top 10 fiction writing tips

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Top 10 Fiction Writing TipsBy Rowdy Rhodes





Because I write for a living I quite often get asked "How do you write so much?", "Why do you write?","Where do your stories come from?", "Where did you learn to write?" and a dozen other questions.

The question that is the bane of many writers if they are writing in multiple genres is "What do you write?"My answers depend upon my mood. Sometimes I answer politely and honestly. Other times well, I won'trepeat what I said here. Tip: Don't ask writers what they write. They'll tell you if they want you to know.

What you want to know about is fiction writing. That's why you're reading this, right?

OK. Here are some of my suggestions:

Fiction writing, whether it be a short story, novella, or novel takes a great deal of imagination as well aslogical conclusions to your story, but at all times it should be enjoyable to write. If you don't enjoy writing,don't start because you're not going to make a fortune putting words on paper.

The following 10 tips should help you along your way to getting a good story written, to keep your readersabsorbed, and keep them interested in what you have created.

1) Poor Writing Is Not Bad

I don't profess that you ignore the writing you created that you know is not verygood. It's important that you improve your writing skills and that is 75% "just keepwriting" and 25% constantly listening to feedback and continued learningwherever you find something that you didn't know. While writing though never self-edit, backtrack or re-read what you have written to any large degree until your firstdraft is completed. Then go back and re-write what you have written to make itread even better. One thing to always remember never write for the reader andnever compare your writing to someone else's. Just keep writing - you will getbetter by relaxing and letting the story flow our from within your imagination.

2) Why Do Your Characters Exist?

Every story you create has a specific number of characters. Those charactersneed a reason to be in the story. As an example "Rosemary was walking throughher grandmother's garden after arriving with her parents for a family visit."Rosemary has multiple reasons for being a character (whether minor or major) inthis story. She's there visiting her grandmother with her parents. Everything youwrite should have a reason for being there. If you think of your own life as yousimply walk down a street the vast majority of people and items you see have areason for being there. This existence is termed "sub-plot" in writing. Every storyhas this otherwise the characters are flat, making no sense to the reader for beingin the story. Ensure when writing a sub-plot it fits in with the overall story.

3) Writers Bleed Into Their Stories

It is said that in every good story there is a piece of the author and this is so truethat it may very well be one of the most important tips you can learn - give ofyourself. I don't mean write about yourself, I mean use or draw upon your ownemotions and past experiences to help create feelings in your characters.Whether that emotion be love, hate, the smell of pleasant odours, the enjoymentyou experience when your favourite song comes on the radio.

These are your emotions, but they can be used, when described in full, as anemotion being felt by one of your characters. "Mary walked into the family room

The key towriting well isperseverance,patience andpersistence.

Characters,much like you,need a reason

to exist in astory.

Writing wellmeans youhave to giveof yourselfeverything.





and found to her surprise her favourite song playing on the radio. It reminded herof her love and loss of her very first boyfriend and how deeply she had been hurt when he dumped her tostart dating a cheerleader." Have you ever been dumped? Remember how it feels? Describe it in full andplace it into one of your characters.

That's why writers bleed when they write. They delve into their own pleasant and unpleasant emotions andexperiences, placing them within their stories to make the story real, usually allowing the reader to relate.After all, who hasn't been dumped?

4) Cliché's and Stereotypes

Avoid cliché's and stereotypes like they're plague. "It rained cats and dogs", "Thesheriff wore a white Stetson" "The hero was tall, dark and handsome" all of thesewill kill a story faster than the plague. The problem is that we've all read or heardthem more times than we care to recall. If your audience are children you might beable to get away with the adage or make the hero dressed in white and the badguy dressed in black, but even then, these days that is not always the case.Batman dresses all in black and he's a good guy. Superman wore blue,Spiderman, red. The point is making up your own expressions and characters.With plenty of imagination you can certainly stay away from stereotypical

individuals and dress. Of course, some fiction requires specific dress such as historical fiction where youcan't place an 18th century character in 21st century clothing. Doesn't fly.

5) Character Descriptions and Traits

I use a Character Questionnaire (CQ) that an author friend of mine Helen DunnFrame http://www.helendunnframe.com created and made available for all authorsto use. You can contact her at her web site or you can (at time of publication) findthe questionnaire at Inkwell Newswatch Writer's Publication's Archives (and athousand other articles about writing) athttp://www.fwointl.com/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=23&num=513. If you want tosearch around their archive you can go directly to their search enginehttp://www.fwointl.com/artman/exec/search.cgi to find thousands of articles. Justtype in e.g. plot and choose a year e.g. 2005 and all articles dealing with plot will

be displayed. I suggest you set the number of articles for display to be set to 25, not the default five.

Finding the right weight or amount of description about a character is up to the author, but don't provide itall at once. She's 5'4", blonde hair, blue eyes, usually wears jeans and T-shirts, because of a childhoodaccident she requires eyeglasses to read but has no problem with her distance sight, she likes sneakersover hard soled shoes, etc, etc, You've just bored yourself out of your mind. At least I have. And if we'rebored odds are your reader is bored as well.

Many of these items can be worked in as your story develops. The character's basic look can be givenearly or later in your story. It all depends on you and your style of writing. Many writers leave somecharacter traits up to the reader to imagine or the writer will refer to them during another character'sobservation of the first character. "Upon meeting Mr. Peterson she immediately noticed the bulbous, rednose of a chronic alcoholic". That observation could link in with an earlier character trait that you haveworked into the story that Mr. Peterson was a heavy drinker.

One thing for sure, especially if you are writing a long story, is that having a CQ will always allow you torefer back to forgotten traits such as did he have a scar on the left side or right side of his chin? It's easy toforget when you're writing. Remembering birthdays, locations, settings all can be helped by having a CQnearby.

The CQ also helps you imagine what your characters look like. How they would react in certain situations(a timid character would rarely be a hero type). Also, having the CQ on each character, if you ever decide

There's nobetter way to

kill a storythan to usecliché's andstereotypes.

In-depthcharacter

descriptionsand their traitsare one of the

keys to agood story.





to write a series of novels or stories it will always be there over the years so you don't forget that Mr.Peterson was a heavy drinker.

This section is by no means a full course on how to develop characters and their traits, however anotherway is to close your eyes and picture the person. What they look like and wear. Try and imagineeverything from eye colour to the types of jewelry they're wearing that "day" and jot it all down on a CQ.

6) Work on your dialogue

Dialogue is not easy to write.

It's easy to write your dialogue, you know how you speak, but try writing theproper dialogue of an aristocratic heir to the Throne of England!

Each of your characters, based upon your answers in your CQ will talk and reactin a certain way.

Our notorious Mr. Peterson will slur, another character may be well educatedusing words you would not normally use in your day-to-day dialogue.

It's not your speech the reader wants to hear in their head, it's your character's speech.

For me, I've always found it best to take a deep breath, bring the character to mind, say the sentence outloud with any accents or slurs, and then write it.

If you can't bring to mind the aristocrat, then search on the Internet for formal speeches they may havemade or on places like YouTube where you can listen to the dialect. Television and movies are anothergreat source for speech. Combine all of these together and you will come up with unique dialogue for eachof your characters.

Combining it with slight descriptions of how the dialogue was said also helps get across to the reader whatthe person sounds like.

The Cockney said "I was downright in the dumpers after she left me for that other bloke." to his companionat the bar.

7) Read, Read, Read

Why do writers offering advice always say "write, write, write" and "read, read,read"?

It's simple. The first is practice. The more you write the better your writing willbecome and after 10 years you'll look back at what you wrote in your first year andblush with embarrassment.

The second part, reading, is so you can begin to appreciate the actual structure ofvarious writers' writing and the way they go about suspending your reality while

you read their work. After all, that's what writers do, they suspend your reality and imprint theirs on youwhile you're reading their work.

Personally I try and read a book twice. One time for the enjoyment and once to dissect the way the writerwrote it. To discover how the writer made my reality disappear. What type of sentence structure? Howwere the characters introduced to me? Why did the writer convince me to believe the story? All of this is inyour hands when you read. It just depends on which way you read the book or story.

With the second reading I force myself not to get drawn into the story. I become a literary forensic expertdissecting every sentence. Does it take time? Is it hard? Yes. But all good things usually are and once youlearn the art of suspending another person's reality you'll never forget it.

Everycharacter

must have aunique form oftalking muchlike you do.

Writers read alot of books,

stories, etc. inorder to bettertheir writing bystudying otherwriters' styles.





Most writers when reading will want to use a phrase or take a well-turned sentence then try and fit it intotheir own work. My advice is to find your own way. Don't depend on other writers' skills. Don't worry; Yourbrain will bring you the right phrase or word when the time comes and it will be yours, not taken fromsomeone else's work.

I've found in the past that if I do take a piece from someone else, to me it diminishes my work becauseeven though the reader may not (you hope not) recognize the style, I know it's not mine and somehow thattakes the satisfaction of creation away from me. I feel as if I can't truthfully say that I wrote it when theirpieces are in there.

With that said, if you're unsure about how to write about a situation and can't find great words to describe,let's say a waterfall in the middle of a jungle there's nothing wrong with reading about waterfalls and thejungle. Just don't copy or plagiarize what has already been written.

The scenes you read about the waterfalls will give you the knowledge you need to create your ownwaterfall. So research is a lot different than plagiarism. Something you should never forget. And you willdo a lot of research.

8) Be Thick Skinned

Bill Cosby, and I paraphrase, once said "There is one sure fire way to failure andthat's attempting to please everyone."

You will have critics who will either shred your work or constructively critique thepiece.

For the shredders, ignore them (there are a few other words I'd like to use hereabout shredders however I know the censors won't let me).

The constructive criticism though is something you should pay very serious heed to. Even if you don't usewhat has been suggested the suggestions provide you the opportunity to objectively see your workthrough the eyes of others (the readers). Their opinions do count.

It also gives you the chance to improve your writing even further and faster than if you were on your own.So find a trustworthy person who will read your work and critique it without bias. It's like finding a finished50-carat diamond!

See if you can find someone without any hidden agendas and have them proof-read your work before yousend it to a publisher. Listen to your proof-reader/editor and take another look at your work through theireyes. See if any of their suggestions can enhance your story. You'll be glad you did.

You'll also find critique groups on the Internet however my problem with them is that I don't know thesepeople so I tend to shy away from this style of critique. If it works for you, then great go for it! But alwayslisten with an open mind and a thick skin because sometimes what is said may seem cruel however theproof-reader/editor is trying to help make a better story for you. And normally it doesn't cost you a cent.

9) First Drafts

I started this article off with "Poor Writing Is Not Bad" because you should neverworry about spelling or grammar in a first draft. Just allow your words to freelypour on to the page. You'll have a chance to re-visit and clean it all up later. Themost important thing is to get the story out. You can fill in the gaps and take outthe crap later.

I believe it was Ernest Hemmingway who said, "When I write a first draft it's likevomiting words on to a page. Then I have to clean it up. But first I put it aside for afew days, then come back to the story so that I have a fresh perspective."

The creativearts are one ofthe toughestindustries soyou also haveto be tough.

Rememberthat there'snot a writer,

alive or dead,who has ever

written aperfect first

draft.





To clean up what you wrote, first run it through Word or a spell and grammar checker. It will catch a lot ofthe problems. Then read it and every place you can remove words like "and", "but", "understand?" (Whenthey're not used in dialogue) then do it and replace them with periods. You may have to re-write a fewsentences to do this but it will tighten your writing for better reading.

As you read through the story you'll find holes needing filling and areas that need to expand. Make notesfor later reference. You'll re-write your piece at least three times before giving it to a proof-reader/editor.

Make sure to watch out for items that a spell checker will miss like the use of the words: Sea and See.

Last but not least, if you know someone who is an expert in grammar, certainly allow him or her to readyour work. A person like that can be extremely valuable. Your proof-reader/editor should also be very wellversed in grammar, punctuation and the lot. You are not necessarily looking for friends here (althoughfriends are always nice to have especially if they are established authors willing to help) you are lookingfor people who can make your work read as well as it can possibly read.

After they have gone through it all, read through their notes and learn. It will ease the load on them withyour future writing because again your writing will improve. As an example this article has been read andre-written 6 times before it showed up here. 1. While I was writing it. 2. Re-reading and editing spellingand grammar manually. 3. Re-reading after running it through a grammar and spell checker. 4. Putting itaway for a few days, the re-reading and tightening the sentence structure. 5. Having it proof-read andedited. 6. One final read before posting it here and putting my name on it.

10) In Closing

Writing is meant to be enjoyable. Whoever said it wasn't supposed to be fun wasan idiot (See? I get to say "idiot") and I don't even know who said it in the firstplace. lol If it was you please don't sue me - it's just a joke. Again, I'm justfrolicking a little with words in the closing before I let you go.

Have fun with writing. If you are writing strictly for the money then you're going tobe pretty disappointed. Artistic, creative people tend not to earn all that muchcontrary to popular belief. Almost every writer I know has a part-time job tosupplement his or her income.

If you don't having that gnawing, gut wrenching desire to put words on paper and play with the words sothat what you've written will bring someone else joy or knowledge, then you might as well quit while you'reahead. You'll have more fun reading than writing.

Then there are those of us who just simply enjoy the act of writing ... such as myself. I've truly enjoyedwriting this piece and I hope that you've gained some knowledge from it.

Remember ... Relax! Write! Have Fun!

Enjoy yourwriting - forlife is but a

fleetingmoment in

time not to bewasted.

top 10 fiction writing tips

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