How Long is Long?

And How Short Is Short?

Online publications and webzines are changing the traditionally accepted lengths of short stories with the introduction of new categories such as: flash, micro and even smaller. But, as a general rule, here’s the accepted lengths.

• Micro-fiction: up to 100 words
• Flash-fiction: 100-1,000 words
• Short story: 1,000-7,500 words
• Novelette: 7,500-20,000 words
• Novella: 20,000-50,000 words
• Novel: 80,000-100,000 words
• Epics: anything over 100,000 words

Grammatical Bad Habits

Grammatical Bad Habits

These are just a number of the most common mistakes we all do when writing, and, as such, I thought to share them with you in this ‘easy-to-copy’ primer.

all ready/already; all right/alright; all together/altogether
We were all ready by the afternoon.
I had already written to my accountant.
Do you feel all right now?

(Note: You should only ever use the American slang term alright in dialogue.)

We were all together for my mother’s party.
They kept three cats altogether in the house.

get
Get is one of the most overused verbs in the English language. Try to remember not to use have got for have or possess.

AVOID: She’s got three cats.
INSTEAD: She has three cats.

AVOID: Will you get the prize?
INSTEAD: Will you win the prize?

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Writing A Synopsis

When talking to writers about writing a synopsis one of the first question I am usually asked, is, ‘how long should it be?’ The answer to this is, how long is your novel? The important thing to remember is it should be relatively short and succinct. Some writers manage this in less than 10 pages, others ramble.

What you should remember, is:

• A badly written synopsis is like telegraphing to a prospective editor, agent, or publisher that you have no idea how to write. It needs to be well-written and positive.
• Your synopsis should highlight the salient points of the story arc, character’s growth, and the scenes that move the story forward.
• When I say salient points, I mean things like character ‘conflict’, ‘challenges’ and ‘resolution’, how did they get into that mess to begin with, how do they solve their problems, meet their challenges, over come their obstacles?
• Do not give a blow-by-blow dry account of each chapter. Rather your synopsis should read like you are retelling the story, verbally, for a listening audience. Make it zing!
• When writing genre, make sure you convey to the editor/agent you know your stuff, but don’t bore them senseless.
• Remember to show not tell. It’s the same principal for writing your synopsis as it is for writing your novel.
• Also, your voice should be as evident in your synopsis as it is in your novel.

It almost goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway: practice makes perfect. They more practice you have at writing down a synopsis, the better you’ll get at it. That said, however, writing a synopsis (for some) is like catching lightning in a bottle.

Good luck!

Word Wranglers

Writers are not born; they are created through hard work.

WORD WRANGLING

Writing is, as we should all know, primarily about wrangling words to convey a visual in your reader’s mind. And in order to do so and do it well, you need to thoroughly understand words and what they mean. And, just as importantly, how they connect together before stringing them into sentences, let alone paragraphs and chapters.

Unlike a bad painter using their chosen medium to convey what it is they want us to see, we will more than likely still see the image they have created. But the clearer the painter is with their vision and the cleverer they are at working their chosen medium, the better we see the over-all image, as well as the subtly complexities they’re trying to convey. And so it is with writers. You need to understand words, your chosen tools of the trade, in order to convey your own vision.

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The Art Of Writing

Or, advice on how to construct a better novel.

Here are some of the more important questions you should be asking yourself when construction your masterpiece. The advice presented here is pertinent for any type of writing whether for a short story, screenplay, or a novel.

The Synopsis
This is a thumbnail of your story, what amounts to a brief encapsulation of not only the idea, with all the essential ingredients, like a beginning a middle and an ending, but also touching on the characters and their motivations/conflicts/goals. This also helps you to focus on the main and salient points of the story and characters.

Familiarize yourself as much as possible with the history of your characters. Live, breath and be on intimate terms with them, daily, as you write. Otherwise the reader will not believe in them. They must be as real as your friends, your family, your neighbours.

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