By Karen Cioffi
Fiction writers who are good at what they do, enjoy what they do.
They like creating something from nothing . . . well from an idea. They
enjoy the craft and the process.
But, with that said, there are 5 top mistakes these writers make.
1. You make the beginning of your story all roses.
While we’d all love to live in a peaceful, happy land, readers need
something to sink their teeth into, especially at the beginning of the
story.
The beginning of your story is the hook. It’s where you GRAB the
reader and make her have to turn the page and want to know what’s going
to happen to the protagonist.
Here are a couple of examples of ‘hooking’ beginnings:
“I have noticed that teachers get exciting confused with boring a
lot. But when my teacher said, ‘Class, we have an exciting project to
talk about,’ I listened away.”
“The Talented Clementine” by Sara Pennypacker.
“My name is India Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the
preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some
white rice, and two tomatoes and I came back with a dog.”
“Because of Winn-Dixie” by Kate DiCamillo
These two examples of children’s writing give you a good idea of what it takes to ‘hook’ the reader.
2. The dialog is weak, fluffy.
Having weak dialog can kill your story. You need your characters to have passion . . . to have life.
You want dialog that is strong and tight. You want the emotion (the
conflict, the tension, the passion) to come through the words. And, you
want to say it in as few words and as realistically as possible.
You want the reader to feel what the character is feeling at that moment.
If Bob is angry in the story, show it through his dialog:
“WHAT! Who said you could take that?!”
“Hey! What are you doing?!”
“No! You can’t. Now get lost.”
“Get your hands off of me!”
The tight, strong dialog goes for exchanges also:
“Hey! What are you doing?!” Bob yelled.
Gia spun around. “Oh, ugh, nothing.” Her eyes darted to the door then back to Bob.
3. The story is predictable.
You’ve got to have some surprises in the story. If you don’t, it will make for a rather dull, predictable story.
For this aspect of your story, think questions.
– Why is the character in that situation?
– How did he get there?
– What must she be feeling, seeing?
– How can see get out of it?
– What might happen next?
Try to come up with four or five options as to what might happen next.
In an article at Writer’s Digest, the author advises to “Close your
eyes and watch your scene unfold. Let the characters improvise. What are
some outlandish things that could result? If something looks
interesting, find a way to justify it.” (1)
Let your imagination run wild.
To read the full article, please go to:
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