{"id":9594,"date":"2020-09-01T14:57:15","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T21:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/?p=9594"},"modified":"2020-09-01T14:57:23","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T21:57:23","slug":"writing-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/writing-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing Advice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I\u2019m going through old writing magazines and finding gems, like this one, \u201cTop Five Fiction Mistakes.\u201d \u2014 by Moira Allen, The Writer, September 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Ask most fiction editors how to avoid rejection, and you’ll hear the same thing: Read the guidelines. Review the publication. Don’t send a science fiction story to a literary magazine. Don’t send a 10,000-word manuscript to a magazine that never publishes anything longer than 5,000 words. Spell-check. Proofread. Check your grammar.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe one piece of advice nearly every editor had to offer was: Read, read, read. Read widely. Read the authors who have won awards in your genre to find out what has already been done, so that you don\u2019t end up offering old, trite plots without even realizing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, \u2018Write!\u2019 says Max Keele of Fiction Inferno<\/em>. And keep writing. And write some more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you\u2019re finished, \u2018\u2019Let the story sit for a few days or a week, \u2018says Richard Freeborn of Oceans of the Mind.<\/em> \u2018Come back to it and read it aloud to yourself. I am still surprised at all the inconsistencies and bad transitions I catch when I do that.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Once your story has aged a bit, seek someone else\u2019s opinion. Find an educated reader who can provide valuable feedback . . .\u2019 suggests Twilight Times<\/em>\u2019 Lida Quillen. \u2018Find readers who can mention segments that were unbelievable, let you know where the story left them cold, and sections where they were pulled into the story.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, make sure you don\u2019t make the ultimate fatal mistake, cited by Tony Venables of Ad Hoc<\/em>, thinking that people should read what you write simply because you write it. Writers need to understand that they have to earn their audience, to make their audience feel it\u2019s worthwhile to read their work. This does not mean pandering to populist ideas or sugar-coating what you have to say\u2014it means choosing not to be boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to know what the “Top Five Fiction Mistakes” are, according to this article? Paraphrased from the article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n