It can be a long road or a short road to publication. Either way unless you take your story from OK to great, publication will be an extremely difficult road to travel.
The trends in writing are ever changing and to be successful in the publication game you have to continually learn the market. Writing isn't just a hobby or a gift, it's a job.
In this 5 part series, I will share things I've learned through seminars and experience.
The following are some of the things that authors will encounter:
~plotting problems
~how to get into character
~trends in writing
~how to be productive
For Part I, I will concentrate on 5 of 10 plotting problems.
1. Backstory Mistakes
At the beginning of the story you give the history of the character or the setting. We call this an info dump. This is too much information too soon. And it jars the reader out of the story's cadence.
How do you overcome this?
Through dialogue. Through action. Through thoughts and memories.
CAUTION: using backstory through thoughts and memories is tricky. This dips into a point of view issue which will be discussed later in Part IV.
2. Boring or Not-so-Interesting Starts
You have to hook the reader. If not the first sentence, then at most the first paragraph, should capture the reader's attention.
Even in a nonfiction book, it has to have something that will compel the reader to turn the page, and the next, and the next.
Usually in novels the author should use action or suspense (either a romantic or thrill style suspense). Cliffhangers are good examples. Not all cliffhangers have to be at the end of the book.
3. Too Fast, Too Soon, Too Furious
What?
Did the story end already?
Did the author run out of paper?
Where's the rest of the story?
Far too often a story will suddenly end and loose ends are left dangling.
When writing a story do not rush to tell the story. Bring about a logical conclusion to the plots and conflicts. Your readers will thank you.
4. "Sagging Middle"
When writing the beginnings and endings are easier than the middle. You can't insert stuff into the middle. The nougat of the story is the reason the reader picked up your book. Supply logical steps and scenes that connect each scene. Is there a reason for this scene? Each part of the book has to push along the story.
5. Cast of Thousands
Do you have a "cast of thousands"? Do you have a "cast of hundreds"? Even a cast of a few dozen can be impossible to keep straight.
Ask yourself: are all the characters important?
Each character should have a reason for popping up. Your secondary characters should never be introduced up front too soon, but neither should they be introduced too late. And never introduce them as a point of view character in the middle of the book and only have a scene or two devoted to them. These scenes belong on the cutting room floor.
Secondary characters are your supporting cast. The story isn't mainly about him or her, but it would collapse without them.
Next time I'll write about the next 5 plotting problems.
Until then think about where you could improve your writing.
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