Kristen Bailey, Oregon novelist and freelancer

Kristen Bailey's Articles

Editing
Staff Editor for Kype
Magazine

Trout Divas
in The Big Whiskey Journal

It was a Dark and Stormy Night,

but Alice Just Kept Writing...

Do you ever keep yourself up at night fantasizing about the

day you will finally see your book in a bookstore? (Yes, we

authors are a strange breed, but that makes for good

writing!) Dreams keep us moving forward. Just remember to

do the work and take the needed steps. Before submitting

your book to agents, editors or self publishing, you need to

have it edited and proofed by other people, preferably people

with writing credentials and experience. Read and study

bestselling books and especially award winning books. When

you read famous and successful authors, consider their

writing voice and style. Then look for your own strengths

that make your work stand out.

Check if you overlooked anything with these tips:

Make sure your characters are unique in appearance, name

and behavior. They need names that aren’t similar.

You’ll confuse readers with a Nancy and a Nick.

Jump start the book with conflict, not a description of the

city or setting. If you need the description near the

beginning, mix it into action or dialogue.

Make the journey or adventure bigger than life – it needs to

be realistic in a novel sense. (Huh?) That means the reader

should believe the story but also want to go on the

adventure.

Make the central conflict large enough to last the entire

novel. You can use smaller conflicts to move the story too.

Make your climax believable. This is the darkest moment of

the book, and you want it to logically come from the story’s

conflict. If some awful event comes out of nowhere, readers

will get jarred out of the story.

Make sure the characters can solve the big issues

themselves.

Fulfill your promises. Resolve the big issue. Answer your

questions. Let us see that the

character will go on after the

novel with a new understanding of some sort.

Lastly, work on all the many mechanics of good story telling,

but remember you’re creating something special. Books are

like a recipe that should be personalized, not a fiberboard

computer desk with step-by-step building instructions.

** Email me if you would like to reprint this article. **
(My byline and my website address must be included in your use.)