Basic Rules of the Game for Writing Fiction


Fiction writing is a genre that many writers will eventually dip their toes in. this is an area of writing where most writers can generally earn their fortunes. When writers think of monetizing their writing skills to the uppermost level the fiction platform will typically begin to emerge as an area where the most monies will come into your wallet.

Fiction writing does have some elements of the game that many writers aren’t aware of. These are ins and outs that can make or break you in this element. These are ten rules of fiction writing that may save many writers heartache and despair as they venture into the world of the unknown and write their first works of fiction.

1)      Never use a verb other than “said” when you write dialogue. The line of the dialogue is owned by your character. Said is extremely less obtrusive than the words grumbled, gasped, mumbled, exclaimed, etc. many people want to use some less obvious word or other words in the English language that will cause a reader to pause in their reading and throw them out of balance. Don’t get fancy. Keep it simple and use “said”.

2)      Don’t try and use adverbs to modify your verb “said”. He reprimanded sternly and said…. Again a writer finds he is interrupting the reader in their rhythm and will lose him/her when using an adverb to modify the word “said”. As your fiction writing develops adverbs to modify said will come more naturally. However, for beginners stick to the basics.

3)      Prologues can be annoying for many readers. Additionally, there is generally a better way to get your point across. Readers do not want to get engaged in prologues. Prologues are more likely to be found in nonfiction. Most editors feel this is where they belong.

4)      Keep the exclamation points out of the way. Control how and when you use them when writing fiction. Most people don’t shout everything they say and using exclamation points unnecessarily can distract from verbal exchanges that characters are having with each other

5)      Try and use dialects for specific regions as less as possible. Everyone knows that a native of the state of Georgia that has lived there her entire life will have a southern drawl for that area of the country. You don’t need to pepper your work with regional dialects and information for the state of Georgia. Remember, you want a reader to gain interest in your plot and characters, not the correct way that Georgians pronounce potato. Using a bunch of apostrophes and other characters distracts from how the page looks and feels.

6)      Try and keep the descriptions of places and things normal. Don’t go into a three page description of the barn. There are few authors that can keep a reader interested and paint an extremely attractive attention grabbing narrative with a description of places and things. Additionally, don’t interrupt the flow of things unnecessarily. If the three page description is absolutely necessary, go for it. If not, stay away from doing so.

7)      Leave out the parts that readers will typically skip. Imagine what you skip when reading a fiction piece of work and try to format your fiction writing around that insider information.

8)      Read out loud to yourself. Make certain the rhythm is flowing and things are fitting together. The only way to know for sure is reading out loud to yourself.

9)      Be careful opening a book with the weather. If the weather does not play an essential part in your story then relate to the weather sparingly. If you are writing a work of fiction that surrounds a hurricane then the weather is vital and two pages of weather to open the story is warranted. Otherwise you tend to lose readers working with this type of opening.

10)   If it sounds like writing-rewrite it.

These are several basic rules of the game of fiction writing and several things to make your writing stand out as you enter an unknown space or platform to display your ideas. Fiction writing is a new turn in the road to freelance writing that many writers take and prosper with the proper techniques and knowledge.


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