We’ve been looking at the points in the Character element of the checklist. Here are a couple more: ☐ Continuity is maintained in characters’ appearance, habits, and vocabulary. This is where your style sheet will come in handy. Some call it a character bible, but copyeditors usually call it a …
Tag: Elements of Fiction
Your character needs backstory, but don’t dump it
I want to take some extra time to go into one point on the Elements of Fiction Editing Checklist in detail: ☐ Personal histories are brought into the story organically Backstory is usually a bad word among writers. But the truth is, it’s necessary—to you. Knowing your character’s history is good. …
Is your infodump backstory, or is it research?
Last week we talked about the kind of infodump in which the character’s full history is dropped in one big block. Often this information—or pieces of it, anyway—does belong in the story. It just needs to be winnowed down to the minimum, and it needs to be woven organically into …
Beware analysis paralysis when editing
When you look at it all at once, the Elements of Fiction Editing Checklist can be daunting. And as writers, we tend to waver between thinking we’re literary geniuses and thinking we’re hack poseurs no one will ever take seriously. The danger in self-editing is that you fall too severely on …
Fiction Q&A: Concealing a character’s identity
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 …
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.
Grammatical person and viewpoint character
The next item on the Elements of Fiction Editing Checklist may seem a little odd: ☐ The chosen grammatical person is suitable to the story and the POV characters. What does that even mean?
Why second person doesn’t work in fiction
Last time we talked about first versus third person in light of this item on our checklist: ☐ The chosen grammatical person is suitable to the story and the POV characters. I glossed over second person, in which the reader is addressed as “you,” noting only that it is Not …
Ensure clear point of view transitions
We’re down to the last two items in the POV section of the Elements of Fiction Editing Checklist. ☐ If using deep POV, the narrative and interior monologue reflect the personality of the POV character(s) This goes back to avoiding generic narrator voice. The narrative in a deep POV novel …