Tag Archives: how to write a grea novel

Rule #16 of 32 Simple Rules to the Writing the Best Novel Ever

Posted on August 20, 2013 | 6 comments

I’m dissecting the article Hunting Down the Pleonasm, by Allen Guthrie, using it as a cattle prod to search for little nasties in my manuscript. Yep, you can join in the fun, too. Let’s take a looksee at topic #16

16: Start scenes late and leave them early.

This is something that seems to come naturally to me, but I have seen people struggle with it. This goes the same for “condensing” a dialog to make it appear like a longer conversation, but only giving the key points.

You don’t have to show the whole conversation from “hello” to “goodbye”. It is completely acceptable to “fade out” once the important information has been relayed to the reader so you don’t have to bore them with the dull stuff that doesn’t matter.

The trick is to do it in a way that doesn’t make the reader feel like they have missed out on anything.

This is an art form, and the best way to learn it is to read, and read a lot. While reading, flag the conversations that you really liked, and go back to them when you are done, and look at them out of context.

Why did they work for you? Did the author convey unnecessary “fluff”? Did they get to the point and fade out?

Learn from what others have done, and try to work it into your own writing.

Remember: Only the important info. Take the meat and leave the potatoes behind.

Pleonasms … (wordznerd.wordpress.com)

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Posted in Biggest Mistakes New Writers Make

Tagged Arts, Cattle prod, how to write a grea novel, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, Pleonasm, Reading, Writers Resources

Rule #9 of 32 Simple Rules to the Writing the Best Novel Ever

Posted on July 2, 2013 | 12 comments

I’m dissecting the article Hunting Down the Pleonasm, by Allen Guthrie, using it as a cattle prod to search for little nasties in my manuscript. Yep, you can join in the fun, too. Let’s take a looksee at topic #9

9: Describe the environment in ways that are pertinent to the story. And try to make such descriptions active. Instead of describing a book lying on a table, have your psycho-killer protagonist pick it up, glance at it and move it to the arm of the sofa. He needs something to do to break up those long speeches, right?

This is one of my favorite simple rules. One thing that bores me is when I read “Jessica walked into the bathroom. The white toilet sat to her right. The counter loomed before her, and a window let in the sunshine from the left.

“Ugh! I just hate that. However, she can walk over and close the window, check her acne in the mirror, and dust some cobwebs from behind the toilet, and then you have your setting dispersed in the action. Get it?

Are you a “setting dumper?” Go ahead, it’s okay to admit to it. Now let’s grab one of those overly-described settings and make it active. Let’s see how you do!