Q: I saw what you wrote about not hiding the POV character’s identity. Isn’t there some way I can hide the villain’s identity, so the reader won’t figure out who it is until late in the story, when the hero does? Like, if he’s an evil mastermind, can I just …
Tag: Character
Determine your most appropriate POV character
I’ve said that character is the most important element of fiction. Some editors disagree, and will say plot or point of view is more important. I’ve given my reasons for why I feel as I do about character. Here’s why I put viewpoint before plot on my list. Viewpoint, or …
Psychic distance isn’t about mind-reading
I got a little distracted last week, but let’s return to the Elements of Fiction Editing Checklist. We were talking about point of view, or viewpoint. One aspect of viewpoint is psychic distance.
Avoid using coincidences to move plot
When you’re escalating the stakes and getting your protagonists into deeper and deeper trouble, a great principle to keep in mind is this one from the “Pixar Rules:” ☐ Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating. Authors of yore used …
Avoid late character introductions
There’s a lot that goes into crafting a satisfying ending to a novel. So I’ll take a little longer covering this point than some of the others. One problem I sometimes see, even in published books, is a new character suddenly introduced near the end for no apparent reason. Any …
The end of your novel is about characters
Lots of stuff is going on at the end of your novel. There’s action and revelation and emotional upheaval. But it all must be presented in terms of what’s happening to the people. Ideally, your characters will be proactive. There’s probably a whole other blog post in that. Characters who …
Give characters distinct voices
Editors talk a lot about voice, and it’s a tricky thing to get a handle on. For one thing, there is an authorial voice; that is, each particular author has their own writing style that comes through regardless of the setting or topic of each novel. I prefer to think …
Characters speak like real people
New writers’ manuscripts are often marked by unrealistic dialogue. Many things can go wrong in characters’ speech, but this is one of the biggest. If the characters’ conversations sound fake, readers will drop out quickly. ☐ Conversations are natural and realistic. When I say natural, I refer partly to the …
Leverage the Power of Story
In fiction writing, we often say “story is king.” Remember how I define that: Character + Plot = Story To make your nonfiction engaging, use stories either on a small scale, like anecdotes, or on a large scale, as in a memoir. A story may be brief, like Jesus’ parable …
Populate Your Book with Engaging People
We’ve talked about what sort of nonfiction you may be writing and why it’s important to use stories to make your point. Now we’re ready to dig into the Nonfiction Checklist. The first category, Personality, is equivalent to Character in fiction. The type of nonfiction you’re writing will determine whether …