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| Common Mistakes Novice Writer's Make and how to avoid them. |
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The other day while reviewing a story a novice writer was working on, I spotted some common errors that almost all beginner writers make at the start of their writing career.
Today, I’m going to highlight some of those for you and give you some suggestions on how to avoid them.
Most novice writers will ‘tell instead of show’. What does this mean exactly? Telling the reader what is going on in a story is usually coming from the narrator, therefore, intruding upon the story. It’s far better to have the writer show us what the characters are doing through their actions, thoughts, dialogue and emotions.
Ways to avoid telling:
 Avoid adverbs. When possible replace them with a strong verb. When a narrator uses an adverb, they are telling their version of the story. Writer’s use adverbs when they don’t trust the reader to make up their own minds. Always try to leave some imagination to your reader to fill in the blanks. Kill every adverb you can. Many of adverbs end in ‘ly’.
Avoid using passive verbs, (these are the ‘be’ verbs) specifically, “was” and “were”.
Paint a visual picture for your reader through sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Examples:
The soft wisp of slippers against the wood floors
The smell of a spring shower
Bare feet on cold cement
The spicy taste of Mexican food
Standing upon the top of a mountain, I stare mesmerized at the breathtaking beauty that unfolded before me.
Avoid using common words: [very, that, even, just, there, to, and, by, the, of, it, also, but, a lot]. These are just a few that rarely add anything to your sentence.
Vary your sentence structure. Throw in some longer sentences with some shorter ones. Mix up your sentence openings. Don’t always start out with your subject or with the common word, ‘the’.
Avoid repetition.
Avoid using 'passive voice'. When I first started writing, I'd have to say this was a tough one for me to master. When you use the 'active voice’, you are essentially saying that somebody did something. When you use passive voice, you say that something was done or that something was done by someone. Using passive voice is usually wordier than using active voice. Passive voice takes away from the action or who ever is performing the action.
If you’re going to use ‘dialogue’ tags, stick with the simple, “he said/ she said”. Said is an invisible word. Any other word breaks the rhythm. In addition, if your sentences are strong you shouldn’t need anything else.
And please don’t write, “Bob snorted, “I’ve made up my mind and you can’t stop me.” You can’t laugh, chuckle, grin, sneer or snort words.
I hope you've found this newsletter helpful. Thanks for your continued reading and support!
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Some entries from my Horror Contest
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Short Stories: June 06, 2007 Issue [#1748]
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