So you're writing a supercharged, full-length novel and you're hell-bent it will hit the bestseller lists! Congratulations on your enthusiasm and energy!
We all have that burning desire to see our next authored publication hit the shelves running and leap into the hands of the excited consumer who is brimming with anticipation over what they are about to experience in the reading. Cut through all the front-end hype, glitz, overtones of marketing promotions and the gorgeous cover design and it all comes down to the interior content and how it will shape response and influence future purchase considerations.
Before we learn to soar like an eagle we first need to discover what makes us fly in the first place. With rare exceptions do authors become overnight sensations with the fictional/non-fiction literary works. Like anything else, honing one's writing skills is an essential part of becoming a successful author and as the proverbial infant, he or she must learn to walk before they can even contemplate running.
In this article I will explore a series of essential elements to authoring that will help you differentiate yourself (stand out and above) from the average writer to one who will quite possibly gain accolades and notoriety in the literary world. Don't be in a huge hurry to get to the bestseller ranking without first understanding and learning the basics.
Though it goes without saying, critical to any writer's success is to have a solid grasp of the English language, as complex and at times confounding as it may be. Take formal studies in the language in order to effectively apply that language in a vocabulary that will speak to your readers in a clear, concise and compelling way that gives them plenty to take away from that reading experience and ultimately want to come back for more.
Writing Resources:
Community colleges and universities have post-secondary study programs that will assist the student in achieving exceptional results in their writing endeavors, whether through employment or an independent writing career. Those studies will also help the aspiring author to acquire gainful insights into the publishing marketplace, the various formats of publication production and distribution today and what the writer needs to know moving forward in such a dynamic and challenging industry.
First and foremost is a solid grasp of the English language in terms of spelling and grammatical correctness. A story may excel in every conceivable aspect of its structural and substantive elements yet if it is rife with spelling mistakes and/or is horribly dysfunctional from a grammatical standpoint it is destined to a dusty life sitting untouched on the bookstore shelves or virtual presence on the internet.
Equally important are the fundamentals of manuscript proofreading/editing and document formatting in compliance with content and formatting guidelines as set out by the various publishing platforms available in either traditional or Indie (self-publishing) options and staying abreast of changes in those dynamics over time as subsequent publication submissions ensue. Authors may chose to undertake the manuscript proofing, formatting and submission phases of publishing and all that entails (if suitably informed and able from a skill level and time commitment perspective) or they may well opt to hire a professional to execute that phase. These processes need full consideration by the author in advance of going on to the publication phase.
Following are writing tips that will help you effectively develop a book manuscript that will capture attention, fully engage the reader and, hopefully, leave with a burning desire to read more of your literary gems!
Read & Study Successful Authors:
The best way to achieve success in your own right as an author is to read, study and emulate those who have acquired a level of success of their own. Read as many titles as you can that have reached high volume sales/bestseller status to discover and understand their success from a mechanical, structural and publisher/reader appeal perspective. Capture the essence before undertaking to write your own stories whether fictional or non-fiction. Those highly successful authors have quite clearly captured and embraced a writing formula that so many writers miss entirely. As the age old saying goes: "emulate success; don't try to reinvent it."
Paint a Picture:
Make sure that your characters and storylines are credible, believable, even when fictional. Be descriptive in a way that helps the reader experience a location/character/situation first hand.
"Janice could hear the tinny patter of rainwater droplets as they fell into the gutter."
"Jesse could smell the cinnamon buns' enticing fragrance wafting from the local bakery two blocks ahead."
"Tyler felt the languid humidity moistening his tepid skin."
"Valerie felt the rapid pulsating of her own heartbeat as they drew close and embraced."
Illustrate what is happening rather than simply 'telling' the story. Afford the reader the luxury of feeling as though they are in the scene or situation themselves and allow them to respond in their own way to the experience.
Mobilize Characters:
Have your characters moving within the context of the scene or situation they are in. Be descriptive to give the reader a sense of the character's mood to coincide with the scene as it unfolds. Character movement and interaction brings the 'screen' to life for the reader. Physical motion and emotional response animates the reader's visual perceptions during the read.
Use of Short Dialogue:
This is important! In real life people tend to speak in short phrases and sentences rather than elongated sentences and often emphasize their emotions in the moment through non-verbal expressions such a groans, grunts, sighs. Use of natural, easy to understand wording rather than long and complex language (suitable to the character speaking). On the other hand, don't underestimate your readers in that regard either.
Make use of contractions to eliminate unnecessary wording:
Use "I'll..." rather than "I will..."
Breaking Dialogue:
When progressing from one character's dialogue to that of another character in conversation, differentiate who is speaking by placing "Bob said" or "Alice said" at the beginning of a dialogue. Alternatively, "John responded: ..." at the beginning of his dialogue as opposed to the conclusion of what John said. "Olivia reflected softly: ..." Being clear on who is speaking becomes critically important, especially when there are three or more persons in the conversation.
Active Voice:
When references are made to an action taking place, state it in present tense rather than "Bill is going to..." or "the pot was being placed on the stove by Dennis." Instead state "Dennis placed the pot on the stove." Again, the reader feels a greater sense of being there, seeing it happen.
Attention to Scenes:
Don't be too hasty to get past certain scenes. Give each component of chapters sufficiently descriptive details for full and desired impact/impression to the reader by intensifying their sense of danger, excitement, disappointment, action, suspense, allure and sensuality. Gauge each aspect of the storyline and avoid allowing it to fall short of detail and consequently give the reader an erroneous impression of the significance of those elements and how they relate to the conclusion of the story.
Organic/Natural Dialogue:
Read back all content to make sure it sounds natural. Even read back aloud to get a better sense of what you have conveyed and how it will be received by the reader. Does it sound credible or stilted/pushed/artificial in any way? Is it compelling, moving?
Stimulate Reader Emotions & Senses:
Capture and fully engage the reader's interest and response throughout the story. This is critical to the success of the publication through the reader experience. Don't allow a multiple of pages pass by without interjection of sensory, emotive stimulus conveyed through the characters, places and people around them.
Bring alive emotion or senses through the reader's alertness to fear, elation, anger, laughter, tears, fragrance, offensive odor, tactile feeling, sounds and descriptive taste of foods.
Present Tense:
Avoid references to "beginning (or began) to do..." something. Bring the situation to present tense by automatically having the character do the action now. "Jane ran straight to the ball diamond."
Incorporate Character Response:
When a character makes a comment, have the other character respond in the conversation. Don't leave comments hanging without response and move to the next sentence or chapter.
Resource Articles for Bestseller Writing:
There are any number of highly resourceful articles and even books available through search on the subject of developing strong writing skills, technique and style that will help authors achieve more with their publications...a couple are linked here:
New York Times on Writing a Bestseller
The Lester Dent Pulp Paper Master Fiction Plot
Develop Vivid Descriptions:
Make your story come alive and more believable. Establish primary and secondary characters, their unique personalities and qualifications and also their relationships, tensions, attractions and physicality/body language for same, between each other.
Develop a strong sense of imminent danger and why. At some point mitigate that danger through natural and logistical resolve (or perhaps that sense of danger lingers for some characters). Be clear and concise in conveying the story and reasons for what happens; you as the author knows the story inside and out...the reader does not!
Establish & Maintain Pace for the Storyline:
Avoid long and distracting description which will slow down the reader's sense of pace and cause distraction/disinterest. Paragraph length should be carefully controlled to no more than three to five sentences. Avoid sentence run-on through comfortably short, concise sentences.
Sentence Fragments:
Many authors adopt a 'style' of writing which incorporates the use of 'sentence fragments' as a means to establish the writer's own distinctive form of written expression. Essentially, a sentence fragment occurs where a phrase or sentence/clause is written in such a way that an element(s) is lacking in the sentence composition (including a verb and/or subject) thereby appearing to be incomplete in form. The quotation of a character's comments or thoughts are often expressed in sentence fragments.
Authors need to be aware that although sentence fragments may indeed be an accepted means of expression in the view of devout readership of any give author, they are indeed incorrect sentence structure from a grammatical standpoint. As such, authors may find that they are receiving adverse/negative comments from readers/reviewers who regard such sentence structure as blatant errors on the part of the author (and anyone who edits the manuscript). Well-established authors may 'weather the storm' in that regard however new authors who depend on highly positive reviews for marketing purposes may feel a great sense of frustration when those negative reviews occur.
Attention Grabbing Opening:
Begin the story, and each chapter, with an opening sentence that sets the stage, that captures the reader's attention; something to eagerly anticipate as the story progresses. Tease the curiosity! The first sentence should impress upon the reader some kind of meaningful response and anticipation for what is to come. The reader needs to feel the desire to stay tuned in rather than ho-hum; should I close the book now?
Proofreading & Editing:
This writer has an obvious bias to this subject matter though expert volumes on this process speak for themselves. Editing and proofreading is an essential element of successful publication of a book manuscript. Some authors who are 'suitably qualified' may undertake this critical examination of their work while others will gladly hand over the manuscript to a professional to do so.
There are a multiple of essential elements of textual content composition that need to be addressed in this highly analytical process. The composition of any published content needs be objectively analyzed for sound structural and substantive composition, spelling and grammatical correctness must be assured and much more. The core objective for such close scrutiny is fundamental to acceptance of the publication from the publisher and consumer perspective. Suffice it to say that if your content is rife with spelling, grammatical and overall layout and formatting issues, reader response will be reflected in poor sales activity from the onset.
Professional standard style guides are also available in various countries as a prominent reference tool including The Canadian Style, Chicago Manual of Style, University of Oxford Style Guide (UK) to name but a few. Various elements of such guides does vary between regions or countries and the editing process should be adopted in accordance with the targeted market and its predominant style guide.
Mechanics of Grammar:
Understanding proper word usage from a grammatical perspective and making sure that spelling is error-free is critical. Sloppy spelling and grammar turns readers off - if you write for publication, do it professionally. Your publisher and readers expect as much for their investment.
There are numerous resources to help writers with this important aspect of their writing:
Grammarly
The Purdue Owl
Exceed Common Descriptions:
Build on characters and their settings with highly sensory interjection of elements that stimulate all the senses. Do so for a character and their surroundings which many writers gloss over or pass by altogether as a great opportunity to enhance the reading experience. Do not overdo such embellishments but do not neglect such important contributions to the story either.
Consider what a character is doing in a given moment; how can clear, concise body language and responses of the characters bring the story to life through emotion, what they feel, smell, sense, hear, touch and see?
Infused Peculiarities:
Tap into facets of the characters that your readers can relate to - oddities, obsessions, paranoia, insecurities about a person's character, belief structure...we are all unique in some fashion. What about unusual habits, promiscuity/adulterous lifestyle. Use these traits in support of a character's actions throughout the storyline.
Overcome Fear of the Dark Side:
Face and write about the darker side of life. Don't attempt to sugar-coat it or avoid it altogether. A darker side to humanity is a reality. You want your readers to feel the conflict, abhorrent nature of an action or crime, a character's sinister side. The reader should feel fear as it is conveyed in the story.
Elements in Keeping with the Storyline:
Always focus on how each element relates to the primary storyline. Don't build up so much detail and story color that the story gets lost in the muddle. Go with carefully crafted content that best supports the story and leave out superfluous extras that have no real bearing on the story.
Invoke Emotional Reader Response:
Whether fiction or non-fiction, this critical aspect of writing cannot be understated. Draw from the characters' personalities and situations to invoke powerful emotional reader response. Do NOT rush your content and circumstances, rather, build on them in ways that allow the reader to put themselves in that scene/circumstance. A skilfully crafted character will have the reader endeared or repelled to/away from that character and react in kind as situations in the story unfold.
The Key: Allow the characters and storyline to build gradually and with purpose. Don't hasten through chapter after chapter in attempts to 'save the best for last' or 'the big finish'. Build on that finish through the body of the story in every aspect, front to back, and in turn support that significant conclusion to the story as it occurs. Let the story unfold as it may naturally and you just might be surprised by the subtle nuances of unexpected twists and turns as they occur intuitively along the writing journey. As the story unfolds the entire reading experience is enhanced all the more. It is essential that you captivate your reading audience from Page 1 right through to the closing sentence of your book.
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© Don MacIver, Lasting Impressions Editing 2016
(accompanying image c/o Bing image search)