Colloquial speech, local dialects and bad grammar

Not all bad guys use bad grammar. Some are very suave and sophisticated. Similarly, not all persons doing minimum wage jobs use bad grammar either.

Every person from Scotland does not use “wee” or “drap” in every second sentence, nor does every Australian call you “mate”.

Typecasting happens because there are similarities inside groups. An Australian is far more likely to call you “mate” than an American person is, but both of them are more likely to use your given name.

Please don’t typecast your characters. If that strong young man on the road crew drops his mallet on his toe he probably will swear. But then, so would a doctor or lawyer. And all of them are equally likely to say invite (verb) instead of invitation (noun) because they’re probably all on Facebook. But there is no excuse for bad grammar in narrative. Nor is there need for endless “local color” in dialogue. The lady in the Scottish hotel may offer your hero “A wee drap” of something alcoholic to drink. But leave it there. Don’t overload your story with colloquialisms or poor grammar.

Helen Woodall

The ingredients for a good book

Characters. If the reader cannot relate to your characters she will not continue reading. She may love them or hate them, but the author has to draw the reader into their lives so she keeps reading. If a character is Too Stupid To Live (eg. walking alone into a possible murderer’s house) you will lose the reader right then and there.

These days, female characters are expected to make an effort to solve their own problems. The hero may still come riding up on his white horse to sweep her away, but she should have been endeavoring to solve her own problems, not crying in a corner and wringing her hands.

Plot. There must be a plot. It is through the plot the characters show their development. This plot has to make sense. No big gaping holes allowed. In an erotic romance the sex may be part of the plot, but there must be something else happening as well—a bad guy to defeat, the world to save, or whatever.

Genre: Be sure the blurb and publicity material accurately depict the genre. Don’t call it a cozy mystery if there is violence, blood and horror described carefully and at length. If you are marketing your book as an erotic romance there must be detailed sexual encounters as well as hot, steamy looks. Otherwise what you have written is a mainstream romance.

Fiction writing is a very tough, competitive world. Be sure to get these three basic necessities correct.

helen.woodall@gmail.com

The ingredients for a good book

Characters. If the reader cannot relate to your characters she will not continue reading. She may love them or hate them, but the author has to draw the reader into their lives so she keeps reading. If a character is Too Stupid To Live (eg. walking alone into a possible murderer’s house) you will lose the reader right then and there.

These days, female characters are expected to make an effort to solve their own problems. The hero may still come riding up on his white horse to sweep her away, but she should have been endeavoring to solve her own problems, not crying in a corner and wringing her hands.

Plot. There must be a plot. It is through the plot the characters show their development. In an erotic romance the sex may be part of the plot, but there must be something else happening as well—a bad guy to defeat, the world to save, or whatever.

Resolution. Readers hate being left hanging. In a series, the overall plot arc can continue, but there must be some resolution of the main characters, such as a Happy For Now, or them working together toward saving the world. A cliffhanger is only good if the next book will be on the shelves very soon.

Fiction writing is a very tough, competitive world. Give yourself an edge toward success by ensuring your book has engaging characters, an intriguing plot and a professional appearance with a suitable, attractive cover, and that the story is consistent, and the text grammatically clean.

Helen Woodall

Naming Your Characters

You may have five friends named Leah. Each one is distinct in your mind—the blonde, the one always laughing, the one at work and so on. But you cannot do that in a book.

Think back to school days when you studied all those King Louis in France. I bet you can scarcely keep track in your mind now of which was which, apart perhaps from the Sun King.

This is what happens to readers when character names in a book are confusing. Sure, it occurs in real life, but in a book it’s a really bad idea to have a Tom and Tim, or two Freds, or even Mr. Holden and Mr. Howden. The readers will get confused and your story will lose its impact while they’re flipping back over the pages trying to get the characters clear in their mind.

And never repeat a name in a different book, unless it is the same character reappearing. A secondary character named Julie, in two different books, when they are totally different people will confuse your readers too.

There are plenty of baby name books out there. Give every character a distinct name that reflects their personality.


Helen Woodall
Helen.woodall@gmail.com

10 Common Mistakes Writers Overlook

Writers’ Life recently published a list of ten common mistakes writes overlook.

They include ones I’ve mentioned many times before. In fact, you should all be able to recite them. Things like telling instead of showing the reader what is happening, and repeating “pet” or “crutch” words. Then there are run-on sentences, and empty words that are pure padding and don’t forward the story at all.

One good point they make that’s slightly different is to watch the dialogue. Do all the characters speak the same? Is someone more a caricature than a character? Try reading the dialogue out loud and see if it makes you cringe.

The full article is at: http://writerslife.org/10-common-mistakes-writers-overlook/ and is well worth reading.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

How to avoid clichés and melodrama

Each book you write should be fresh, new and different. If you have ten books they should not be the same story told ten different ways.

Resist the lure of stereotypes. Real people are much more interesting, and much harder to write.

Tell your own story. Don’t try to rewrite someone else’s.

You do have to keep the story moving, but don’t rush. Give the reader detail so they understand and relate to the characters and the situation.

Conflict doesn’t have to be sensational. Ordinary lives with the problems set out so the reader relates to them work fine. Avoid gratuitous violence and melodrama.

Your characters need to grow, develop, and change. The reader needs to see this happen and understand how and why it happens. That makes them want to keep reading.


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

But my character told me his name was X’qwertyuiopl’hgfdsazxz

Dear Editor,
I know you said character names should be chosen that the reader can relate to, but my hero woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me his name was X’qwertyuiopl’hgfdsazxz.

Dear Author,
I’m sorry, but X’qwertyuiopl’hgfdsazxz is going to make your reader give up, or question my sanity in not getting you to change his name. Or possibly both. Please ask him to tell you a nice short, easily pronounced nickname he’d like to be called in the story.

Dear Editor,
X’qwertyuiopl’hgfdsazxz hates nicknames and X’qwertyuiopl’hgfdsazxz isn’t all that hard to pronounce. My readers are intelligent people who’ll cope just fine with his name. By the way, I’ve decided to change the heroine’s name from Cherry Blossom, to PalePinkBudsofSummerCherryBlossom. Isn’t that a pretty name?

Dear Author,
Perhaps I haven’t explained myself clearly enough as yet. Readers want to dive into your story and read it. They want to share the adventures of the characters, fully immersed in their lives, lost in the fantasy and romance of your book. Really, dear author, you don’t want them stopping every few sentences to think, “What’s his name again? Why didn’t she just call him X?” or even worse, “What was the author drinking when she named these characters?” Your main aim is to draw the reader into your world and keep them there fully engrossed in the story until they hit the final line of your book.
How about we introduce your characters as X’qwertyuiopl’hgfdsazxz and PalePinkBudsofSummerCherryBlossom and just call them X and Cherry after that?

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com
Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Review of Ken and Barbie book cover doll set

This is hysterically funny although decidedly irreverent. Warning. Do not attempt to eat or drink while reading this “book cover” review.

http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/blog/barbie-the-raider-the-washboard-and-me

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

In honor of Mother’s Day

With Mother’s Day in mind, Publishers’ Weekly has compiled a list of the ten worst mothers in books.
Enjoy!

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/57176-the-10-worst-mothers-in-books.html?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly&utm_campaign=e2aeb9ade4-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0bb2959cbb-e2aeb9ade4-304682837


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Characters and Age

Many publishers refuse to have characters involved in relationships under the age of eighteen. Yes, we all know Margaret Beaufort was married at twelve and widowed at thirteen when she gave birth to Henry Tudor (King Henry VII of England. And we all also know nine is the age of consent for girls today in some countries.

However most western women find the idea of young girls being married and/or having sex in a romance novel off-putting. And since the hero is almost always older some women find it even a fraction pedophilic. So it’s best to keep your characters older.

If you’re writing an historical romance and think twenty-one is way too old don’t mention her age at all, or simply have her staying at home caring for her family/estates or something to give her a reason to be older.

At the other end of the age scale, think about the future. Yes, I’m sure eighty year olds fall in love in the retirement village. And good luck to them too! But if you have a hero in his sixties thinking babies, please do the math. Do your readers really want to envision him having a heart attack and dying while teaching his child to drive? Maybe give him a little longer to enjoy his happy ever after.

And finally age gap. In arranged marriages in real life the man may well be old enough to be his wife’s father. In some cultures he’s the same age as her grandfather. But is this really romantic? Does the reader want to imagine the heroine traumatized by his early death? Many publishers suggest no more than about ten or twelve years age gap for this reason.

You want to leave your reader in a happy cloud of bliss imagining the hero and heroine with long years of happiness ahead of them.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

When writing sweet romance

For those who prefer the bedroom door closed, and enjoy hints much more than description, sweet romance is their chosen reading.

In days gone by the heroine only needed to be stunningly beautiful. The hero could do whatever he wanted to, as often as he wanted to, as long as she sat there waiting for him. By the end of the book he fell in love with her. Readers today want a lot more than that. Stunningly beautiful, TSTL (Too Stupid To Live) heroines, are no longer popular.

Today’s heroines need a fully developed personality, may have flaws, and need to do a lot more than wait around to be noticed. There has to be a reason why the hero and heroine fall in love, and that chemistry has to be shown vividly on the page. Since there isn’t going to be sex, authors need to write this genre very much relying on the five senses. The looks they share (not just their eye color please. Tell the reader what their eyes are doing), sounds, scents, touches (or the desire to touch if actual touching is not allowed), taste (if kissing is not allowed think of other things to use this sense).

It is not enough to throw the heroine into danger and have the hero defeat the villain. The heroine needs to be an active participant at every stage, not blindly walking into danger by acting stupidly, but thinking and getting involved in her own rescue. This should provide the author with many opportunities to develop the characters and show the reader why they are falling in love.

Happy writing.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Mistakes newbies make

There are several standard errors that scream “newbie”. A good editor will make sure the writer fixes these up, but not every editor notices, not every author does what their editor says, and with the rise of self publishing there are more authors than ever doing their own thing.
So please, make sure your book does not contain any of these things.

The blurb that tells the entire story.
That thing you write telling the entire story? That’s called the synopsis. The blurb is meant to be brief, introducing the reader to the main characters and the main plot point, without giving the reader any extra information. In particular never reveal the spoiler or the conclusion. Also, don’t end the blurb with the book’s title, or a question. That screams newbie too.

Opening with the heroine standing in front of a mirror describing herself (or a reflective pool of water or…)
The opening of the book is your one chance to hook the reader. It needs to be action. If the villain is going to grab her by her long red hair hair, fine. Let him so that. Then we’ll know she has long red hair. Don’t tell us as well.
Similarly don’t have her looking at her straight white teeth as she cleans them. Most people who look in the mirror notice their faults. This is a very weak way for description. It’s much better done in action scenes, or at least by another character.
“I would never have chosen that shade of orange with your red hair but actually it looks okay,” said her sister.

Tying up the story with a big pink bow at the end.
No, we don’t want plot holes or loose threads, but we don’t want absolutely every secondary character placed neatly in a box or married off either. If this book is successful, those secondary characters are needed for the sequel. Leave some mystery and opportunities for a sequel, and skip the epilogue with two kids and a dog frolicking on the front lawn. It’s old and boring.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Why I threw that book against the wall (and broke my ereader!)

Plot holes you could drive a semi-trailer (18-wheeler) through.

They arrive at the party on foot thinking it’s a lovely evening for a walk. Then get into their SUV during the party to chase after the bad guys which includes climbing over fences and running like crazy. Hang on she was wearing high heels and a pretty dress. And she’s doing all this? And where did the car come from? Did they steal it?

Annoying characters.

He’s not Alpha, he’s pig-headed, arrogant, and is not protecting her, he’s using her as a doormat. Or, she’s so stunningly beautiful it makes the reader feel ill and she’s useless. Stands there wringing her hands and lets the villain catch her or the hero use her.

Bad grammar, head hopping that gives the reader whiplash, poor sentence construction, misplaced words, typos.

And so on. Solution—get an editor. Your best friend reading your book and telling you it’s wonderful is great. But you still need an editor.

Lack of world-building

This is most obvious in fantasy/futuristic worlds but is true for any book. If there are two green moons in chapter two, why is there a red moon in chapter ten? If the vampire in chapter six cannot go outside during the day why can the vampire in chapter ten attack the heroine in the middle of the day at the office? If the hero drove south for ten minutes to get to Grandma’s house on page forty why did it take an hour on page 120? As the author you can do anything you like, but you have explain to the reader how it is possible and why it is logical.

There’s lots of other details to get right, but fix these first and you’ll be well on the way to keeping your readers happy.

Helen Woodall

helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Can you really do that?

We have reached a very exciting part of the book. The villain has captured the heroine. The hero races to rescue her and begins to fight the villain.

The heroine wrings her hands and bites her lips.

Really? If she’s that much of a helpless baby I’m surprised the hero wants her. Can’t she at least turn on her heels and grab a vase to hit the villain over the head with? No, not the priceless Ming Dynasty vase, but perhaps the ugly one Great Aunt Bertha gave her.

Having made her no longer Too Stupid To Live, let’s improve the clichés around her actions. We’ve removed “wrings her hands” because she’s going to “grab the vase” instead. But bites her lips? Go on try it yourself. Bite both your lips. Come on, have a go.

You can’t can you? You can bite your top lip, OR bite your bottom lip, but you can’t bite both lips at once.

Now let’s fix, “turns on her heels”. Try that. Rush away from the computer and turn on your heels.

It’s not as easy as it sounds is it? And it’s quite a slow action.

That’s the problem with clichés. We’ve read them in stories so often we think they explain the scene. But when you examine them, they actually spoil your scene, taking all the drama out of it.

Now, go away and write some stuff she can really do. And please don’t make her a crybaby or TSTL.

Helen Woodall

helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Alpha or Ass

Most readers love an Alpha hero. A big, strong man with a can-do attitude who puts the heroine and her needs first in his life. He may pick her up and throw her over his shoulder, or lift her onto his horse, and then they ride off into the sunset together.

Some heroes push the boundaries somewhat, telling the heroine what she can and can’t do. This can still be fulfilling, forcing her to see where her thoughts are wrong or where she truly needs help.

But then there are the heroes who are arrogant and idiots, not Alpha at all. These men are not carrying the heroine away for her own good, or to save her from herself, but because it fulfills their own needs to be bossy or macho. They are using her to cover up inadequacies in their own personalities, instead of helping the heroine to grow, develop and understand how much she is loved.

Look at your Alpha hero. Is he dominant or domineering? Is he an Alpha or an ass? If his first priority is himself and his own aggrandizement, not his heroine and her interests, throw him out and tell your heroine to choose another man. One more worthy of her respect.

Helen Woodall

helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

How to write a good villain

The most gripping stories always have a villain. It may be the hero's own weaknesses (or the heroine's), it may be wild animals or nature, or it may be a person, but there needs to be something keeping the hero and heroine from achieving their happy ending, or the book would be all over by about page ten.

The best villains are ones clearly explained, fully developed characters that the reader can't help but want to hear more about. No one really cares about the villain who is so totally evil he's practically a cartoon character. In fact, the best cartoon bad guys are pretty awesome themselves.

Your villain may be just an ordinary Joe, caught up in evil. Or not smart enough, or just too nice, to see he's being misled or used by someone else. He may be stuck in a tradition, not seeing that times have changed. But even if he is pretty bad, he will still have redeeming features. Even ax murderers love their wife, their kids and their dog. And the more followers he has, the more the villain will believe he is right. He has too much invested in himself and the followers to change easily. Besides, they probably keep telling him how wonderful he is and how right his plans are, making it ever harder for him to see another possible path.

If your villain is insane, make sure you have your facts right. Don’t give him some malady that's easily treatable with a bottle of pills, or your plot will be too weak to make the story good, even if "the voices in his head" tell him not to take them. A smart heroine could feed them to him in his morning coffee!

Happy writing! 

Helen Woodall

helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Flesh out those Secondary Characters

If you want people to love your book, don’t have cardboard cutouts for the secondary characters! Sometimes authors spend so much energy and wordage developing the main characters, they seem to be too tired to do much with the secondary characters. But they’re very important too. These minor people can add immense depth and passion to the story, showing the reader all sorts of facets about the man characters. Do they smile at servants and say “Thank you”? Do they gossip girlishly with a friend? Does he treat his favorite horse as if it were his best friend?

I’m not saying every placeholder character in the story needs a chapter of description from birth to this moment, but they do need a brief outline. Are they easy-going or uptight? Do they understand and approve of the main character? Can you make them fresh and distinctive in just a few lines of dialogue?

Besides, if this book proves popular, these secondary characters may become heroes and heroines in a later book in their own right.

Helen Woodall

helen.woodall@gmail.com

The ingredients for a good book.

Characters. If the reader cannot relate to your characters she will not continue reading. She may love them or hate them, but the author has to draw the reader into their lives so she keeps reading. If a character is Too Stupid To Live (eg. walking alone into a possible murderer’s house) you will lose the reader right then and there.

These days, female characters are expected to make an effort to solve their own problems. The hero may still come riding up on his white horse to sweep her away, but she should have been endeavoring to solve her own problems, not crying in a corner and wringing her hands.

Plot. There must be a plot. It is through the plot the characters show their development and build their relationship. In an erotic romance the sex may be part of the plot, but there must be something else happening as well—a bad guy to defeat, the world to save, or whatever.

If you are marketing your book as an erotic romance there must be detailed sexual encounters as well as hot, steamy looks. Otherwise what you have written is a mainstream romance.

Fiction writing is a very tough, competitive world. Give yourself an edge toward success by having Helen edit your book. Rates on application.

helen.woodall@gmail.com

Naming Your Characters

You may have five friends named Leah. Each one is distinct in your mind—the blonde, the one always laughing, the one at work and so on. But you cannot do that in a book.

Think back to school days when you studied all those King Louis in France. I bet you can scarcely keep track in your mind now of which was which, apart perhaps from the Sun King.

This is what happens to readers when character names in a book are confusing. Sure, it occurs in real life, but in a book it’s a really bad idea to have a Tom and Tim, or two Freds, or even Mr. Holden and Mr. Howden. The readers will get confused and your story will lose its impact while they’re flipping back over the pages trying to get the characters clear in their mind.

And never repeat a name in a different book, unless it is the same character reappearing. A secondary character named Julie, in two different books, when they are totally different people will confuse your readers too.

There are plenty of baby name books out there. Give every character a distinct name.

Helen Woodall