Constructed Languages like Elvish and Klingon are a vital part of much speculative fiction. But you needn’t be a linguist like Tolkein or Okrand to incorporate distinct fictional languages into your storyworld. You can use what we know about real-world languages to give the impression your characters are speaking different …
Tag: Fiction
Use Storybreaking to Edit Your Novel
One of the hardest things about editing your book is keeping all of the information straight and in the right order. That’s one reason I advocate for outlining. A plain outline doesn’t suit everyone during the drafting process, but once we reach the editing phase, having a visual depiction of …
A must-listen podcast for novelists
Writing a novel is an incredibly complex task with so many moving parts it’s easy to lose track of them. That’s one reason editing is so important. You can’t—simply can’t, it’s physically and intellectually impossible—get it perfect in a single draft. Because the task is so complicated, multiple opinions about …
Your first draft can be awful, as long as it’s finished
The difference between a good novel and a great novel is editing. Before you submit your manuscript for traditional publication, you must edit thoroughly. That goes double if you plan to self-publish. At the Florida Writers Association’s Mid-Winter Conference West and Reading Festival in Bradenton last week, one of the …
Don’t hide the POV character’s identity
One of the most common point of view errors we see in amateur novels is what I call Hidden Identity Syndrome. This seems to be an attempt on the part of fiction writers to replicate something we see in movies: A nondescript figure walks into a darkened room, rifles the …
Fiction Q&A: Using italics for character thoughts
Hey Kristen — Sorry to pester you, but I didn’t know who else to ask. I was going over a critique someone gave me, and they mentioned that top editors teach to never use italics, even with internal thought. Some say never to use italics at all. Here’s my concern. …
The difference between your voice and the character’s voice
Voice, like art, is one of those things that, being hard to define, often falls into the category of “I’ll know it when I see it.” It’s a quality that writers strive for and editors look for, precisely because it’s so hard to accomplish. There are two kinds of voice; …
Fiction Q&A: How long is a chapter?
Q: Is there a rule of thumb for how long chapters in novels should be? Also, how should I place chapter breaks? I try to put them in when I’m writing, but then I wind up moving things around and having to renumber them. It’s kind of a pain. A: …
How does one train to be a fiction editor?
When I guest blogged at Random Writing Rants the other day, a commenter asked about how one gets trained as a fiction editor. Here’s an expanded version of my answer. I belong to two professional associations, both of which provide editor training: Editorial Freelancers Association The Christian PEN: Proofreaders …