Common Errors in Fiction Manuscripts, Part 4
I’m guilty of this, I have to admit. I love words. I love language. Sometimes I get so carried away with descriptors I forget about advancing the plot, and sharpening prose to a keen edge.
On writing
Common Errors in Fiction Manuscripts, Part 3
Too often I receive a manuscript without a strong and consistent point of view. Writers, particularly novices, tend to shilly-shally about with point of view, narrating their story from a cool and distant omniscient perspective so that the reader falls into Tina Toughie’s thoughts, and then Excellent Elizabeth’s.
Common Errors in Fiction Manuscripts, Part 2
There seems to be a preoccupation among writers to describe the colour of eyes. Perhaps this is because eyes play such an essential role in communication for the sighted. In crafting a story, however, it’s crucial to ask oneself if this information is necessary to the advancement of the plot, or to the development of character.
Common Errors in Fiction Manuscripts
In varying degrees I’ve previously written how to prepare a manuscript for submission to Five Rivers. Given the experience both Robert and I have had over the past few years, an updated discussion of some items to watch when submitting fiction seems warranted.
Book Signing Guidelines
I developed the following guidelines for Five Rivers’ writers as a way of preparing them for book signing events. I thought perhaps some of you might find them of use as well.
Five Rivers’ Ten Commandments for Writers
I really never thought I’d succumb to this, to the detestable rules and protocols that gird the publishing world to the point of encumbrance and ritual.
Common Writing Faux Pas
Since sitting the other side of the desk again, I’ve been struck by the common traps in which so many writers are caught. In the interest of keeping my promise to the late Marion Zimmer Bradley, I thought I’d list some of those traps here.
Environmental Detail in Writing
Of late I’ve been often asked how it is I work environmental detail into my writing. Up until now I’ve never really thought about that much, partly because of the way I write (very tightly-focused character-driven stories) and partly because of major influences on my writing, which, if closely analyzed, will reveal…
Do Your Research
If you’re going to be a writer of any kind, you have to research. No escaping it. Fail to and a reader somewhere in the world will catch that one inconsistency and call you on it, and for them, because of that oversight, the story will most likely lose credibility.
The Power of Names
Discussion among some of my colleagues arose a little while ago regarding naming practices in fiction. I must admit I was a little appalled at some of their responses. One writer chose to take an ordinary name and spell it backward to give it a funky, other-world sound, thus David would become Divad, or Susan become Nasus.