Not All Writing Tips are Created Equal

So, you have stepped into the to wild, untamed world of fiction writing.

Good for you.

I bet you have been scouring the internet since making that decision and absorbing every tidbit of writing advice you could find. But be careful.

Just because you have heard of seen a piece of writing advice (maybe even seen it over and over again) doesn't make it good. Or maybe you haven't bothered looking for advice, because school taught you to write, right?

Well, brace yourself, for in today's exposé, we shatter the chains of conformity and challenge the almighty self-proclaimed writing gods. Because guess what?

Not all those precious writing tips from school are going to help you. This is fiction! This is where we break rules, scoff at conventions, and give a sly wink to the writing police.

Today, we rip up the rulebook, and dance on its ashes to rediscover what it really means to be a fearless fiction writer.

In this post, we will be taking a look at a list of "writing rules" that I found posted over the internet numerous times, and I'll tell you why you should be careful about what advice you listen to on this thing we call the internet. I'll give you a new list of...not rules per se....more suggestions.

Here is a list of the much better "writing tips" for fiction writers that we will cover today:

• Don't alliterate by accident

• Know what a preposition is...

• Avoid clichés like the plague

• Comparisons are great

• Make sure you are saying what you think you're saying...

• Consistency and redundancy

• Rhetorical questions don't apply

• Understatement is good in academic writing. Not in fiction

Plus, at the end I am going to give you the solution to (almost) everything.

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Who Recognizes These Popular Writing Tips?

Why do I have a feeling this list was posted up on a high school English class wall?

While most of the items on this list may seem sensible to you, they are not as helpful for writing your fiction as you think.

Sometimes, new writers forget that rules that apply to non-fiction and academic writing do not apply so well to fiction.

Don't get me wrong, some tips are universal, but the struggle is understanding which ones are not. What information from basic English and university-level classes can we follow, ignore, or mold to help our writing?

Many budding writers can be quite hard on themselves when they see lists like this and realize they've done almost all of these things. I have seen writers take great prose and destroy it because they believed it would be rejected for things that don't even apply to their writing style.

I'm a big proponent of the idea that there are no rules for writing (see this post where I give a short history lesson on writing conventions to find out why I am right.)

So let's take a quick look at how the above list should read for fiction writers.

1. Don't alliterate by accident.

Alliteration is a tricky tool for authors to use well, but it can be used. If done correctly, it can lend itself to rhythm and cadence and direct the reader to focus on a specific idea or image without them even knowing it.

However, it can quickly become silly, especially when done by accident.

I love coming across accidental alliteration in my edits. They're always great for a good laugh. But that is less an issue of alliteration than an issue of unconscious writing. Not paying attention to the words you type, or just plain being lazy.

If you think you can successfully integrate alliteration into your story, then go for it. Don't let anyone tell you it is wrong to do so. If it fails, it fails, but that doesn't mean you can't try.

Another thing you can try is non-consecutive alliteration (OK, so maybe it is no longer strict alliteration at this point, but who cares. If you are really particular it is actually called Consonance which is a form of alliteration). This is when you use the same sound to create a purposeful beat in the sentence.

Let's move on with an example.

(Here, the consonant creating the beat is the hard 't.')

"It's trying, Allen." Sandra's neck gave, and her head dropped into her icy palms. "I'm trying. But your tasking—always taking—and truth be told, I'm just too tired."

That is my made up example, but here is an example of skillful alliteration in The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald.

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So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

With a bit of time and practice, you can use the skills you acquired reciting "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" and turn it into something extraordinary.

But as with everything, moderation is key. You do not want to exhaust your readers by tying their tongues together with every sentence.

2. Know what a preposition is and know when it is appropriate to end a sentence with one.

I have mentioned before that to break a rule, you need to know what the rule is in the first place.

This is one of those rules.

You can end your sentences in prepositions if it's called for. (See what I did there).

However, issues arise if you end EVERY sentence with a preposition. I mean...come on. Shake things up a little.

3. Avoid clichés like the plague.

This one stays. Never rely on overused phrases, metaphors, or images. It is lazy. Make up your own.

But spotting these takes practice because we take for granted the figures of speech we use daily. Consider dedicating a portion of your editing time to looking for new ways to write weak or taken-for-granted phrases.

A way to help edit these out is to keep metaphors and similes on "theme."

For instance, If you are writing a mystery where the protagonist is a bookworm, maybe instead of a murderer 'chilling him to the bone,' he is 'chilled to the binding.'

I talk about this more and how to do it (and why you should) in my series on how to really 'Show, Don't Tell.' - I'm telling you about it because I like you and want you to succeed.

4. Comparisons are great ways to add depth, emotion, and symbolism to your writing.

For fiction writing, comparisons are a golden tool. They come in several forms. However, it is pertinent to note that the comparisons fiction writers make are not the clear-cut comparisons of one idea to another in non-fiction writing.

Here comparisons take on a more artistic form.

In the Macro sense, we use them to highlight character traits with foils. For instance, in the book I am writing, I have two main characters acting as foils for each other. Their personalities are almost binary contrasts, and their arcs intersect in a way where one 'foils' (literally) the other as they head in opposite directions.

The setting is another way we can use comparisons to contrast (or highlight the similarity between) things like the character's internal and external worlds or the change from the ordinary world at the beginning to the adventure world later on.

We can also use comparisons in the form of symbolism (overarching metaphors) to foreshadow or create omens for events/moods later in the book.

The Art of Crafting Contrast

In the Micro sense, we use comparisons to evoke emotion and imagery. Metaphors and similes are a few ways that we can do this.

Here are some examples quickly pulled from the great internet. Focus on not the comparison itself but what emotion or image the comparison creates in the heart and mind. As we mentioned above, these should be entirely unique to your story.

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances." —Shakespeare, 'As You Like It.'

"All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind." —Khalil Gibran, 'The Treasured Works of Khalil Gibran'

"My flesh and blood playing out lightning to strike what is hardly different from myself" —Walt Whitman, 'Song of Myself' from his Leaves of Grass collection

"Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket." —George Orwell, 'Keep the Aspidistra Flying'

"Dying is a wild night and a new road." —Emily Dickenson, in a letter she wrote in 1885

5 & 6. Make sure you are saying what you think you're saying and in the most precise way possible.

I wanted to combine 5 and 6 because they kind of cover the same topic. Be specific, and then don't generalize? OK. What happened to # 7? Don't be redundant?

Anyway. There are some subtle differences between the two, and I can see how these may need to be separated for academic writing (maybe). But not so much for fiction writing.

In fiction, we can choose to be specific or oblique (we will discuss this fundamental concept below), but whatever you say, make sure that what you have on paper is what you've intended.

All too often, I have had to write a long, boring explanation of why a particular idea is inappropriate in a story, doesn't make sense, or should be changed for many reasons, only for the author to reply. "What are you talking about? That is not what is happening in this scene," Or, "But that isn't what I meant."

The culprit is most likely poor sentence structure, ordering, or an image that just doesn't fully come across the way the author intended it to.

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Everyone commits this crime every now and again, but make sure you are going back and reading EVERYTHING you write. It is best if you can give a manuscript time to stew before going back for a rewrite or another edit. Chances are, if you come at it with fresh eyes, you will catch these clarity issues.

The problem is that you are too close to your work. It makes sense to you because you know what you want to say, but readers aren't in your head. Be clear.

To quickly address generalization, the only real problem here is when writers make assumptions about the real world and apply them to their novels. Research everything! Google is right at your fingertips. Don't let these silly mistakes make it into the final draft.

One example of this is in a book I read where the author assumed that poison oak would affect horses the same as it does humans. However, in reality, it does not. Horses don't give a tup of lard about poison oak.

The same author assumed that because red hair is a recessive gene, it will eventually be bred out of a population...this is also not true. There are too many genes involved, and it would be impossible to weed all of them out.

Plus, they appear in every population, from Caucasian to Asian to Black to White. Redheads will be around forever.

Generalizations may also find their way into books through unaddressed stereotypes or biases (such as race, gender, class, etc.). Though I feel that "generalization" is not at the root of the problem with these….

7&8. Consistency and Redundancy.

These two are good advice for fiction writers (at last!).

Any of you who have read my other posts will know I am a stickler for consistency and a harsh critic of redundancy in all its forms. If you want a full explanation of how to spot and avoid these mistakes, you can read the post "4 Repetition Sins You Might be Committing and Not Even Know It."

Repetition Sins

9. Rhetorical questions don't apply to writing.

Questions either have answers that the reader will answer in their head, or they do not and are meant to provoke thought in the reader.

By definition, ALL questions posed by books are rhetorical…because the author does not expect to get an actual answer. The only time questions become issues is when they turn the previous argument into a question and repeat it. Like:

Beach balls are no fun because they fly away in the wind. It's no fun to play with something that blows away all the time, is it?

But then you are in redundancy territory again, as you are if you use questions ALL the time.

I will say that in academic writing, questions at all are usually in bad form. But everywhere else…

How can we listen to such a silly rule about style?

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10. Understatement is good in academic writing. Not in fiction.

If you follow any of the tips outlined in this post, let it be this one!

Understatement is death in fiction writing!

OK. So I'm over-exaggerating a tad. But understatement is rarely good writing on its own, whereas exaggeration can be used successfully by itself in the correct context—say in a highly emotional and explicit scene.

Instead, for more subtle ideas in your novel, try being oblique. Skimming the edge of the concept, writing parallel to it to create tension without coming right out and saying it.

But we will get to that. First let's take a look at understated and exaggerated writing.

For instance, you have a character who is in a terrible mood. You can write…

…Understated.

Johnny cringed at the tone of Julia's voice.

This can be done in many ways, but understated lines tend to evoke little emotion. It is why they are so important in academic writing. Emotion equals subjectivity.

This sentence is also not very clear. Why is Johnny cringing? Is Julia yelling? Or is she berating him, and he is cowering like a child? Who is in control in this scene?

Without context, we really don't have the answers to these questions. This line may work in a toned-down scene, but as we will see below, there is a much better way of achieving this.

…Exaggerated.

When Julia opened her mouth, the shrill squawking grated on Johnny's spine.

We don't think Julia is genuinely squawking, but the line is quite revealing. Johnny obviously does not like Julia. That is clear. This line would work in a scene that needs little context. Perhaps they are fighting, or this is the third or fourth time we see them interact in this way.

Either way. By itself, we can answer a number of the above questions. Johnny appears in control. We can tell by the words 'shrill squawking', which connote something less than human is making the noise. Because he seems to be the one in control, we can assume he is not being berated, but that he finds Julia annoying. Cringing is also implied by the grating on Johnny's spine. The line evokes a "cringing" physical response in the reader.

Let's look at another example and expand this scene a little.

"Hey, Johnny," a woman squawked from the other end of the bar.

Johnny took a long sip from his tumbler. "Hi, Julia."

Reaching him, she hugged the table top and ushered in close enough to clean his teeth. "When did you get here, Hot Stuff."

"I've been here the whole time," he answered, scooting his chair away a few more inches.

Exaggeration plays a role in this scene. 'She hugged the table top,' 'got in close enough to clean his teeth,' etc.

These lines concretely express Johnny's mood. It is his view of Julia, not the objective view of Julia—its purpose is to bring the reader to his level and make them feel what he feels.

Maybe she would get 'close enough to smell her lemony drink' if he were in a good mood. If he was attracted to her, she could 'get close enough to bite his lip...'

The Solution to Almost Everything

The last passage painted an alright scene, but we can take this further and improve the passage with the following technique: Writing obliquely.

I first encountered this technique in the book Stein on Writing by Sol Stein. It's a book I highly recommend to anyone seeking to improve their writing/editing skills. It attracted me to editing fiction in the first place!

What is oblique writing?

Oblique means: neither parallel nor at a right angle to a specified or implied line; slanting.

Writing in this way is to write away from the line before. It means that everything you write needs forward momentum onto the next beat of the story. Your lines never get bogged down on a single idea.

In Stein's book, oblique writing was a technique he used for better dialogue. That is the best place to use it, though it can also help with exposition and more.

But for today, we will apply it to our little scene.

…Oblique.

"Hey, Johnny," Julia squawked from the other end of the bar.

Johnny took a long sip from his tumbler.

She wobbled over to him with her drink painting her dress, and hugged the tabletop. She ushered in close enough to clean his teeth.

"You still have that apartment upstairs, Hot Stuff?"

"Gary kicked you out again?"

Why is this one better? For a few reasons, actually...

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#1

Every line moves the story forward without getting stuck in the details. Notice we removed Johnny's chair scooting altogether and gave him dialogue instead that does all the work in fewer words. Lightens the bulk.

#2

Notice how much more of the story we get in the second example and in fewer words. The first only gets through introductions; the second does that and moves the plot into new territory. Who is Gary? Why was Julia kicked out?

#3

Cuts the echoes. Your characters don't actually need to ever answer each other directly. This would be writing parallel. You run their actions away from each other instead. Julia says, 'hey,' and rather than Johnny replying, he moves on to the next beat.

#4

Getting rid of Johnny's dialogue at the beginning cures redundancy because his action says everything.

#5

Every line pulls double or triple duty. It is revealing plot, revealing character, and describing settings.

Notice that we have nailed show-don't-tell just by using exaggeration and oblique writing. And we didn't even have to think about it. I could add an adverb or two, and no one would mind. But we didn't have to because our characters acted well enough to not need qualifiers.

Now our list is done, and the battle has been won. To each and all, goodnight.

I hope you got something out of this today and are motivated to go and do some expert self-editing. If you are, consider sharing this with a lousy writer who really needs it.

Thanks, and keep writing!

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