By Aurorahouse2024 Author Articles • Writing Tips • • 0 Comments

Keeping Things Consistent

Consistency when writing a novel—actually, when writing anything—is an essential ingredient to creating a strong story. Your writers might get a little frustrated if you spend half the story telling them that your protagonist’s bedroom is the second door on the right and then suddenly start saying it’s the third door on the right, or perhaps you mentioned they have blue eyes at the beginning of your novel and somewhere during your story they suddenly change to green eyes. These little things may not seem like much, but when you write a novel you create a world that the reader gets drawn into, somewhere they can totally immerse themselves, and when you introduce inconsistencies into your story, it takes away from your world and severs, or at least tarnishes, the link your reader has to it. 

 

Some of you might be thinking you’d never let a silly mistake such as a character’s eyes changing colour slip into your story, but you’d be surprised. Writing a novel generally takes months, even years, and during that time you can forget little pieces of the story you’ve written, such as what your character’s favourite colour is, but these are the types of things your readers will pick up on, as some of the more voracious ones might devour your book in a day or two, keeping careful track of every part of your world, noticing the slightest inconsistency. This makes editing for inconsistencies very important. Some areas to pay close attention to include:

 

Characters:

Ensure that details about your characters, such as the spelling of their name and their appearance, remain consistent. Also ensure their actions match their personality. For example, if you have a very timid character who is terrified of getting into trouble at school, it would be very out of character for them to skip class with their friends, unless a rational was provided, such as an FBI agent showed up and told them they needed to come with them because their parents were really secret agents who were now missing. Far-fetched, yes, but hopefully you get the idea.

 

Point of View (POV):

This is the point of view of who is telling the story. There is first person (I, me); second person (you)—very rare; and third person (he, she). The POV can be told from one character’s POV (limited), or it can be told from multiple characters’ POV (rotating). Whichever you choose, you have to make sure you stick with it. You can’t start off in first person and then later change to third person, just as you can’t start a story with a rotating POV and then change to limited—unless, of course, all the other characters meet an untimely end.

 

Setting:

This one is pretty self-explanatory: if your character happens to have a garden that grows sunflowers, they can’t suddenly change to daisies. Just as if your character happens to have a messy bedroom with clothes strewn everywhere, they can’t suddenly have a neat bedroom with not a single thing out of place—unless someone cleaned it, of course.

 

Style:

Style relates to how you tell a story: word choice, sentence and paragraph structure, spelling, punctuation etc. Pay close attention to word choice, spelling, and punctuation. These tend to be the areas that most writers succumb to inconsistencies. For example, if you refer to a lounge as a lounge, keep referring to it as a lounge, avoid suddenly calling it a sofa or a couch—avoid thesaurus syndrome. If you decide to use Australian spelling over American spelling, make sure you stick to Australian spelling—don’t let words such as realize or honor slip in there. As for punctuation, well, there are plenty of instances when you can use punctuation marks based on your own choice of style. For example, using the Oxford comma (an optional comma that comes before the word ‘and’ or ‘or’ at the end of a list). If you decide not to use the Oxford comma, then make sure you keep consistent with that choice throughout, and visa versa. It’s the same with using a comma before ‘too’ when it ends a sentence. If you choose to use this optional comma, then ensure you use it throughout your novel and not sporadically.

 

A few other areas to consider when checking for consistency in style include numbers: keeping consistent with whether you spell numbers or use numerals—the general rule is to spell out numbers up to a hundred and then use numerals after that. Capitalisation is another area to pay close attention to: if you capitalise particular words such as breeds of animals and plants, then make sure you capitalise them throughout your entire story.

 

Now you can see just how easy it is to let inconsistencies slip by. One thing I would suggest, particularly when remaining consistent with style, is to write a list of your stylistic choices, such as using a comma before ‘too’ when it ends a sentence, or how you spell particular words that might have multiple spellings, such as ‘gray’ and ‘grey’ or ‘among’ and ‘amongst’. I’d also suggest keeping a list of setting descriptions and characters’ appearances—something your trusty character development worksheet can help you with. Keeping a list of these types of things will offer a helpful guide as you work your way through your story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Aurorahouse2024 Author Articles • Writing Tips • • 0 Comments

Choosing the Right Verb

Verbs are an essential part of any sentence, but not all verbs are created equal; there are two categories of verbs: weak and strong. Strong verbs should always be chosen over weak verbs. Strong verbs hold the power to grab the reader’s attention and convey exactly what is happening: creating mood and imagery in just a few words. Weak verbs, on the other hand… well, in a word, they’re boring and will be lucky to even pique the reader’s interest. Let’s look at some examples so you can see just how important choosing strong verbs over weak verbs is.

Jacob was walking across the road when a car horn sounded. He turned his head. A car was coming towards him. He ran off the road before it could hit him.

Did anyone else fall asleep while reading that? I’ve highlighted all the weak verbs so you can see who the culprits are making this scene so boring. These verbs barely tell the reader anything about what’s happening. How fast is the car going? How close is it to hitting Jacob? There’s also a lack of tension because of this—the reader can’t determine if Jacob is in danger of being hit or not. Now let’s replace those weak verbs with strong ones:

Jacob was strolling across the road when a car horn blasted. He whipped his head around. A car was zooming towards him. He lunged off the road before it could plough into him.

Okay, now we’ve got some more detail. By using action verbs, the reader now knows that the car was speeding towards Jacob and that he only had seconds to get off the road, which is why he had to lunge instead of run.

Let’s try another example, starting with weak verbs:

Jasmine hung off the edge of a cliff. Her feet moved around, trying to find a rock to rest on so she could pull herself up, but there was nothing. “Katie!” she called to her sister, who was a few feet away, her back turned. “Katie, the rope broke. Help me!”

            Katie turned around. “Jasmine!” She ran to her, taking her sister’s arms and pulling her to safety.

Despite the fact Jasmine is hanging off the edge of a cliff, potentially about to plummet to her death, there’s a lack of tension. She’s ‘moving’ her legs around trying to find purchase, making it seem as though she’s used to dangling off cliffs, which seems to be confirmed when she ‘calls’ to her sister rather than screams, terrified she could lose her grip at any moment. Even her sister appears slightly disinterested when she ‘turns’ around. Let’s get a bit of tension and momentum going in this scene by using strong verbs:

Jasmine dangled off the edge of a cliff. Her feet scrambled around, trying to gain purchase on a rock so she could heave herself up, but there was nothing. “Katie!” she screamed to her sister, who was a few feet away, her back turned. “Katie, the rope broke. Help me!” 

            Katie whirled around. “Jasmine!” She flew to her, gripping her sister’s arms and hauling her to safety. 

Again, the strong verbs convey the tension of the scene. If you want your writing bursting with life and painting scenes so vivid that readers feel as though they’ve been yanked into your book, then avoid weak verbs as much as possible. These include words such as walked, sat, stood, and turned, to name a few. Instead of using these ‘boring’ verbs, go to a thesaurus and find ones that convey the action you require.

Sarah, Editor at Aurora House

By Aurorahouse2024 Author Articles • Writing Tips • • • • • 1 Comment

Shh! Show, Don’t Tell

If you’ve ever taken a writing course or read a book on how to write a novel, you would have been told ‘show, don’t tell’ at least once—perhaps several hundred times. But what exactly does it mean? Telling is when you tell the reader facts: what’s happening, how someone feels, even what’s about to happen next—spoiler alert. Showing, on the other hand, is when the writer draws an image so the reader can follow the writer into the scene they’re describing and experience everything as the characters do.

Showing Versus Telling

To get a better understanding of the difference between showing and telling and why it’s better to show than tell let’s look at some examples.

Telling:

Cameron finished typing his report. He was exhausted. He pushed to his feet, deciding he should have some dinner. Suddenly, he heard a window shatter down the hall, followed by footsteps. Cameron was terrified. Someone was in his house.  

This scene gets the basics across—someone’s broken into Cameron’s house—but it doesn’t let readers experience the scene for themselves, rather they’re being told what’s happened and how Cameron is feeling about it.  

Showing:

Cameron snapped his laptop shut and leaned back in his chair, yawning. He’d had enough of typing reports for one day. He patted his growling stomach. Suppose I should make some dinner. He pushed to his feet, about to move towards the door when the tinkle of shattering glass froze him in place, followed by the thud of boots. Cameron gulped, his heart pounding. Someone’s in the house!    

This scene is no longer stagnant. Now the reader can experience what Cameron is experiencing: his exhaustion as he leans back in his chair, yawning; his hunger as his stomach growls; and his fear when he hears those footsteps. It’s as if the reader is with him in that scene, their heart pounding just as fast as his.   

Let’s look at another example.

Telling:

Daniel stared at the cornflakes his mum had put in front of him. He was pretty sure the milk was off because it smelt awful. There was no way he was going to eat them so he pushed the bowl onto the floor.  

Showing:

Daniel cringed at the cornflakes his mum had put in front of him, the sour stench of curdled milk oozing up his nostrils. He swallowed down the urge to vomit and flung the bowl away, splattering cornflakes and milk all over the floor.

Again, the reader gets to step into Daniel’s world and experience things as he does, such as the sour smell of curdled milk and just how disgusted he is with it.

Is Telling Always Wrong?

While showing is preferable to telling, there’s no rule that one must always show and never tell; in fact, doing so might get a little tiresome. For example, if you’ve just ‘shown’ readers an action scene involving your character then it’s not necessary to then follow up with a blow by blow account when the character recaps the event to someone else. In this kind of situation, it’s better to ‘tell’ by saying something along the lines of I filled the others in on everything that had happened. Another scenario where telling would be acceptable is if your character is on their way somewhere. Unless something essential to the story happens during their travel to wherever they’re going, such as finding a stray pearl on the sidewalk that has some crucial part to the story, there’s no need to show readers the path the character took. Instead, tell the readers that the character went to wherever they did: I jogged to the library.    

Tips for Showing over Telling

If you’re having trouble showing the reader what’s happening then take a plunge into your narrative. See what your characters are seeing—perhaps a stack of unopened bills on the counter that could indicate whoever lives there is financially challenged. Does your character smell anything such as rotting food, or hear anything such as a dripping tap? How does your character feel? Are they angry? Sad? Happy? How are they conveying how they feel? If they’re angry perhaps they’re clenching their fists or gritting their teeth. Or maybe they’re tearing up all the unopened bills. Showing these kind of emotions and painting an image of the scene is what will yank the reader into the world you’ve created.

Sarah, Editor at Aurora House

By Aurorahouse2024 Author Articles • Writing Tips • • • • • 1 Comment

Shh! Show, Don't Tell

If you’ve ever taken a writing course or read a book on how to write a novel, you would have been told ‘show, don’t tell’ at least once—perhaps several hundred times. But what exactly does it mean? Telling is when you tell the reader facts: what’s happening, how someone feels, even what’s about to happen next—spoiler alert. Showing, on the other hand, is when the writer draws an image so the reader can follow the writer into the scene they’re describing and experience everything as the characters do.
Showing Versus Telling
To get a better understanding of the difference between showing and telling and why it’s better to show than tell let’s look at some examples.
Telling:
Cameron finished typing his report. He was exhausted. He pushed to his feet, deciding he should have some dinner. Suddenly, he heard a window shatter down the hall, followed by footsteps. Cameron was terrified. Someone was in his house.  
This scene gets the basics across—someone’s broken into Cameron’s house—but it doesn’t let readers experience the scene for themselves, rather they’re being told what’s happened and how Cameron is feeling about it.  
Showing:
Cameron snapped his laptop shut and leaned back in his chair, yawning. He’d had enough of typing reports for one day. He patted his growling stomach. Suppose I should make some dinner. He pushed to his feet, about to move towards the door when the tinkle of shattering glass froze him in place, followed by the thud of boots. Cameron gulped, his heart pounding. Someone’s in the house!    
This scene is no longer stagnant. Now the reader can experience what Cameron is experiencing: his exhaustion as he leans back in his chair, yawning; his hunger as his stomach growls; and his fear when he hears those footsteps. It’s as if the reader is with him in that scene, their heart pounding just as fast as his.   
Let’s look at another example.
Telling:
Daniel stared at the cornflakes his mum had put in front of him. He was pretty sure the milk was off because it smelt awful. There was no way he was going to eat them so he pushed the bowl onto the floor.  
Showing:
Daniel cringed at the cornflakes his mum had put in front of him, the sour stench of curdled milk oozing up his nostrils. He swallowed down the urge to vomit and flung the bowl away, splattering cornflakes and milk all over the floor.
Again, the reader gets to step into Daniel’s world and experience things as he does, such as the sour smell of curdled milk and just how disgusted he is with it.
Is Telling Always Wrong?
While showing is preferable to telling, there’s no rule that one must always show and never tell; in fact, doing so might get a little tiresome. For example, if you’ve just ‘shown’ readers an action scene involving your character then it’s not necessary to then follow up with a blow by blow account when the character recaps the event to someone else. In this kind of situation, it’s better to ‘tell’ by saying something along the lines of I filled the others in on everything that had happened. Another scenario where telling would be acceptable is if your character is on their way somewhere. Unless something essential to the story happens during their travel to wherever they’re going, such as finding a stray pearl on the sidewalk that has some crucial part to the story, there’s no need to show readers the path the character took. Instead, tell the readers that the character went to wherever they did: I jogged to the library.    
Tips for Showing over Telling
If you’re having trouble showing the reader what’s happening then take a plunge into your narrative. See what your characters are seeing—perhaps a stack of unopened bills on the counter that could indicate whoever lives there is financially challenged. Does your character smell anything such as rotting food, or hear anything such as a dripping tap? How does your character feel? Are they angry? Sad? Happy? How are they conveying how they feel? If they’re angry perhaps they’re clenching their fists or gritting their teeth. Or maybe they’re tearing up all the unopened bills. Showing these kind of emotions and painting an image of the scene is what will yank the reader into the world you’ve created.
Sarah, Editor at Aurora House