![\"Point](\"http:\/\/www.marcbilgrey.com\/marcbilgreyblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/eye-881902_640.jpg\")
<\/a>Point of View<\/p><\/div>\n
1. Viewpoint changes. Is your story being told in first person, third, or omniscient? Pick one and stick to it. Don\u2019t start in omniscient and then change to third person in the next sentence or even the next paragraph.\u00a0 (Yes, there are writers who do these things in stories and novels but they have been writing a long time and are very experienced. And even they sometimes have difficulty with point of view).<\/p>\n
2. Tense changes. Is your story or novel being written in the past tense? Present tense?\u00a0 Decide on one and stay with it.<\/p>\n
3.\u00a0 Dialogue that doesn\u2019t advance the story, reveal character, relationships, or setting. This is extraneous, or small talk. A story is not like real life where people repeat themselves or take their time getting to the point (or sometimes never get to it).<\/p>\n
<\/a>Conflict<\/p><\/div>\n
4. Lack of conflict. It is so! It is not! Without conflict your story just sits there. A parked car may be nice to look at, but it won\u2019t take you anywhere.<\/p>\n
5. Weak characters. Your main character(s) must have a need or goal and he or she must go after it. They cannot be passive. And their goals cannot be easily obtained. Also, your main character ought to be likable and sympathetic. There are writers who insist that it\u2019s okay to write about an unlikable character. Maybe they can make it work but there has to be something that keeps the reader reading. You don\u2019t want a reader to stop in the middle of your story or book because they don\u2019t care what happens to your mean, rotten hero or heroine. (Yes, there are occasional exceptions such as anti-heroes and of course, Ebenezer Scrooge).<\/p>\n
6. Too much background or description. Knowing what to put in and what to leave out is a skill in itself. Don\u2019t fall in love with describing the furniture, clothes and curtains, unless this is really important to the story. Or for that matter, don\u2019t give the entire history of a character at all once. (Literary novels are sometimes guilty of this). We are not writing in the nineteenth century before the invention of film, TV, and the internet. Readers want a good story and likable characters, not a home furnishing catalogue or biography.<\/p>\n
7. Too much telling not enough showing. What this often-repeated writing axiom means is that prose writing is not a radio show where everything has to be told. (\u201cHey, what\u2019re you doing with that gun? I bet you don\u2019t have the guts to use it.\u201d) Prose writing relies on the reader bringing their own intelligence to a scene.\u00a0 Everything does not have to be told to them. For instance, instead of having the character say: \u201cI bet you don\u2019t have the guts to use it.\u201d The character could make the observation, (\u201cHis hand was shaking. He was sweating. He licked his lips.\u201d) Now, we as the reader get the idea that the gunman is nervous and maybe doesn\u2019t<\/i> have the guts to do it, but we are seeing<\/i> it, not being told.<\/p>\n
8. Confusing, contradictory or repetitive. Who\u2019s talking? What\u2019s going on now? Didn\u2019t the writer say that happened earlier, but now the reader is learning that it didn\u2019t. Haven\u2019t we already been told this before? Or not?<\/p>\n
9. All action, no characters. Car chases, monsters, spaceships and lots of things happening. But because there are no real characters in the story we couldn\u2019t care less. Many special effects laden movies\u00a0 have this problem, but it can just as easily happen in a story or novel.<\/p>\n
10. All character, no action. The flip side of the previous one. Endless talk but no one ever does anything. A yawn fest.\u00a0 Even in a play which is mostly dialogue the characters do things and events happen. (And yes, I have<\/i> read Waiting<\/i> for<\/i> Godot<\/i>).<\/p>\n Tricks and gimmicks<\/p><\/div>\n 11. Stories that rely entirely on tricks and gimmicks such as, strange viewpoints (animals, objects), odd settings (inside video games, parallel dimensions) and surprise endings. These are often stories with no characters in it. It\u2019s okay to have a surprise at the end, or to have talking animals or objects, be in a video game or another dimension, but make sure you have a real story and actual characters to go with it.<\/p>\n 12. The story is too imitative of another story. Bring your own experience, emotions, loves and even hates into a story. It\u2019s all right to be influenced by another writer when starting out, but look for those things that you<\/i> know and care about. The very things you think will not<\/i> be interesting to a reader might make a great story. I\u2019ve heard beginning writers say that nothing ever happened in the small town where they grew up so they\u2019ll write about a city they\u2019ve never been to. Write about that town!\u00a0 Don\u2019t dismiss your own background and personal experience. Mine them for the gold they contain. The more of yourself that you put into your work, the more unique it will be. That\u2019s what all the writers you admire did. Now go find your own voice. It\u2019s within you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The problem with writing is that it looks so easy everyone thinks they can do it.\u00a0 If you can write an email or school assignment you can write a short story or novel, right? Wrong. No one would presume that … Continue reading <\/a>