Books that display poor writing practices make me stop reading. In this article, I look at five poor writing practices to avoid. I read a lot. I always have, but in the past my reading was limited by the cost of books. The arrival of ereaders on the publishing scene made books cheaper –especially indie books – which allowed me to indulge my passion for reading. But I read so much that I was still spending a lot each month, and so I joined Kindle Unlimited (KU) where I pay a monthly fee and can read as many books as I want without extra charge – as long as they’re in KU. This has allowed me to try all manner of books because if I don’t like them or they don’t hold me, I simply return them and find another. Cheaper but less trustworthy When I paid $25 for paperbacks, I took a long time to choose one I thought I’d like, and I always finished them. Publication by a mainstream publishing house - as they all were back then - meant that the books were at least readable even if we … [Read more...]
How Much Description is Too Much in a Novel or Memoir?
In terms of personal preference, for both authors and readers, there is a fair bit of leeway in the answer to the question of how much description is too much in a novel or memoir. However, in terms of craftsmanship the answer to this question is clear. What’s not so clear is how you, as an author, determine whether or not your work meets the criteria for the right amount of description. Image by Pexels from Pixabay Too little Whether you’re writing a novel or a memoir, some description of scenes and people is required to set the scene. Without some indication of how people and their environment look, the reader has nothing with which to stimulate their imagination, and reading is essentially an imaginative endeavour. We want a book to carry us off into other people’s stories and into the cities, towns, countries, times and even planets, universes and realms in which the story takes place. Description provides a rich texture that stimulates the readers’ imaginations, helping … [Read more...]
The Wisdom of Giving Up
What do you do when feedback on your creative work indicates that you haven’t managed what you were trying to achieve and a total re-think is required, a rethink that will require new enthusiasm and an incredible amount of work? I give up. 'Ahh!' you might exclaim, horrified by the thought. 'Doesn't that mean you've failed?' No. Giving up isn't failing; it's part of the creative process. Giving up isn't the same as failing Even if you discard a project completely and never return to it, you will have learned from your writing and struggling with it, and the best ideas from that story will emerge in a new story, a better story. Perhaps you did fail to bring a book to publication, but that doesn't make you a failure; it makes you a writer, and a sensible one. Some stories are really not worth the work to fix them up because they'll never be that great a book, and if you can admit that, then you're freeing yourself up to write something else, something that could be a … [Read more...]
How do You Know if Your Story is Worth Investing in?
An editing quote can sometimes be a shock, but a high editing cost just means that there's a lot of work that needs to be done on your book. The cost of the edit might make you wince, but what's the cost of not doing it? Is that story you've slaved over worth taking the next step? It's a question I've asked myself with every one of my books, and three times, I decided the story wasn't worth continuing with. Those unedited and unpublished books still remain in the archive folder on my computer, there to languish forever. Sometimes you just have to walk away. Other times, you need to take the plunge and put your money into your dream to make it a reality. And a full edit will not just make it a real book, it will make it a REALly good book! So how do you decide which category your book falls into? The one you should walk away from or the one you should invest in? That's what I look at in this video. https://youtu.be/gHAy1veZUI8 … [Read more...]
Good Writing: Why the Word ‘Immediately’ Doesn’t Make Your Writing More Immediate.
Misunderstandings about what makes good writing abound. What you were taught at school may not be the best practice at all. Image by StockSnap from Pixabay Said usage is not a sin In primary school, my teachers asked us to avoid using the word said, as if that would make our writing better. It doesn’t. Fancy dialogue tags (words other than said, replied and perhaps the occasional exclaimed to indicate who is speaking) are obvious—they jump out at the reader—and so interrupt the reading experience and remind readers they’re reading. But we want our readers so totally immersed in our story that they forget they are reading. We want them to feel as if they are in the action, right there with the characters, and fancy dialogue tags do the opposite of that. Said is so ordinary that we skim over it. And this is only one of the misunderstandings I see often in beginner writers. There are far more skilful and interesting ways to avoid countless ‘saids’ than replacing them with … [Read more...]
5 Tips for Marketing Your Book on a Budget
Today I have a guest post from Desiree Villena If there’s one thing most writers have in common, it’s this: we’re all working on a budget these days. Sure, there’s a lucky few among us whose books take off without much effort, or who have deep enough pockets to invest in heavy advertising and surveying. But that’s just not an option for most of us. Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do to boost your book without breaking the bank — that is, if you’re willing to be a little creative with your marketing and put in the work. Image by StockSnap from Pixabay 1) Organize a newsletter swap Let’s start with something pretty simple — reaching out to your friends. As an author, it’s important to form relationships with people in your corner of the book community, and a big part of that will be authors who write in the same genre as you. Far from being competition, these people can often become your most steadfast allies. Now, no one wants to have false friends, … [Read more...]
When reality looks like fiction: Covid-19 and apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction
With the world in the grip of Covid-19, life is looking like something out of a novel from the apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction genres. This is not particularly surprising considering that reality informs fiction and fiction reflects reality. The first time I felt I were living in an apocalyptic fiction novel was when out of control bushfires threatened my property in January of this year, but the threat receded and left me and my property unharmed. And even during the event, the world and the rest of Australia continued as normal, so – even though it felt like it to those who lived through it – the fires weren’t truly an apocalyptic event. The Australian fires were catastrophic, but they were restricted to one area of the world, whereas a truly apocalyptic event effects the whole world or large portions of it. Image by GravityGeorge from Pixabay The word apocalypse, according to the Oxford Dictionary refers to ‘the complete final destruction of the world, … [Read more...]
4 Crucial Mistakes Authors Make When Launching a Self-Published Book
Welcome to the first post for 2020.As some of you know, I had a summer break, but rather than the holiday I expected, I had an anxious time as bushfires sped up the NSW coast towards my rainforest property. We did evacuate, but luckily, the fire didn't reach us on that hot windy day, so the house was still here when we returned, and the forest is still green. Phew. That fire is still burning, but the Rural Fire Service people have got it contained, so it's not a threat to us at present.My life has been ever changed by the weather and the bushfires this summer. We have never been so dry here, or the weather so hot with many days over 40 degrees Celcius when previously that was unheard of here. That and the prospect that we would not have a house to return to when we evacuated, made us realise that climate change is not some future thing. It is here, now and Australia is one of the first countries to feel its effects. Click here to read what my research into climate change revealed to … [Read more...]
What is a Narrative Memoir?
Are you writing a memoir? If so, it’s a good idea to think about what kind of approach you’re taking. Are you reporting on events in your life or are you writing a narrative memoir? The easiest way to write the story of your life, or part of your life, is to write a report, but the difference for your reader is (subject matter aside) like the difference between reading a book-length newspaper report and a novel. What is a report A report is non-emotive writing. Its aim is to share facts about events rather than judgements. Though it uses expositional language (telling rather than showing) turning a report into showing events rather than telling about them doesn’t by itself change it from a report to a narrative. The definition of report writing is creating an account or statement that describes in detail an event, situation or occurrence, usually as the result of observation or inquiry. The two most common forms of report writing are news report writing and academic … [Read more...]
What’s the difference between telling and showing?
Telling and showing in writing is a tricky area and one that authors need to understand in order to fully engage their readers. They need to know how to recognise telling and how to change it into showing, A lot of the writing in my first drafts are more telling than showing the story, at least in the linking scenes. I don't know if it's the same for other writers, but I figure it's natural to write it that way because you're basically trying to get the story down. The task for future drafts is to change the telling into showing. What's the difference and why not tell? Telling Telling has a narrator between the reader and the action, so the reader stands outside the action and somewhat remote from the character. Readers are constantly reminded that they are reading, because the narrator tells us that the character did, saw, heard or felt something. Telling also talks about something that happened in the past so the scene has little immediacy. … [Read more...]
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