I really hate reading books where rhetorical questions are asked all the time. Mainly because they are used in the wrong way. Check out this web site that I found. It backs me up on the miss use of rhetorical questions. 🙂
Enjoy.
http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/advice/should-you-use-rhetorical-questions.html
~Kelly J.J.~
Please do not use slang. It’s annoying enough to listen to someone in reality use slang and can’t seem to speak in proper English, but to write your characters using slang makes your writing dated. And it’s a stereotype. It makes poor dialogue. Use slang with caution.
~Kelly J.J.~
Write about real people, not just players for your high-concept concoctions. Your characters should grow with the plot. The two should work together. Make them interesting. Although do not make your characters perfect. To make them realistic, you must give them a flaw. No one is perfect. (Obviously) And with that flaw or flaws you give to your characters, it allows you to grow them as people. Which makes them realistic. We all learn from the good and bad experiences. That should be the same for your characters.
~Kelly J.J.~
There are several points to writing a good romance novel. All romance books go by a formula. A well known formula. Two people meet, they fall in love and something happens that tries to pull them apart, and then the conclusion. That’s pretty basic. There are a few points the really make it good:
1. the romance develops in a believable way.
2. romances are based on a mutual admiration and respect for the others strengths and talents.
3. romances are willingly sacrificial.
4. feature a well-matched pair.
5. unwavering love.
~Kelly J.J.~
“A good story is about life, with the dull parts taken out.” -Unknown
~Kelly J.J.~
A lot, I mean A LOT, of people would disagree with me on this. Which is fine, it’s your story. You do what you want to it. Please, do hear me out. Many people do it, even best selling authors do it. It’s something so common that there is a name for it. It’s called ‘Said Bookisms’. Heard of it before? Maybe you use it. I remember there was a time where I would write ‘He snapped’, ‘She yelled’, ‘She muttered’ as my dialogue tags. I thought it was the best thing for dialogue. Boy how I was so wrong…….
‘Said Bookisms’, is a form of amateurish writing. It’s also another way of talking down to your reader. You do not need to hold someone’s hand while he/she is trying to read your story. With ‘Said’ Bookisms, you basically ‘tell’ the reader how your character just spoke the dialogue. Why not let your readers infer or know how your characters are speaking without you telling them straight out?
There are people that LOVE ‘said’ bookisms. However, readers like me and editors HATE them! With the tone and mood of the scene and the way your characters word their sentences (more like how you word their sentences.), it would not be hard, at all, to figure out how someone is speaking.
I posted something earlier. It talked about ‘showing’ the reader. Not ‘telling’. If you ‘show’ the reader the emotions of the characters, then it would be very very easy to know how the dialogue is being spoken. Dialogue tags are for the reader to know who is speaking. A lot of times, you can substitute dialogue tags with action tags.
Think about it. When you read, you hardly notice the word said. However, loading your story up with synonyms of said, just makes the dialogue heavy and pulls the reader out of your story. It also ruins the rhythm of it. Please stick with ‘said’. If you don’t believe me, just Google ‘Said Bookisms‘. There are a lot of sites that explain why it is bad to use them in your writing.
Please Do Not Write: she shrieked, he snapped, she yelled, she cried, he whispered, he muttered and so on.
Please Do Write!: he said, she said.
~Kelly J.J.~
‘I was so happy!’ NO NO NO NO! Please do not write that! You should never write, ‘I am so happy’ or ‘I was so confused’ or ‘That made me mad.’ When ever you write fiction, you should NEVER EVER tell the reader anything. I suppose it wouldn’t kill you to use it every once in a while. However, if all you do is tell the reader how your character feels, your reader will not become connected to the character. It would just make the reader feel like he/she is an outsider looking in. You want to show the reader. Show that your character is angry. What do you do when you are angry, you ask? ‘I stomped out of the room and slammed the door on my way out.’ Now that’s showing anger!
~Kelly J.J.~
Your characters are the most important thing about your story. Remember, everyone reacts differently to the same situation. Your characters should not completely react the same to a situation. Make everyone different and unique. Also, KNOW how they will react! Feel what they feel. That is very important. If you don’t feel a connection to your characters, then no one else will.
~Kelly J.J~
Why would you hate something that is so good for you? Like vegetables, they taste bad, yet the more you eat the healthier your body. That’s what it is like to outline. If you’re like me, you hate to outline or do anything that involves organizing. But with writing, especially with novels, it is necessary. Outlines allow you to plan the events in your story before it happens. That way when you sit down with your pen and paper or Microsoft word you know what you will write. Use the outline as a guide.
Not only did I hate the thought of making an outline, but I also found it hard to write one because I wasn’t completely sure what I wanted to happen in my story world. So I found an easier way to do it. Take index cards and write scenes or events that take place. Just write 1-3 sentences. It is good to write on a lot of index cards. Covering events through out your story. Each event or scene does not have to be detailed. Once you have all the index cards you want, rearrange them to form a sequence of events.
Here is an example for Harry Potter:
Should NOT Do!
-This does not give enough information to write a complete story from.
Do THIS!
-Okay you get the point. This is more in depth about everything that happens. Once you have events written down, you can arrange them in the order in which they take place. Then you can write it on a piece of paper and go even more in depth, if you like. I found that this method has helped me, although it may not help you. Everyone is different on how they do things.
Tips: Don’t write about something that happens for no reason! And the events should have some kind of connection to your plot. If your writing a romance story and it takes place in New York, don’t talk about a murder that happened in California, unless it effects the romance between the two people you are writing about.
~Kelly J.J.~
-I don’t believe in the saying “practice makes perfect” because there is no such thing as perfection. However, practice does make you better! Write every day. Find a time out of your busy schedule to write. Whether it be about your day or that amazing idea that popped into your head! Just write! Of course, too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Don’t be afraid to take a break and regroup. The way to becoming a better writer involves several different aspects.
~Kelly J.J.~
Novel Writing- Do's and Don'ts! 