Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

The biggest writing fault I come across

Got a question/comment about the creative process of writing? Post it here!
writerinthenorth
Reader
Posts: 107
Joined: June 2010

History v Story

Post by writerinthenorth » Sat March 24th, 2012, 11:55 am

It should be perfectly possible to keep the story flowing without throwing too much history out of the window - in fact the history is vital for context, isn't it? The trick, I guess, is to make the history as thrilling as the rest of the narrative. If it's just a fact, detail, date or person that doesn't do an important job in carrying the story forward, or making sense of something, or providing texture, then leave it out.

User avatar
EC2
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3661
Joined: August 2008
Location: Nottingham UK
Contact:

Post by EC2 » Sat March 24th, 2012, 2:08 pm

[quote=""lauragill""]My pet peeve is self-published authors who can't take criticism regarding typos, weak plotting, etc, and insist that their work is brilliant, that naysayers are either haters or "just don't get it." If you have to explain it to me in a separate post, you didn't do your job as an author. I WANT readers to give me feedback, because I WILL listen and take a second look at a project. Fan fiction writers can be horrible about it, because they're used to having other fans gush over their work. Original writing is NOT that easy.

Plagiarism in all forms, and then denying it when the author calls them on it. No, it was NOT a coincidence. Don't play that game with me. I used to be a high school English teacher, and that excuse didn't float when my students tried it, either. (Yes, this recently happened to me, so I am peeved about it.)

Sockpuppets on Amazon forums. Dishonesty is a bad way to start your writing career. Don't insult my intelligence. Seriously. Just don't do it.[/quote]

Agree with all the above. My friend Liz Fielding was recently plagiarized and there was a big hoo-ha about it. [email=http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/blog ... plagiarism]http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/blog ... plagiarism[/email]
As to sockpuppets. There's one that quite a few members of this forum know who goes about under at least 2 pseudonymns, praising their own work, dissing 'rival' authors, and denying everything when challenged even though it's obvious. Oy vey!

On the actual technicality front - yep, I was guilty of overdoing the adjectives when I was first published - might still be in places, but I've toned them down :-) I think one has to be careful when changing viewpoint and keep control of the head-hopping. Only change VP if you have to. Also beware using a descriptive word instead of a 'said' word and make sure you really need to use it. 'He ejaculated' or 'she chortled' are somewhat distracting to a reader unless in the perfect context. I was reading a novel the other day and the heroine sniggered several times which kind of lost her my sympathy vote!
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

DanielAWillis
Reader
Posts: 114
Joined: March 2012
Contact:

Great feedback!

Post by DanielAWillis » Sat March 24th, 2012, 2:44 pm

As a newly self-published HF writer, I really got a lot out of reading this thread. Especially the conversation about applying 21st century moraes to previous eras. This is something I have to avoid in the next book of my series which will deal directly with racial prejudices.

Please be assured LauraGill, that I appreciate ALL feedback on my books, good, bad, and indifferent. I know I have flaws as a writer and by having them pointed out (in a constuctive manner please) I can address them in future writings. I do use a writing group of pretty varied opinions (and infinitely better grammar than myself) to bounce rough drafts off of as I go. Two of them also technically edit the final draft for me.

Thank you all!
Daniel A. Willis
Author: Chronicle of the Mages series
www.DanielAWillis.com

User avatar
Shield-of-Dardania
Reader
Posts: 129
Joined: February 2010

Post by Shield-of-Dardania » Wed March 28th, 2012, 7:46 am

[quote=""EC2""]
Also beware using a descriptive word instead of a 'said' word and make sure you really need to use it. 'He ejaculated' or 'she chortled' are somewhat distracting to a reader unless in the perfect context. I was reading a novel the other day and the heroine sniggered several times which kind of lost her my sympathy vote!
[/quote]
Well, they do seem to make all kinds of sounds, don't they? Like 'chirp', 'screech', 'crow', 'purr', 'wheeze', 'roar', 'bark', 'grunt', 'growl', 'hiss', 'howl' etc. :cool:

Post Reply

Return to “The Craft of Writing”