|
|
|
|
Blogs by L.T. Suzuki
Novice Writing Mistakes
5/27/2012 7:19:05 AM
Novice writing mistakes made by aspiring and published authors.
Novice Writing Mistakes
As most of you who are regular readers of my blog know, I now make it a point of reading a sample of all works by authors I consider featuring on my website.
In doing so, a few of the authors I initially considered were quietly passed over as I continued my search for the next to be featured. Though these authors are fabulous individuals and obviously have a great imagination and the tenacity required to write a novel to completion, I discovered a number of them were struggling with what some of my writing mentors described as mistakes made by novice authors! And yes, these errors were in already published books, both self-published and those published by small, indie presses.
Now, before you get angry, accusing me of picking on my fellow writers, this is not my intention at all. I’ll be the first to admit my published stories are not perfect and neither am I. Having just finished writing the draft of my 12th and what is sure to be my final fantasy novel, I’m in the editing and proofreading phase of the creative process. And even though I’ve written over 1.8 million words, I still consider myself as somewhat of a novice, always striving to find ways to improve my writing and storytelling skills.
Having taken part in critique groups, attended numerous writing workshops led by talented writers like Diana Gabaldon, Jack Whyte, and Terry Brooks, to name a few, I’ve learned a lot in these past ten years of writing.
So, what are some of these novice mistakes? The most common writing mistakes I found included the “show, don’t tell” error. I read one novel and its opening scene went something like this: “There was a fight raging all around him, but he just lay there…” This is not a direct quote from his novel, it’s just an example so you’ll have the gist of this show, don’t tell problem I’m speaking of.
Here was the perfect opportunity for the author to put the readers right there in the middle of the action by immediately immersing them in the utter chaos of battle, but as I read on, there was no ‘showing’ of the battle being waged! Was it modern day warfare with automatic weapons? Sword and bow? I had no idea what he was trying convey in terms of the level of carnage or type of confrontation the protagonist was caught up in.
A little farther down the page you discover the protagonist is wounded, but salvation comes in the form of a female rescuer. What did her long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes have to do with her ability to assess his condition? It seemed out of place at that moment. Had the author wrote something like: As he slipped into unconsciousness, the last thing he’d remember was her long hair blowing like golden banners caught in a stiff breeze as her eyes turned a deeper shade of blue with her growing concern…
In my humble opinion, physical description is important, but I prefer to have it worked in as part of the story. This author’s example wasn’t as bad as some, but I’ve seen descriptions that rattled off like a grocery list, i.e.: She was 25 years old with shoulder-length, chestnut brown hair, dazzling green eyes, pouting red lips, and the perfect body for that clingy red silk dress that showed off her long legs, etc. See what I mean by the “grocery list”?
Another thing that a number of writers, even those claiming to have had their stories professionally edited, are the misplaced modifiers. In your own mind, you know exactly what you’re attempting to describe to your readers. It probably even makes perfect sense to you as you read it on paper because you know what you’re trying to convey, but I’ve seen this often and heck, even I’ve made this mistake, but now that I know what to look for, I make every attempt to fix them.
Here are three examples:
• I found my missing scarf cleaning my bedroom.
• Stay away from the crazy dog on the porch that is growling.
• The library has only three books about wolves in our school.
You get that whole misplaced modifier thing now, right? As goofy and as glaring as it seems now, you’ll be surprised by how often I see this!
Here’s another mistake: I recently heard one self-published author dismiss his detractors for mentioning his use (or lack of) proper punctuation in his novels. They complained that this author had many missing commas. If I remember correctly, he basically chided them with something like: “Who needs commas? They’re not necessary!”
Well, to me, there is a big difference between: “Let’s eat, mom!” and “Let’s eat mom!” So, yes! Commas do matter.
And remember to choose your verbs carefully! I had one author ask if I’d critique his already published novel. I don’t why he asked me to do this after the fact, but I took a peek at the first chapter and was astonished that in the first big paragraph alone, he used the word looked and walked about three times each! I don’t recall the exact words, but it went something like this: Joe looked up to the sky to see the many stars… He walked across the meadow, then looked toward the market where loud shouts rang through the night. Drawn by the commotion, he walked quickly through the square where he looked upon a great fire where a Wizard was telling grand tales of adventure.
Not once did this character glance, stare, spy, gaze, glimpse, peek, nor did he stroll, saunter, strut, trot, dash. Nope, all he did in this big, opening paragraph was ‘look’ and ‘walk’.
Here’s another item some agents and best selling authors described as a novice no-no: Starting a paragraph with suddenly… i.e.: Suddenly, she screamed, falling to the ground as a loud boom sounded, blowing the door open…
Instead of setting up the scene with a suddenly, why not just jump right into the action and surprise the reader? For example: A bone-rattling boom knocked her off her feet. The percussion blew the door wide open! She screamed, her skin prickling with the heat swelling from…
The final novice mistake to be aware of: Using unnecessary words. Trim off what you don’t need to tighten your prose. For me, my worst enemy was ‘that’ while other writers admitted they would go through their ms deleting the overused ‘and’ or ‘as’.
Inevitably, the odd error will slip by, even for me there is the ongoing struggle with grammar tense issues. In the movie optioned novel that was scrutinized by my former agent and two editors she appointed to polish up A Warrior’s Tale, there are some of these grammar issues that were overlooked by all three very capable ladies!
Ultimately, in my quest to create the perfect novel, I soon discovered there is no such thing as perfect. I’ve learned to embrace the advice shared by one of my favourite writing mentors, Terry Brooks.
Mr. Brooks, once said that even best selling novels produced by mainstream publishing houses have the odd mistakes. He attributed this to the fact that people do the proofreading and editing; therefore, one must make allowances for human error.
He also went on to say, “People are far more forgiving if they read a story they love and it has a few typos, but what is unforgivable is for people to spend money on a book that is technically perfect, but the story falls flat.”
So, with this in mind, it’s never too late to scrutinize your manuscript. If you can afford a professional editor, the old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ is very true. Too often, I’ve seen an indie author that has published a book and received a few mediocre to rave reviews get it in their heads that this now qualifies them to offer their services to others. If you can’t afford an editor, at the very least, attend creative writing classes or join a writers’ conference where you can learn from some of the best in the industry. Failing these two, pick up one of the many writing guides published by Writers Digest to help hone your skills.
At the very least, respect your readers enough to take a moment to see if any of these tips shared by my writing mentors can help you to polish up your story. You have only one chance to create a positive, first impression, so before you share your novel with the world, do yourself this favour. Thank you for reading today’s post!
Comments (1)
More Blogs by L.T. Suzuki
• Heidi Garrett Interview - Saturday, June 15, 2013
• Loren Kleinman Interview - Saturday, June 08, 2013
• Leanne Shirtliffe Interview - Saturday, June 01, 2013
• Hannah Fielding Interview - Saturday, May 25, 2013
• Erica Lucke Dean Interview - Saturday, May 18, 2013
• Amber Lea Easton Interview - Sunday, May 12, 2013
• Ruth Nestvold Interview - Saturday, May 04, 2013
• Rose Garcia Interview - Saturday, April 20, 2013
• Robert Pruneda Interview - Saturday, April 13, 2013
• Lance Burson Interview - Saturday, April 06, 2013
• Rachel Thompson Interview: - Saturday, March 23, 2013
• Samantha Martin Interview - Saturday, March 16, 2013
• Lisette Brodey Interview - Saturday, March 09, 2013
• Jack Whyte Interview Part Two - Saturday, March 02, 2013
• Jack Whyte Interview Part One - Saturday, February 23, 2013
• Molly Greene Interview - Saturday, February 16, 2013
• Dionne Lister Interview - Saturday, February 09, 2013
• Anita Reynolds MacArthur Interview: - Saturday, February 02, 2013
• Alicia Kat Dillman Interview - Saturday, January 26, 2013
• John Gregory Hancock Interview - Saturday, January 19, 2013
• Adriana Ryan Interview - Saturday, January 12, 2013
• Jennifer McConnel Interview - Friday, January 04, 2013
• S.M. Boyce Interview - Saturday, December 15, 2012
• James Tallett Interview - Saturday, December 08, 2012
• Melissa McPhail Interview - Saturday, December 01, 2012
• Roz Morris Interview - Sunday, November 18, 2012
• Tania Johansson Interview - Saturday, November 10, 2012
• Dale Ivan Smith Interview - Sunday, November 04, 2012
• Respect Your Readers - Sunday, October 28, 2012
• Greta van der Rol Interview - Sunday, October 21, 2012
• Justin Bog Interview - Saturday, October 13, 2012
• Thanksgiving Day: Gratitude - Saturday, October 06, 2012
• Steena Holmes Interview - Saturday, September 29, 2012
• Kenneth Hoss Interview - Saturday, September 22, 2012
• Patty Jansen Interview - Saturday, September 15, 2012
• Joshua E. Bigger Interview - Saturday, September 08, 2012
• Joyce Damask Interview - Saturday, September 01, 2012
• Marketing & Twitter - Saturday, August 25, 2012
• Henry Herz Interview - Saturday, August 18, 2012
• Kristin Bair O'Keeffe Interview - Sunday, August 12, 2012
• William Linde Interview - Saturday, August 04, 2012
• Micheal Rivers Interview - Saturday, July 21, 2012
• Robert James Russell Interview - Saturday, July 14, 2012
• Becka Sutton Interview - Saturday, July 07, 2012
• Canadian Authors Feature - Saturday, June 30, 2012
• Gini Koch Interview - Sunday, June 17, 2012
• M. Pax Interview - Saturday, June 09, 2012
• Karina Halle Interview - Saturday, June 02, 2012
• Novice Writing Mistakes - Sunday, May 27, 2012
• Pippa Jay Interview - Sunday, May 20, 2012
• Glenn Starkey Interview - Saturday, May 12, 2012
• Maurice G. Nicholson Interview - Saturday, May 05, 2012
• How I Select Followers on Twitter - Saturday, April 28, 2012
• Shaun Allan Interview - Sunday, April 22, 2012
• Darlene Foster Interview - Saturday, April 14, 2012
• Kim Aleksander Interview - Saturday, April 07, 2012
• Hope Collier Interview - Saturday, March 31, 2012
• John Kolson’s Writeado: A New Online Writing Tool - Saturday, March 24, 2012
• Jeff Shanley Interview - Saturday, March 17, 2012
• Stephen England Interview - Saturday, March 10, 2012
• Everett Powers Interview - Saturday, March 03, 2012
• The Kindle Prime Experiment - Saturday, February 25, 2012
• Edward Lazellari Interview - Saturday, February 18, 2012
• Connie J. Jasperson Interview - Saturday, February 11, 2012
• Sally Dubats - Saturday, February 04, 2012
• Selecting Writers For My Author Feature - Sunday, January 29, 2012
• Tarek Refaat Interview - Sunday, January 22, 2012
• Toby Neal Interview: - Saturday, January 14, 2012
• Thomas A. Knight Interview - Sunday, January 08, 2012
• Linda Poitevin Interview - Sunday, January 01, 2012
• 2011: A Year in Review - Monday, December 26, 2011
• Angeline Kace Interview - Sunday, December 18, 2011
• Eden Baylee Interview - Saturday, December 10, 2011
• Cyndi Tefft Interview - Saturday, December 03, 2011
• The Conference Experience - Sunday, November 27, 2011
• A.R. Silverberry Interview - Sunday, November 20, 2011
• Suzy Turner Interview - Sunday, November 13, 2011
• Patti Roberts Interview - Sunday, November 06, 2011
• Raine Thomas Interview - Sunday, October 23, 2011
• LK Gardner-Griffie Interview - Saturday, October 15, 2011
• Jonathan Gould Interview - Saturday, October 08, 2011
• Brian Rathbone Interview - Saturday, October 01, 2011
• Matthew Merrick Interview - Sunday, September 25, 2011
• Dean Lappi Interview - Saturday, September 17, 2011
• J.T. Ellison Interview - Sunday, September 11, 2011
• Carolyn Arnold Interview - Sunday, September 04, 2011
• John Kolson Interview - Sunday, August 21, 2011
• Megan Curd Interview - Saturday, August 06, 2011
• Elena Aitken - Sunday, July 31, 2011
• When Book Reviews are Misleading… - Sunday, July 24, 2011
• Deborah Riley-Magnus - Saturday, July 16, 2011
• Jessica Subject Interview - Sunday, July 10, 2011
• J. Alexander Greenwood Interview: - Sunday, July 03, 2011
• When Social Networking is no so social... - Monday, June 27, 2011
• Dannie C. Hill - Monday, June 20, 2011
• Shay Fabbro Interview - Tuesday, June 14, 2011
• Genevieve P. Ching Interview - Monday, June 06, 2011
• Al Boudreau Interview - Monday, May 30, 2011
• Jennifer Hudock Interview - Monday, May 23, 2011
• Paul Mansfield Keefe Interview - Monday, May 16, 2011
• Rusty Fischer Interview - Monday, May 09, 2011
• Jason McIntyre Interview - Monday, May 02, 2011
• Emlyn Chand & Novel Publicity - Monday, April 25, 2011
• Steve Umstead Interview - Monday, April 18, 2011
• John Betcher Interview - Monday, April 11, 2011
• Kimberly Kinrade Interview - Monday, April 04, 2011
• Inspiration & Where You Find It - Monday, March 28, 2011
• Christie Yant - Tuesday, March 22, 2011
• Amy J. Rose David Interview - Monday, March 14, 2011
• George H. Sirois Interview - Monday, March 07, 2011
• Linda Nagata Interview - Monday, February 28, 2011
• Adventures in Editing or... Is it Done Yet? - Monday, February 21, 2011
• Greg Messel Interview - Monday, February 14, 2011
• Jen Wylie Interview - Monday, February 07, 2011
• Katie M. John Interview - Monday, January 31, 2011
• How Do You Measure Success: - Tuesday, January 25, 2011
• Avery Tingle Interview - Monday, January 17, 2011
• Kristie Cook Interview - Tuesday, January 11, 2011
• Ren Cummins - Tuesday, January 04, 2011
• A Wish For the New Year - Tuesday, December 28, 2010
• Trish Wolfe Interview - Monday, December 20, 2010
• Jesi Lea Ryan Interview - Monday, December 13, 2010
• Cat Connor Interview - Monday, December 06, 2010
• How to Make a Story Ring True - Monday, November 29, 2010
• Sharon Bially Interview - Monday, November 22, 2010
• Donna Carrick Interview - Monday, November 15, 2010
• Brenda Sedore Interview - Tuesday, November 09, 2010
• Robert Feagan Interview - Monday, November 01, 2010
• Of Book Signings, Volunteering & Option Agreements… - Tuesday, October 26, 2010
• Daryl Sedore Interview - Monday, October 18, 2010
• Seven Day Blog Tour Begins October 17th - Tuesday, October 12, 2010
• Todd A. Ritter Interview - Monday, October 04, 2010
• Cheryl Kaye Tardif Interview - Monday, September 27, 2010
• Claude Bouchard Interview - Tuesday, September 21, 2010
• Dr. Peter Clement Interview - Tuesday, September 14, 2010
• Elizabeth Isaacs Interview - Monday, September 06, 2010
• Introducing a New YA Fantasy - Monday, August 30, 2010
• Interview with Author Gene Doucette - Monday, August 23, 2010
• It's All About the Books Part 2 - Monday, August 16, 2010
• It's All About the Books - Monday, August 09, 2010
• When to Abandon Your Manuscript - Monday, August 02, 2010
• 1st Anniversary Blog: A Celebration of Authors - Tuesday, July 27, 2010
• Kathy Chung & the SiWC Part Twp - Tuesday, July 20, 2010
• Kathy Chung & the Surrey International Writers Conference Part One - Tuesday, July 13, 2010
• Deanna Jewel Interview - Tuesday, July 06, 2010
• The Happiest Indie Author (me) in the World! - Tuesday, June 29, 2010
• The Author Effect - Tuesday, June 22, 2010
• Jacqueline Pearce Interview - Tuesday, June 15, 2010
• Peggy Richardson Interview - Tuesday, June 08, 2010
• Wendy Nelson Tokunaga Interview - Tuesday, June 01, 2010
• The Importance of a Critique Group - Saturday, May 29, 2010
• Zoe Winters Interview - Tuesday, May 18, 2010
• Zoe Winters Interview - Tuesday, May 11, 2010
• Tonya R. Moore Interview - Monday, May 03, 2010
• Write On Bowen! - Monday, April 26, 2010
• Dayna Hester Interview - Monday, April 19, 2010
• Luke Romyn Interview - Monday, April 12, 2010
• Rhonda Carpenter Interview - Monday, March 29, 2010
• Lacey Weatherford Interview - Monday, March 22, 2010
• K.M. Weiland Interview - Tuesday, March 16, 2010
• Mark Coker, CEO of Smashwords Interview! - Tuesday, March 09, 2010
• Jo Lynne Valerie Interview - Tuesday, March 02, 2010
• Dan McNeil Interview - Tuesday, February 23, 2010
• Catherine McKenzie Interview - Tuesday, February 16, 2010
• 8 Years of Writing! 8 eBook Winners! - Sunday, February 07, 2010
• Birthday Blog (or an Ode to Aging Gracelessly) - Monday, January 18, 2010
• Interview with Paranormal Author Kate Austin - Monday, January 11, 2010
• Riley Carney Interview - Tuesday, January 05, 2010
• Ask an Editor - Monday, December 28, 2009
• Lee Edward Fodi Interview - Monday, December 21, 2009
• Interview with YA Author James McCann - Tuesday, December 15, 2009
• Researching Historical Fiction with Diana Gabaldon - Tuesday, December 08, 2009
• kc dyer Interview & Enter to Win an Autographed Novel! - Tuesday, December 01, 2009
• Bev Katz Rosenbaum Interview - Tuesday, November 24, 2009
• Writing Tips I Learned from Terry Brooks - Tuesday, November 17, 2009
• An Interview with Tamara Sheehan - Monday, November 09, 2009
• YA Author Loreena M. Lee Interview - Tuesday, November 03, 2009
• Why Do I Blog About Other Authors? - Thursday, October 29, 2009
• Critique by Author Jack Whyte - Tuesday, October 27, 2009
• BookCamp 2009 - Monday, October 19, 2009
• Participating at VCON 34 - Wednesday, October 14, 2009
• Therese Walsh Interview - Tuesday, October 06, 2009
• Interview with Debra Purdy Kong - Tuesday, September 29, 2009
• Twitter – The Power of the Tweet - Tuesday, September 22, 2009
• Part Two: Publishing in a Foreign Market - Tuesday, September 15, 2009
• An Interview with author Christopher Belton - Tuesday, September 08, 2009
• Part Two of the Caroline Leavitt Interview: - Thursday, September 03, 2009
• An Interview with Author & Book Reviewer Caroline Leavitt - Tuesday, September 01, 2009
• An Interview with Kathleen Bolton - Tuesday, August 25, 2009
• Interview with author/artist Scott Kessman: - Tuesday, August 18, 2009
• Interview with author/artist Scott Kessman: - Tuesday, August 18, 2009
• Part 2 of the Kim Falconer Interview - Thursday, August 13, 2009
• An Interview with Kim Falconer - Tuesday, August 11, 2009
• Part 2 An Interview with Alan Baxter - Thursday, August 06, 2009
• An Interview with Alan Baxter - Tuesday, August 04, 2009
• If You Write It, They Will Come (buy it)… Not! - Sunday, July 26, 2009
• Lori A. May: Author Extraordinaire - Tuesday, July 21, 2009
• Merits of a Writers Conference - Sunday, July 19, 2009
• Part 2 Publishing in the Digital Age - Thursday, July 16, 2009
• Publishing in the Digital Age - Monday, July 13, 2009
• Writing Tips for the Novice Novelist - Tuesday, July 07, 2009
• Flog the Blog - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
• Do's & Don't of a TV interview - Saturday, June 27, 2009
• Mortality & Writing - Friday, June 26, 2009
• The Art of Editing 101 - Tuesday, June 23, 2009
• How To Write When Suffering from Bad Memory Retention - Saturday, June 20, 2009
• Finding Inspiration from Others - Thursday, June 18, 2009
• To Blog or Twitter... - Tuesday, June 16, 2009
|
|
Bookmarks
