Writing Fiction Is Not Like Playing Make-Believe

All fiction writers have much to pay attention to in order to create a reader-worthy novel. Something significant new fiction writers sometimes forget to pay attention to are the details.

Let’s go back in time a bit. Many of us played make-believe as children. We’d come up with an idea then act out our story, often changing it as we went along. Maybe we were the only cast member or maybe we recruited one or more others to be on our pretend stage with us. We might have started out saying, “Let’s pretend that . . .” then took it from there. Perhaps what we suggested was agreed to by everyone who had a role in our mini-production. Perhaps one or more cast members decided to change their role or the plot a bit. “You’re a school teacher,” you might have said to one, and he may have responded with, “No! I’m a pirate.” You may have then said, “There aren’t any pirates in this story.” He may have replied, “Then I’m not playing.” Either the story went on as planned, without a pirate, or you came up with a way to include one.

In make-believe, we may start out with one “reality” in mind then alter it to suit our purposes. The structure is loose. That’s fine when you’re playing that game. It’s not fine when you’re writing a novel. Details and structure matter in fiction. Some new writers don’t realize this. The responsibility to keep track of details and structure consistency is yours, as the writer. Your readers will expect this of you. They expect to suspend belief in some measure when they read fiction, but they still expect the story and details to be believable, logical, and realistic. And they expect you, as the writer, to fulfill this promise to them so something written on the page doesn’t launch them out of the movie playing in their minds as they read.

Being an editor for over twenty years, I’ve seen a lot of good writing and writing that needs improvement, especially since new writers tend to be my clients. It’s a tremendous pleasure to assist them to become better at the craft of writing and to create books they’re proud of. But I do come across issues like the one being discussed in this article. For example, a client had her protagonist living on the East Coast. The protagonist did something that led to her incarceration. The writer had her protagonist imprisoned on the West Coast, for no reason other than that’s what came to mind. First, that’s not how the legal system works. Second, the writer had the protagonist’s family, friends, and lawyer visit her often in prison. That’s a very long way to travel, and costly. You can see why that’s impractical and implausible for the purposes of the story: It contradicts real life in a way that doesn’t work, even in fiction. But this is the kind of “oopsie” that happens fairly often for new writers. The Devil is indeed in the details.

As a new writer, you may feel the thrill of your fingers flying over the keys as the story pours forth from your imagination. That’s a great feeling. But you need to create a system that works for you and that you stick with so you can manage the details. Somewhere, somehow, you need to track dates, days, and times of day so you keep this straight. You need to track the approximate time that passes in each scene. It would benefit you to create a cast list. This is especially important if your first book is one with a sequel or will be a series. And this also helps you to be consistent with the spelling of your characters’ names. It can quickly become tedious to keep scrolling through your manuscript to confirm or check something that you could readily find on a separate document.

Repeating that the Devil is in the details, you may (or should) have to do something many new writers fail to do or don’t think to do: Research. For example, if your story takes place in a town or city you’ve never been to—or even if you have been there or lived there—you still need to get certain details right or you’ll have readers howling at you. This research also helps you create settings so your readers can imagine themselves in them, and your research notes help you stay consistent about the details. What else in the novel you’re writing would benefit from research?

Go ahead and get your draft written, but when you sit down to read through it, aloud, for that first of several revisions, look at the content not as the writer but as a reader. Pay attention to what’s going on in your mind’s eye. Is more research needed? Is what you have your characters saying and doing realistic, logical, and believable? Is the timing involved for each scene and the story as a whole realistic, logical, and believable? Did you inadvertently change the “facts” anywhere in the story in a way that makes the reader balk, or that defies basic physics or time progression in an unacceptable way? Did you mistakenly alter the personality of any of your characters without creating a valid reason for this to happen? What else needs your attention?

Yes, there are many things you as the writer must pay attention to if you want your readers to be happy with your novel and you as its author. Whether you like it or not, writing a good novel involves managing the details and getting them right, rather than just making up whatever you feel like writing as you go. Don’t give readers a reason to call you a lazy writer. It may seem as though other authors, including or especially best-selling authors, sit at their computers and just make stuff up. Yes and no. They make stuff up, but they base it on real information they’ve researched and real life experiences. This is part of how they draw us in and keep us captive until the last word, and sometimes even after we finish the book. You can be this kind of writer as well. You just have to do what it takes.

I wish you the best with your writing and progress.

Joyce L. Shafer provides services for writers, with a focus on assisting new and indie authors. Services include Manuscript Evaluation, Substantive Editing, and Silent (Ghost) Rewriting/Editing, which includes converting plays and screenplays into novels. Her clients say she’s part editor, part teacher, part coach. Details available at http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/. 

An Easy Way New Fiction Writers Can and Should Expand Their Writing Vocabulary

If you’ve heard this advice for new writers before, it bears repeating: Read novels by other authors, especially, but not solely, in your genre. This is beneficial, but there’s something else you could or should do while you read, to help you improve your writing vocabulary.

We all have a vocabulary we use on a regular basis. If you’re a writer, you want to expand the word choices you have in your grab-bag. When you write fiction, you want to use the best action verbs, nouns, and modifiers you can. Yes, good or great writing is partially about how words are put together, but it’s also about the words, themselves.

The first thing you’ll notice as you read a novel is that if it’s an engaging story, you’ll get into it just as any reader might. That’s terrific. Enjoy the novel. Then reread it and pay attention to the writing. Pay attention to the creative aspects such as how the plot and characters were developed, as well as the technical aspects (punctuation, etc.) One thing to keep in mind: There are some differences between books written by British authors (or as though the author is British, e.g., Elizabeth George) and books written by American authors or for American readers. Not only will certain words be different between these two literary cultures, but so will some spellings and some of the punctuation. One example: Among is the American word; amongst is the British word. If you’re writing for American readers, stick to the standard rules.

Okay, with that out of the way, here’s how new writers can and should expand their vocabulary anytime they read another author’s work. You might expect me to say that when you come across a word you don’t know, write it down and look it up. That is a logical thing to do, and it seems obvious, but readers don’t always do this. However, that isn’t my strongest suggestion for building your writing vocabulary. What follows is.

Get a notebook, or use whatever system works for you, and create categories that fit your needs. Let me explain. As you read (or listen to people talk, or listen to movie or TV dialogue), add to your lists any verbs, modifiers, and nouns, which includes compound nouns, that get your attention (compound nouns are two words that act as one: roller coaster, grab-bag). You’ll be surprised at how many of these you’ve used in your writing, didn’t think to use, or perhaps didn’t know about.

You also want to keep a list of words and phrases for what affects your characters physically, emotionally, and so forth. Here are some examples.

-Hands: his face sank into his hands; he drove his hands into his pockets

-Skin: a sheen of perspiration blossomed on her face

-Body: tension coiled its way up his neck

-Mouth: she smiled with regret

-Mood: he strained to compose himself

-Posture: his arms hung flaccid at his sides

-Eyes: her eyes surveyed the room

-Voice: his voice faltered

-Talking: she jabbered away

-Laughing: a hearty laugh rumbled from his chest

-Walking: she wended her way through the park

-Face: she wore a gray hat and pinched features

-Action: he threw a wild punch

-Setting: the graceful façade of the house rose above the hedge

-Sounds: a heavy thump outside the window made her lurch from the bed

-Internal: one word came to mind about how she felt—wretched

Making note of words you read or hear is meant to inspire you to expand your ability to describe what’s going on internally and externally for and or around your characters. These lists are meant to guide you to write in a fresh way, rather than copy what someone else wrote. You’ll, hopefully, continue to add to these lists forever, but there is a best time to use them: after your first draft is completed and it’s time for the first (of several) revisions.

You see, it’s likely that when writing your first draft, you relied on your regular vocabulary, which is fine because you’ll write faster when you don’t pause to deliberate over every single word or phrase. You want to get the draft written so you can then focus on cleaning it up and making it the best read it can be. Unless your regular vocabulary is extensive, and even if it is, you still may need to look for better words or better ways to describe or express what’s going on. A thesaurus is a good idea, but you have to make certain you know what replacement words mean. It’s very easy to use an inappropriate word you found in a thesaurus because you erroneously believed all the words listed mean exactly the same thing. For example, if you look up sensual, you’ll see salacious listed. But they absolutely do not mean the same thing, which only a trip to a dictionary would clarify. The biggest advantage of creating your own lists is that you can create categories specific to your needs and likes, as in the example above, which makes it easy and convenient to look up better word or phrase choices.

The fact will always be this: Good and great writers work very hard to make writing seem easy. This includes deliberating about the best verbs, nouns, modifiers, and phrases to use, which is done primarily during the several revisions the novel goes through (or should go through). You can improve your ability to tell a story that fits your characters, and with a writing style that is uniquely yours, through usage of the best words and phrases for your story and genre.

As you read novels, notice how the words used are what make your heart race or make you laugh out loud or bring tears to your eyes. That’s how you want to right as well. Yes? Yes.

I wish you the best with your writing and progress.

Joyce L. Shafer provides services for writers, with a focus on assisting new and indie authors. Services include Manuscript Evaluation, Substantive Editing, and Silent (Ghost) Rewriting/Editing, which includes converting plays and screenplays into novels. Her clients say she’s part editor, part teacher, part coach. Details available at http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/.