Journyman16
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2014
- Messages
- 1,226
Some points:
Watch out for long descriptions. Steven Donaldson is notorious for it - he could take two pages to describe the outfit being worn by someone who was there to say, "Go to the forest of black trees" and never come back.
Don't 'tell' your readers about something, write it into the story. If you can't write it in, it probably shouldn't be there at all.
'said' is one of the invisible words. You notice it when you're writing but not when you're reading. Stay away from alternatives and adverbs.
e.g.
"You''re wrong!" he grimaced angrily... - just a pure bullshit sentence.
"You're wrong!" he said. The anger in his expression... - is better.
You have the blurb on the back cover (for paperbacks) the cover itself and maybe 3 paragraphs on page 1 to grab your reader. The ONLY exception is if you're an established writer who has a loyal audience. i.e. Do NOT start with a long-winded descriptive section or explanatory treatise to 'set the scene.'
Watch out for long descriptions. Steven Donaldson is notorious for it - he could take two pages to describe the outfit being worn by someone who was there to say, "Go to the forest of black trees" and never come back.
Don't 'tell' your readers about something, write it into the story. If you can't write it in, it probably shouldn't be there at all.
'said' is one of the invisible words. You notice it when you're writing but not when you're reading. Stay away from alternatives and adverbs.
e.g.
"You''re wrong!" he grimaced angrily... - just a pure bullshit sentence.
"You're wrong!" he said. The anger in his expression... - is better.
You have the blurb on the back cover (for paperbacks) the cover itself and maybe 3 paragraphs on page 1 to grab your reader. The ONLY exception is if you're an established writer who has a loyal audience. i.e. Do NOT start with a long-winded descriptive section or explanatory treatise to 'set the scene.'