Now that book touring has picked up for me again my posts have gotten far and few in between. I've held back because I didn't want to over-saturate my blog with how one should behave while signing books. Today my mind was in another space and I was allowed to write something else.
As I was catching up on all my emails from authors and my favorite blogs I came across a topic I touched on in The Not So Common Sense Guide for Authors. When writing fiction there are things authors should avoid. Overuse of Flashbacks is a big no no for me. Recently I was reading a book which had so many flashbacks I never knew when I was in the present mode. Then, to top it off the flashbacks really did nothing to move the story forward. After chapter five I gave up.
How Not to Write Fiction: 3 Big Mistakes To Avoid
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Books are enjoyable to read. However, they are not enjoyable if they
are bogged down in description or when flashbacks prevent the story
from moving forward and rob the readers of their ability to emotionally
connect with the characters. Sadly, some authors, especially aspiring
authors, get into these habits when writing fiction. The three biggest
mistakes are author imposition, overuse of flashbacks and over
description. Author Imposition
Author imposition is when the author uses his or her voice to tell the story. There is a time and place for author imposition, and that is when the novel follows the life of the author, told through the author's eyes. In stories like that, it is okay when the author imposes him or herself on the story narrative and dialogue. After all, he or she is the main character in the novel. However, when a book is completely fiction, the author needs to butt out and let the story write itself and the characters develop as they would in reality.
"I told you so," Emily said emphatically. This sentence is a perfect example of author imposition. Readers can easily feel Emily's emotion when reading her words, "I told you so," on their own. The word 'emphatically' at the end of the sentence is the author's way of telling how Emily felt after she just expressed herself in the sentence.
The sentence is best be written as, "I told you so," Emily said. If a reader can't feel Emily's emotion based on those four words, then the author needs to go back to the drawing board. Bodily gestures and facial expressions are also excellent ways to convey a character's emotion.
Overuse of Flashbacks in Fiction
While flashbacks can help a story move forward, too many flashbacks can actually hinder the story and character development. Readers do not need to know about every character's life story. They don't even want to know about the main character's entire life story, unless the story revolves around the main character's life. Novels that begin with a character walking down a busy street, reminiscing about childhood memories does not tell readers anything about that character.
Over Description in Fiction
Description is central to fiction, but too much of it can severely hinder the beat of the story. Try reading this sentence: The tiny, furry, brown, kittens jumped onto the big, green, cashmere sofa. This adjective rich sentence is so easy to trip over. There is no reason for most of these adjectives.
The tiny, brown kittens jumped onto the big sofa. This sentence is concise and it gives the reader a clear image of the kittens jumping onto the sofa.
Over description robs a fiction book of its vivacity and personality, so avoid it.
When writing fiction, all authors should be aware of author imposition, flashbacks and description. They should use flashbacks only if the flashbacks serve to move the story forward and should be judicious in their descriptions of characters, events, building and streets.
Deanna Proach is the author of two books, Day of Revenge
(Inkwater Press) and To be Maria (recently complete). She also writes
for discounts.ca, a website that specializes in all kinds of discounts.
Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert
newsletter," a free ezine offering book
promotion and
publicity tips and techniques.
http://www.amarketingexpert.com
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Until Next Time
O. Keeys
www.okeeys.com
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