People who gives fiction writing a try would fall prey to certain avoidable and normal mistakes with their first book.
Grand experiments are what many of these novels are. Usually, there's a desire to pack as much into the story as possible, a multitude of point of view shifts, and chapters would unfold without advance direction or character notebook.
For new novelists, one of the key difficulties is tracking down inconsistencies in their work. For instance, if your character grew up in Ohio, then mentioning that Chicago is their hometown later in the novel is a bad form. This detail is innocuous in the book and it can be missed by most people but still, the inconsistency is there and it may detract from the flow of the story and the reader may question the veracity of the claim.
Most authors believe that because the work is fictional the details are less important, but as an author you are creating an entire world for your readers and that world has to become as real as the world in which they live. Having a unique escapist quality in them are novels and shutting down your reader's link to the book because they are stumbling over inconsistencies is the last thing you want to happen.
Another point where first time novelists get into trouble is the addition of gratuitous violence or other points of gratuity. The author makes the mistake of thinking that if the reader is shocked, then the book will become even more memorable for the reader.
A means to mask a weak storyline is what many readers simply see this as. This is not to say that there is no place for violence in a novel, but it must be in context of a superior storyline - not as a means of increasing the chances that your reader will recommend the book to their friends.
Most readers see gratuitous elements in a novel for what they really are and this knowledge provides an instant 'turn-off' factor. Ask someone who is willing to read through your manuscript if they find something they would consider gratuitous and if they encounter any inconsistencies.
Avoiding a couple of significant potholes on the road to publishing your first novel will provide an advantage with both publisher and reader alike.
Grand experiments are what many of these novels are. Usually, there's a desire to pack as much into the story as possible, a multitude of point of view shifts, and chapters would unfold without advance direction or character notebook.
For new novelists, one of the key difficulties is tracking down inconsistencies in their work. For instance, if your character grew up in Ohio, then mentioning that Chicago is their hometown later in the novel is a bad form. This detail is innocuous in the book and it can be missed by most people but still, the inconsistency is there and it may detract from the flow of the story and the reader may question the veracity of the claim.
Most authors believe that because the work is fictional the details are less important, but as an author you are creating an entire world for your readers and that world has to become as real as the world in which they live. Having a unique escapist quality in them are novels and shutting down your reader's link to the book because they are stumbling over inconsistencies is the last thing you want to happen.
Another point where first time novelists get into trouble is the addition of gratuitous violence or other points of gratuity. The author makes the mistake of thinking that if the reader is shocked, then the book will become even more memorable for the reader.
A means to mask a weak storyline is what many readers simply see this as. This is not to say that there is no place for violence in a novel, but it must be in context of a superior storyline - not as a means of increasing the chances that your reader will recommend the book to their friends.
Most readers see gratuitous elements in a novel for what they really are and this knowledge provides an instant 'turn-off' factor. Ask someone who is willing to read through your manuscript if they find something they would consider gratuitous and if they encounter any inconsistencies.
Avoiding a couple of significant potholes on the road to publishing your first novel will provide an advantage with both publisher and reader alike.
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