Write Now Editing

Troubleshooting Your Novel: 100 Incredibly Practical Ways to Fix Your Fiction by Steven James (book review)

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Take your story to the next level of excellence!

You’ve completed the first draft of your novel–now what? Chances are, it’s not perfect…at least not yet. In order to increase your chances of getting a literary agent, selling your manuscript to a publisher, or garnering an audience for your self-published work, you need targeted, practical instruction on tackling the problem areas and weak spots in your story. You need Troubleshooting Your Novel.

In this hand-on, easy-to-use guide, award-winning author Steven James provides helpful techniques and checklists, timesaving tricks of the trade, and hundreds of questions for manuscript analysis and revision. You’ll learn how to:
ADJUST elements of story progression, from causality, tension, and setbacks to plot twists, climaxes, and endings.
DEVELOP authentic, riveting characters by exploring their attitudes, desires, beliefs, and more.
LEARN narrative techniques for elements such as dialogue, flashbacks, suspense, voice, subtext, and flow.
ENSURE reader engagement by aligning with their expectations, fulfilling promises, and instilling trust.
CHECK issues with context and continuity.
You owe your book more than just a polish and a proofread. Strengthen your story, prepare it for the marketplace, and make it the best it can be with Troubleshooting Your Novel.

Wow — there is a LOT of information in this book. In fact, it’s a bit overwhelming. I sat down to read it thinking it would be a quick read to reinforce what I already know about writing fiction, but it’s anything but quick. There’s a lot to read and digest.

Two things really stood out to me: one that I like and one that I wasn’t so crazy about.

What I liked: the chapters are short and topical, so you can pretty much search for whatever’s bothering you/whatever you’re struggling with and quickly find the chapter.

What I wasn’t so crazy about: there’s some great info, but no examples. I’m the type of learner who needs an example of what’s wrong and what’s right so I can see how to correct it, but there are no examples. For people like me, this book might not be the most helpful resource: you need to know how to identify bad writing before you pick up this book, otherwise you won’t know what to look for. That will be hard to do for some people; however, if you have someone to tell you your weaknesses, you can find the right topic for what you need.

Overall, though, it’s full of excellent information; it just may not be easily accessible for everyone. Get your copy here!

Omniscient or Third Person POV?

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The omniscient POV (point-of-view) is making a comeback! The thing is, I don’t think it’s intentional. And most of the time, it’s not very good. When it comes to genre fiction, especially character-driven fiction, third person is a better option because it strengthens the reader-character connection.

I edit a lot of character-driven fiction (romance and women’s fiction specifically), so I see a lot of authors who think they’re writing third person POV, but they’re actually writing a bad version of the omniscient POV (or a bad version of third person, however you want to crack that nut). There are three main indicators that you’re writing in bad omniscient/third person. First, let’s take a look at the differences, then we’ll look at the problem.

Omniscient Point-of-View

Sometimes called the “narrator,” this is an all-seeing POV, knowing the inner workings of all the characters and able to tell what’s happening in different places at the same time. This POV lets the reader see everything but from a distance.

Most of the classical literature you read in high school and college was written in omniscient, but today’s audiences want deeper connections with the main characters. You can’t get that with omniscient because it’s a shallow, superficial look at everything. For most of today’s genre fiction, the preferred POV is third.

Third Person Point-of-View

This POV lets the author show the story from the viewpoint of one or more characters. Third-person gets into the head of each scene’s POV character, showing everything as they experience it. The reader doesn’t get to see anyone else’s thoughts or emotions until there’s a scene break and the book switches to a different character’s POV.

Because third person POV gets into the head of the scene’s POV character—showing what that person sees, hears, thinks, fears, etc.—the reader can connect with the characters because she experiences the story at the same time and in the same way as the POV character.

Bad Omniscient/Bad Third Person POV

These are the three most common mistakes I see with third-person POV. Some authors try to recover by calling it omniscient, but that still doesn’t work. Let’s pretend like we’re editing a romance novel. The genre standard (and expectation) is third person POV with two POV characters: the hero and the heroine. Here’s what usually happens:

  • Head hopping. Instead of staying in the hero or heroines POV, the author show’s everyone’s reactions in one scene. We see how the friend, neighbors, and parents think and feel about the situation. That’s called head hopping—instead of staying in one character’s POV, you hop into the head of every character.
  • Same voice. Regardless of which character dominates the scene, all of the descriptions sound the same. When the barista, poet, mechanic, and insurance adjuster all marvel at the mountain’s majesty and use similar phrases and words to describe life and their setting, then the narrator’s voice has taken over and is imposing her own thoughts onto the characters.

On their own, #1 and #2 could be omniscient, but not when you add #3.

  • Focusing on specific characters. When 90% of the book focuses on the hero’s and heroine’s current story with only 10% of it hopping into the heads of other minor characters, then the book isn’t really in omniscient. It’s third-person with some errors.

Most authors I speak with or work with are actually trying for third person, but when they hop heads or create vivid descriptions that they don’t want to cut, they often think that maybe they’re writing in omniscient instead. They aren’t. They’re simply writing third person with some POV issues. Instead of trying to hide third-person POV mistakes behind a veil of bad omniscient POV, you’re better off fixing the mistakes and writing your story in strong third person (unless, of course, you really want to write in omniscient—then make sure you’re not slipping into third person).

Not sure which POV to use? Most genre fiction (romance, mystery, suspense, etc.) uses either third-person or first-person point-of-view. My recommendation: leave omniscient for literary or general fiction.

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5 Ways Realism Ruins Good Fiction

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Let’s be honest—unless it’s vital to a plot, most people don’t want to read about a character’s bowel movements, mouthy kids, or hangnails. Often authors include mundane details to make their characters seem more realistic, but that realism doesn’t always come across well in books. Today we’re going to quickly look at five things you can reduce/eliminate from your manuscript to help strengthen your story.

  1. Small talk. If you were raised before cell phones, your calls probably started like this:
    “Hello, this is the Van Burens.”
    “Hi, is your mom there?”
    “May I ask who’s calling?”
    “Mr. Smith from the insurance agency.”
    “One moment, please.”
    It’s polite and informative, but in a book, it takes up too much space and slows down the story. You don’t necessarily want your characters to be rude, but you don’t need a hello/goodbye in every conversation either. And unless the weather is important to the plot, you don’t need to show people discussing it.
  2. Introspection. Most people overthink things, be it every decision they make or only those related to a specific subject. That’s normal. But it doesn’t work well in books. It’s okay—even expected—to have characters reflect on situations, but after they do it once, move on. You don’t need to remind your readers over and over again of a character’s ideas, nor do you need to show the characters thinking about every situation they experience. When you repeat thoughts/scenes/reactions, you give readers a reason to skip pages. Once they start to skip, they’ll keep skipping (so don’t give them a reason).
  3. Well, so, okay, etc. Just because people say it in real life doesn’t mean it needs to appear in your dialogue. It’s amazing how many times well and so appear in manuscripts when authors start their sentences with them—they can show up hundreds of times! That’s a lot of words that could be used to show something more important to the plot. The same is true for filler words such as like, okay, um, uh-huh. Leaving them out won’t make the dialogue feel unnatural but including too many of them will slow the pace and stand out as unnecessary.
  4. Step-by-step instructions. Every morning I wake up, let the dogs out, feed them, pack my husband’s lunch, then start breakfast. Not many people care, and they shouldn’t. It’s boring. So is explaining how to put the key in the ignition, start the car, throw it into reverse, pull out of the driveway, and slide it into drive before heading into town. Whether we want to or not, we live orderly lives—you often can’t do one thing (drive into town) without doing another thing first (starting the car). Readers don’t need to see each of those steps though. If it’s important to show a character’s nighttime routine, show it once. Then trust your reader to remember it and move on to other important details of the story.
  5. Repetition. Similar to #4 but slightly different, readers don’t need to see character repeating themselves. Yes, we’ve all had experiences where we had to tell the same story over and over again, but you don’t want to do that on the page. Remember #2? When you start repeating things, readers are tempted to skip pages. Don’t give them a reason! Find creative ways to convey what’s happening in a scene without actually repeating every detail. Your readers will thank you.

Yes, you want your characters to be realistic, but too much realism can slow down a story and kill the intensity. When you look for and cut back on these five things, you’ll naturally tighten your story without sacrificing characterization.

My sophomore novel—Practically Married—releases October 2019! Sign up for my monthly newsletter and you’ll receive sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes stories, and pictures of my cats and dogs. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for writing tips, updates on Guiding Light, and more!

Trust Your Reader (a.k.a. Stop Over Explaining)

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My younger sister is a teacher. She often gives directions, then has to repeat them, then has to explain them (as high school students aren’t necessarily known for their listening skills). Because of that, she’s gotten into the habit of repeating and overexplaining things when she talks to her family and friends. It’s not uncommon to hear something like this:

We need to leave the house by three so we don’t get stuck in rush hour traffic. Rush hour is usually between four and six, and that’s when traffic is the heaviest because everyone gets out of work at the same time. It can take twice as long to drive through rush hour, so we need to leave the house by three.

That kind of over explanation works in small doses, but even those of us who know her well have to occasionally remind her that we don’t need step-by-step instructions for everything. People who don’t know her can feel insulted by the repetitiveness (as if she thinks they aren’t smart enough to understand what she’s talking about).

What does this have to do with novel writing? Everything!

Why? Because new authors tend to overexplain and repeat everything to make sure the reader knows what’s going on. Instead of making things clear, however, the readers (like people who don’t know my sister) often feel insulted (and bored) as they reread the same information over and over again.

How do you make sure you’re not overexplaining (and insulting your reader)? Here are two ways you can trust your reader more:

  1. Don’t explain the obvious. There are a lot of ways writers do this. Some are on the smaller scale. For example, she clapped her hands—you can delete her hands because she wouldn’t clap her feet. A larger scale explanation would be something like the rush hour example. The majority of people know what rush hour is. There’s no need to explain it. The few people who don’t understand it will look it up.
  2. Don’t repeat the details. After you introduce a character with blue eyes, you don’t have to mention those details every time she shows up on the page. Another point-of-view character might notice her eye color the first time he sees her, but there’s no reason to mention them in every scene she’s in. The reader will remember. The same is true for her age, hair color, height, etc. (A couple of reminders throughout the story are fine, but mention these details too many times and the reader will start skimming.)

Start looking for and keeping track of these things (e.g. how many times do you mention your characters’ ages?) and you’ll not only tighten your writing, you’ll keep the reader engaged and wanting more.

Novelization or Narrative Retelling?

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I recently read a book that was described as a novelization of a true story. Based on that description, I had several expectations for the story—a structured plot, some character development, incorporating the senses, etc. Instead, I got some history, some explanations, and several chapters of helpful information, but no story.

Overall, the book disappointed me. I wanted to get pulled into the characters heads; to experience their lives with them; to be transported into their homes and situations—everything I expect from a novel. But that book wasn’t a novel, and it never should have been labeled that way.

But, but … it had dialogue! It was written in third person!

Yes, it was, but that doesn’t make it a novel. A book needs to meet certain requirements before you can call it a novel; without those things, you have a creative or narrative retelling, but you do not have a novel.

What does a book need, then, to be considered a novel? Whether you’ve created everything or are telling someone else’s true story, a novel needs:

Take all of those, organize them well, and POOF! A novel. If you’re lacking any of these things, you’re probably not writing a novel. How can you tell?

  • The dialogue doesn’t add to the story; it’s just there.
  • You have whole chapters of information without showing the characters do anything.
  • Your book is more about giving information than it is about entertaining the reader.

If the above bullet points describe your book, it doesn’t mean you have a bad book—it just means you’re not writing a novel. These subtleties make a big difference when you’re marketing your book. It’s important to understand the difference, because mislabeling your book (and thereby mis-advertising it) can set you up for failure.

Take the book I recently read: if it had been called a narrative or creative retelling, it would have been a pretty good book. I would have been better prepared for the history lessons and lack of structure. Because I wanted to read a novel, however, it disappointed me. As much as I wanted to leave a good review, I couldn’t because I didn’t have a good experience reading the book (I do still recommend the book, but I tell people it’s not a novel).

Don’t stop writing your book and don’t change your style. Just know what you’re writing so you can get it into the hands of the right audience.

Have you ever read a good book that disappointed you? What happened?

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ABOUT ME

Editor. Teacher. Novelist.
A passionate lover of fiction, Karin doesn't just write novels, she helps others write their best stories! A certified substantive editor with the Christian Editor Connection, her goal is to help authors to put her out of business by equipping them with the tools they need to become better writers.

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