All Write - Fiction Advice

Are you one of those writers who can produce a copious amount of stories, rather like an unstoppable conveyor belt?   Or are you the type of writer whose output is a little less frenetic and rather more sedate? We all fall into different types of writers, because we are all different.   Some of us work at a pace where we might only produce a story every few months or so, or perhaps a new novel every 12- 18 months.   Other writers seem to be able to upload a novel onto Amazon Kindle every couple of months, or be able to churn out a short story every other week. But as writers, one question to ask yourself is this - are you a quality over quantity kind of writer?   Or is the quantity more important?   Can you have both? You might well be able to produce a high turnover of work, but is it to the highest standard?   Writers can push out as many stories as they want in the space of a month, but are they really good enough for conventional publicati...

Many of the questions asked about fiction writing – such as how do I know how many chapters to have, how much description should I write, is there enough dialogue or enough conflict? – can all be answered with just one word: balance .   Story writing is all about balance and finding stability within the writing.   It’s what keeps everything in check, so that writers don’t go overboard with one element over another, thus leading to an imbalance.   Why have balance? Balance allows the writer to keep control of many writing elements – like those mentioned above.   There are no set rules where fiction is concerned, but it is purely a guide for writers to help them write better.   Whether it’s dialogue, description, the amount of scenes or chapters, the amount of tension and conflict that is balanced against the relief and emotion, whether there is enough background balanced with foreground, or whether you have action and inaction within the story, ther...

Just how long should a chapter be? What’s the best length? And does a novel have to fit into a set amount of words? These are just two of the most common questions asked by writers.   They assume they have to work to a strict template of X amount of words and X amount of chapters, usually because most novels have around 30 or 40 chapters and around 80,000 words.   Novel Lengths Firstly, let’s dispel a few myths - novel lengths are dictated by the story itself, not the writer or the editor or a specific written formula.   Secondly, writers don’t have to fit their word count into generic set amounts.   Again, the story will dictate how long the novel will be. It’s also worth knowing the different types of novels that work well with different word counts.   Uncomplicated stories containing minimal characters tend to be short – usually around 20,000 to 60,000 words.   These are called novellas. Longer, more complex stories, which contain a handful o...

There are several factors that make us choose a novel from the endless books available to us.   One factor is the cover – its job is to initially entice the reader’s eye.   Then there is the blurb – the couple of lines on the front cover or the back that hook you.   Then of course, there is the title. But a title isn’t just there to tell your audience what your story is called. Titles have a number of uses which a writer should always take advantage of, and titles matter - they are an integral factor when getting your work noticed by agents and editors. Book and story titles act as a lure.   Great titles always grab our attention – think To Kill a Mockingbird. Or A Clockwork Orange.   They tempt us to want to know what the story is about; there is a sense of intrigue and fascination that entices us. But what if they were called Scout and Jem’s Adventure?   Or The Droogs?   Would they lure us in the same way?   Probably not.   They cer...

It’s one of those things that sometimes sneak into the narrative without the writer noticing and it’s not until an editor points them out that you realise you have a problem. But what exactly is author intrusion? Primarily, it is where the author personally intrudes the story, quite often unwittingly; they place a large proportion of themselves within the narrative, either through description, actions or through their characters and dialogue.   Author intrusion is very common. In truth, there is always a tiny bit of us in our characters, but every character should be individual and different. And more importantly, they should be very different from the writer. They key to spotting them is to understand what they are and how they affect your writing. There are several ways intrusion happens. Firstly, writers very often use their own personal opinions, personal prejudices, their judgements or subconscious thoughts in their writing. Opinions, likes, dislikes, passion...

In order to create immediacy, a writer needs to understand what it means, how immediacy works and how it impacts not just the writing, but also the reader. Immediacy is the delicate and intimate connection between the story and the reader – if a writer lacks immediacy within the writing, then the reader might not be able to emotionally connect with the characters or the narrative, and if that happens, the reader is unlikely to enjoy the story/novel. It is one of those elements largely overlooked by many writers, but it’s an important element that shouldn’t be ignored. How do I create immediacy? Immediacy means closeness. In other words, it’s looking at the closeness of your characters and your story to your reader, and how to make the reader feel as though they are not just reading your story, but they are a part of it. To create it, you have to understand that your reader wants to become totally absorbed by the fictional world you have created. They want to be able to lo...

Everyone needs advice, especially when you are fairly new to something. It’s always good to know that there is support and experience available to you. Those new to writing need lots of advice, support and encouragement, and there is plenty out there. The amount of resources now available to writers is nothing to what it was almost 30 years ago when I first started out. There was no such thing and instant access through the internet, since there was no internet. Everything I have learned has been through three decades of trial and error, reading countless novels, gaining the experience, dealing with editors and publishers and of course, dealing with that character-building thing called rejection. Whether the advice you receive comes through writing magazines, through books, via teachers, or even through blog articles etc, it is worth taking note of that advice, integrating it and learning from it. Of course, the strength of that advice is important, because not everyone who d...