10/26/2022 0 Comments Yakyak invalid spectorThis is where the premise / story line is obscure, with all kinds of unrelated happenings and way too much yak-yak dialogue that doesn’t have enough tension, conflict, or purpose.Īlso, often the issues and stakes aren’t serious enough. Create a lead character who is smart, likeable, and charismatic, but with inner conflict, a few flaws, some baggage, and maybe a past that’s haunting them. Readers want a protagonist they can bond with, worry about, and root for – and a character who’s worthy of their worry. ~ The main character is flat, unsympathetic, predictable, or wishy-washy. Or a convoluted story where many issues or subplots don’t tie in with the main character and his or her overarching problem. Or maybe you have too many subplots that veer off in different directions and confuse the issue. ~ Way too much going on.Ī common problem is too many characters crowding the scenes, and readers getting confused and frustrated trying to remember who’s who. Each scene should impact the following scenes and complicate future events. Your events and scenes need to be connected by cause and effect. ~ One unrelated thing after another happens.ĭon’t get caught up in “and then, and then, and then,” with a bunch of sub-stories or episodes that aren’t related to each other and don’t directly tie in with the main plot problem and story question. Don’t let it get lost in meandering writing, too much backstory, frequent info dumps, too many characters, too many subplots, and unrelated plot details. What’s the protagonist’s main goal and fear, and his/her main problem? This should be obvious early on and be the overriding driving force behind your whole story. ~ Meandering writing – the main story question / problem is fuzzy or buried. Unless you’re an absolutely brilliant writer, and experts in the business have told you so, if your manuscript is over 95,000 words long, it definitely needs tightening up.Ĭut way back on explanations and descriptions, and trim down long, convoluted sentences to their essence. Today’s bestselling novels are mostly between 70,000 and 90,000 words long. Not enough self-editing will give people a reason to reject your novel Fortunately, they can all be remedied at the revision and self-editing stages. These types of glaring gaffes in writing, pacing, plot, or structure will bog down your story and invite bad reviews, which could sink your reputation as a novelist. Have your trusted friends or beta readers told you your WIP novel is too long, confusing, or just doesn’t grab them? Here are some typical “big-picture” weaknesses to watch out for in your fiction and correct before sending it to an editor, publishing it, or pitching it to an agent. …fiction editor and author of writing guides Fire up your fiction and don’t give anybody a reason to reject your novel by Jodie Renner
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