How to Write Fiction
- 1). Use active present phrases to describe action that is happening now. Don't make readers arrive after the fact. "I watched Sara fall from the cliff." That sentence is practically wrapped in yellow crime scene tape. Try this: "Sara walks to the edge of the hill to take in the whole sunset over the mountains. A loose rock steals her footing. I leap toward her, though I'm twenty feet away. Sara's wide eyes catch mine, as her body topples over the cliff. Is this fading scream the last thing I'll hear from her?" We're there for the action.
- 2). Read aloud. Read everything you write out loud. This will expose any phraseology that doesn't make sense. It'll also show how your copy flows.
- 3). Occupy the senses. Most of us can describe how a scene looks. "The sun shines on golden sea oats as taupe foam pulls away from the receding waves to struggle in the sand." That's good, but it leaves four senses out of the experience. "A salted sea breeze overrules the days humidity and tricks the burning sun. Rolling green waves crash on thirsty sand, while hopeful seagulls cry out to the clear blue sky." Not every setting will have something for each sense, but stop to notice the sounds, tastes, smells and tactile elements wherever you go.
- 4). Center the action. Most novels and short stories are about a person or group of people with a goal. In many cases the events of the story dictate that goal. This can be as simple as a guy deciding to learn to surf, possibly due to a crush on a surfer-girl. Now everyone he meets and everything that happens in this beach-town can be linked to the tidal romance.
- 5). Develop your characters. Decide on the traits your characters will posses and devise experiences to reveal them. If someone's a sweetheart, let them help a puppy find it's owner. Have the bad-guy break a child's favorite toy. If someone has a short temper, put her on a cell-phone, in traffic, while repeatedly catching red lights. Use emotion stimulating situations people can relate to.
- 6). Make the characters believable. A typical surf shop owner is not the kind of personality who'd say: "I apologize for the delay in your orders arrival. Our courier experienced a shipping displacement that should be resolved in twenty four hours." No, this character would say something like: "sorry about your board, man. Somebody put it on the wrong truck, but it'll be here tomorrow."
- 7). Add a twist. You could of wrap this up as another happy love story, or after several dates the surfer works hard labor in the hot sun to finance, let him decide he doesn't like the girl. Then our hero becomes a surf competitor with his picture on the cover of a magazine. Suddenly he's paid by a sponsor to surf, and he meets a new sun-tanned bikini clad girl.
Source...