Writing dialogue well is an important skill for novel authors because it carries so much characterisation and drives much of the story. Stilted or unnatural-sounding dialogue is something readers will quickly pick up on, and they'll also quickly put your book down. Writing dialogue is more than writing down spoken English. The important thing to understand about writing dialogue is that we don't speak the same way we write. Written English and spoken English are different, and we have to write our dialogue as spoken English, in the way that people actually speak. But at the same time, we have to prune it back a bit, because no one wants to read lots of 'well's and 'um's. Or all the little things people say in introductions, like, 'Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?' In a novel, we want the dialogue to be on point, not to wander off into general chattiness. So start by writing exactly what your characters might say, and then cut back anything that doesn't move the … [Read more...]
How to Revise a Novel
Once you’ve written several drafts of your book and you’ve received feedback from beta readers and/or a manuscript appraiser, you’ll need to know how to revise a novel because your feedback will most likely indicate the necessity for some revision. This is the last hurdle, the bit that might take a bit of effort, but if you pull it off, you're on the home straight, and it's easy sailing from here to the finish line. Yeah, I love analogies! How much work is required depends on many factors and how much direction you’ve got from your beta readers, but often they will point out something that doesn’t work without knowing exactly why. Your task is to find out why it doesn’t work and fix it. You may need only a few changes, but you may also need a complete rewrite, depending on the feedback you received. Regardless of how much revision is required, a checklist of the most important story elements comes in handy at this stage because you can use it as a diagnostic tool. I've made a … [Read more...]
Overcoming Obstacles to Novel Writing: What’s Stopping you?
Writing a novel? Feeling overwhelmed? Get new insight and inspiration with my FREE Novel Revision Checklist. DOWNLOAD IT NOW. Do you want to write a novel but haven’t got started or haven’t got very far before grinding to a halt? Considering how long it takes to write a novel, especially when you also have a job, it seems wise to start sooner rather than later, so what’s stopping you? And how do you overcome these obstacles to novel writing? I had an idea for my first novel for many years before I started writing—and when I did begin, I discovered that I had a series not a single book! But what stopped me from beginning my novel was, more than anything, a lack of confidence in myself and in my idea. Only when I shared my idea with a publisher friend and she said she thought my idea was worth writing did I seriously consider going ahead with it, but I still faced the hurdle of not being sure if I could write a good book or not. Lack of confidence If I can do it, you can too. … [Read more...]
