Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 60: Flat Plots One of the most deflating criticisms authors hear is that “they’re writing flat plots.” Not only does this (seem to) indicate a certain lack of personal depth, it’s also a sign the story is boring and forgettable. Fortunately, there’s no reason you need ever fall prey to this … More Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 60: Flat Plots
Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 59: Overly Complex Plots Complex plots? Good. Overly complex plots? Not so good. Complex plots are the stuff of literary mastery. They can take a story beyond a single dimension into an intricate exploration of life. Dickens, Mann, Eliot, and so many more literary luminaries show us how to do … More Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 59: Overly Complex Plots
Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 58: Too Much Description Sooner or later, most writers will get their hands slapped over description, whether it’s too much description or too little. The bad news is that this is a big deal in narrative fiction. Get the balance of your description wrong, and it could throw off your entire story. … More Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 58: Too Much Description
K.M. WEILAND Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 56: Unfulfilled Foreshadowing Sometimes writing feels like magic. You look back at the story you’ve created and it seems like it came from beyond you. One of the coolest examples of this is with foreshadowing. Some little something you wrote in the early chapters without even thinking about it … More Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 56: Unfulfilled Foreshadowing
Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 54: Story Events That Don’t Move the Plot One of your chief jobs as a writer is to come up with story events—stuff that happens in your story. Coming up with these exciting elements is likely why you started writing in the first place. Like C.S. Lewis, you were zapped with … More Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 54: Story Events That Don’t Move the Plot
Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 51: One-Dimensional Characters The most magical moment in writing is when you sit down with a new batch of characters, turn them loose on the page, and… they come to life. They spring up from that flat, white expanse of page, and they’re real. They’re dimensional. They’re organic. They’re compelling and … More Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 51: One-Dimensional Characters
Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 50: Info Dumps On its most fundamental level, a novel is nothing more or less than the dissemination of information. As such, the writer who understands exactly how and where to share information is a writer who understands the most fundamental skill of storytelling. That’s why info dumps are such … More Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 50: Info Dumps
Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 49: Weak Conjunctions Consider the conjunction. It’s one of the building blocks of solid prose. It links idea to idea, creates clarity, and offers emphasis in a solid punch at the center of your sentences. If it can do all that when properly handled, then you definitely want to make sure you’re … More Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 49: Weak Conjunctions
Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 48: No Conflict Between Characters I slapped the FedEx guy this morning. Okay, not really. My FedEx guy is totally cool. And he brings me cool stuff. I’d never slap him. But that got your attention, didn’t it? Way more so than if I ‘d said, “I thanked the FedEx … More Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 48: No Conflict Between Characters
Most Common Mistakes Series, Pt. 47: Ineffective Setting Descriptions You can’t write a good setting without a good description. That’s the way it rolls. In written literature, what is setting if not description? How do you convey it without description of some sort? For something so relatively intuitive, setting descriptions can end up being surprisingly … More Most Common Mistakes Series, Pt. 47: Ineffective Setting Descriptions
