesn't have to be throat-slashing, monster-jumping, car-chasing thrills. Emotional conflict can be just as powerful, but make sure your reader cares enough about it to keep reading.

3. Too much telling--not enough showing. Remember show-and-tell in grade school? Why didn't the teacher just let us stand up and talk about our object? It's because we are visual creatures and we use all our senses to experience life. If you simply state every emotion your character is going through, the reader is robbed of the opportunity to experience it right along with her.

Instead of naming the emotion, show the physical reaction to that emotion. Instead of: Shari was anxious about her first day. Write instead: Shari rubbed moist palms down her jeans and licked lips that were as dry as desert sand.

4. Overuse of adjectives and adverbs. Those delicious little sentence helpers your English teachers praised you for using need to go. Find words ending in -ly, and evaluate whether you can eliminate them by using stronger verbs or rephrasing the sentence. Adverbs are lazy. They rob the manuscript of tighter emotion by simply telling the reader how something was done.

Ex: He spoke angrily. What does that really tell us? Instead, try something like this: His words were clipped, precise, and he refused to look at her when he spoke.

There are plenty more, but make a checklist and evaluate your own work for all of the above. You're writing will be tighter, flow more smoothly, and be a better read.

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Where Do I Submit?

If you're working on a novel or a non-fiction book, be certain you know your audience. Your audience will determine which avenue of publishing you should pursue.

There are two avenues for publication: the Christian market or the secular. It can get a bit confusing when you research the major publishing houses and learn that the big secular houses like Random and Time-Warner own most of the Christian houses.

However, for your purposes, think of publishing as loosely categorized into two major associations. American Booksellers Association (ABA) is made up of all the publishers who produce mass market books for the secular reading public. Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) caters to the Christian market and the content of the books is quite dissimilar.

If your novel includes Christian elements involving salvation by faith and references to God and Jesus as Persons with whom your characters have a personal relationship, your novel will never see the light of day in the ABA. As with many other media biases, books can contain just about anything perverse, graphic, Satanic, vulgar, or heretical...anything except Christian thematic elements.

Many beginning authors desire to write books that will appeal to both secular and Christian audiences, while remaining true to their faith and including elements of faith in their writing. They reject publication in the CBA, fearing their book won't be read by the ones they hope to reach. It's a naive desire and one quickly squelched as they investigate the realities of publishing. Christians are portrayed in popular novels the same way we are portrayed in television and movies--as quirky hypocrites and not worth taking seriously. There have been a very few "religious" heroes who have managed to make it past the editor's desk who are portrayed with integrity and honesty, but they are usually the property of a well-known and well-established author who can write anything they like! (Faye Kellerman comes to mind with her orthodox Jewish heroine.)

So the choice is already made for you if you plan to include God in your book. That is one reason the CBA exists--to give Christian authors and readers who want to read clean books that include God a place to meet.

When I first began write, I tried to write from a purely secular perspective, desiring to reach a larger audience. But every author's personal beliefs come through in their books and I found I could not write well without including God. It wasn't honest. Life does include God, whether we acknowledge him or not. I knew my heroine would cry out to God at a certain point, and if I develop that idea further than a generic prayer, it would never be published in the ABA.

Above all, your writing must be REAL and if it's not real to you, it won't come across as real to your readers.

My agent, Rachelle Gardner, has a great post on this subject on her blog. Click the link to read more. Remember: write for your audience and write REAL.

http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/search/label/Christian%20Publishing

Merry Christmas

It might encourage you to know that I practice what I preach to you about submitting short stories to magazines and contests while working on bigger projects.

I was notified yesterday that one of my short stories has made it through the first round of cuts in a national Flash Fiction contest and is in the top 100!

More cuts to come, but it was exciting news right before Christmas! If I can do it, so can you! Polish up that story and hit Send.

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Merry Christmas!

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So You Think You Want to Write a Novel...

"I've started a novel, but I can't get past page eight," the college student confided. "I love to write. It's in me and I have this story idea, but...I dunno. Why's it so hard to get it down?"

It is hard, isn't it? Much harder than you thought it would be. When you read good books, the words flow from the page with seemingly effortless rhythm and the pros make it seem like anyone with an imagination and a good grasp of the English language could churn out a bestseller every couple of months. Why not you?

Then you try. And after a few pages you start to think, Maybe there's more to this than I thought.

So you start doing what you should have done first, which is study the craft and art of fiction writing. And you discover a new world that has existed right there all along and you had no idea it was so complicated!

When you think of being a writer, what you're really thinking is novelist.

But that is sort of like taking a first-year EMT and asking him to perform brain surgery. A novel is a 70,000-120,000 word Mt. Everest. And just as a novice mountain-climber wouldn't begin with Everest, you shouldn't try to master novel-writing before mastering the craft on a smaller scale. You'll get discouraged too quickly and give it up altogether.

Short stories, magazine articles, and essays are an excellent way to cut your teeth on the world of publishing, get your name out there, and add credits to your budding resume. Start with something small. Enter contests and read the winning stories. Figure out how they did it. What is they have that you do not yet?

The Internet makes things so much more accessible. Writing contests abound, but do your homework. Sleazy contests abound, too. Watch out for entry fees. Legitimate contests do often charge a nominal fee, but make sure the sponsor of the contest has a good reputation in the literary world.

My first magazine article was published while I was still in college. The pay was a check for $35, but I felt as if I'd won the Pulitzer Prize! Seeing your name in print is a great boost for a beginning writer and helps fuel your writing drive while you stare at more rejections.

A couple of stories I had published nearly 20 years ago are still surfacing and I can google the titles and still find them on the Internet! Quite interesting! It's amazing the lifespan of a single well-placed article.

So go for it. If you're hitting the wall on your great American novel, set it aside and tackle a 1000-word story. Fill it with all the passion, story arc, conflict and suspense you are saving for your novel, trim the words until they fairly sing with tension, and send it in.

That little 1,000 words could be the start of something big!

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The Writer's Toolbox

Every craftsman needs quality tools to be the best at what he does. The same holds true for artists of any genre, including writers.

Some of the most useful books I've found and have seen recommended on many writer sites are listed below. They can all be found quite reasonably on Amazon or many used bookstores online. There are countless others, but these will get you started.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, by Renni Browne and Dave King. Written by a pair of editors, this handy reference book takes your rough draft to the next several levels, telling you what to look for as you try to edit your own work. More than a grammar or punctuation checker, this book teaches you how to spot weak places in your plot, how to ramp up tension, how to spot overused words or phrases. Most agents and editors recommend this book and so do I.

Writing the Breakout Novel, by Donald Maass. Donald Maass has been a top literary agent for over a decade and this book is the gold standard among writers. He clearly explains the techniques and characteristics that separate a fairly good novel from a breakout hit. A must-have for any serious fiction author.

Plot & Structure, by James Scott Bell. More information and helpful exercises than you can probably ever used, but Bell packs this book with useful tips on everything from finding ideas to story arcs.

There are too many helpful books to list, but these three sit handily on the shelf beside my computer and I refer to them often. The best way to decide which books you should invest in is to visit respected writer sites or blogs by agents and editors. Most will list their favorite books for writers. The ones mentioned on site after site are tried and true and you can safely assume they are what you need.

Vote for Me!

One of my short stories was selected for a contest at Christian Fiction Online Magazine. Click here to read it and vote for me!

http://christianfictiononlinemagazine.com/best_multicultural.html
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What is Voice?

If you work hard at your writing for a while, you will hear a term you may not fully grasp. You may hear an editor, agent, or another writer refer to a author's "voice." What are they talking about?

In literature, voice refers to the way a writer expresses thoughts on the page. Just as most audible voices sound a bit different, so do the ways in which we express our ideas in written form. Read enough, and soon you can pick out your favorite authors by the way they write. The pace of their phrasing, the word choices, that twist of humor in unexpected places. Any avid reader could instantly tell the difference between the writing styles of John Grisham and Sue Grafton. You wouldn't confuse Ted Dekker with Debbie Macomber either. Each has his or her own unique style that fans come to expect when they pick up a book with that name on the cover.

Every writer has a voice and one challenge of beginning authors is to find that unique voice inside and write from it consistently. I am to the stage in my fiction writing where I can tell when I'm writing "in voice" and when I'm just slapping words on the page. Just as an opera singer must practice diligently to always call up that voice when she needs to. So authors have to practice it, and it can take awhile.

First we mimic other writers, which is a great way to learn to write. But even the greatest mimic can never reproduce another's voice, so don't worry that you're not being unique. Imitation is a great way to learn, but don't fear breaking away and trying it on your own. With enough practice, your own voice will come through in your writing.

My agent, Rachelle Gardener, had an excellent post on her blog which goes into much greater detail. For more study, check out this link. http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/search/label/Voice