writing tips

Book Recommendation: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

Book Reviews, Writing

Title: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print

Author: Renni Browne and Dave King

Publisher: HarperPerennial (A Division of HarperCollinsPublishers)

ISBN: 0-06-270061-8

Pages: 240

Publication Date: March 1, 1994

A writer friend of mine suggested I read Self-Editing for Fiction Writers and I am so glad I did. The book is not only helpful for editing, but it also offers a wealth of guidance during the actual writing process. Authors Renni Browne and Dave King have worked at The Editorial Department for a number of years, and they offer sound, practical, and easy to follow advice. Each chapter covers the most important aspects of story writing like showing rather than telling, paying attention to point of view, and pointers for writing dialogue. The following are a few words of advice Browne and King offers fiction writers:

  1. They write about beats in dialogue. “Beats are the little bits of action interspersed through a scene, such as a character walking to a window or removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes—the literary equivalent of what is known in the theater as stage business” (p. 102). Beats can also include interior monologue, or a character’s inner dialogue. Beats serve three purposes: 1.) They give readers insights into a character’s personality. 2.) They add rhythm and variety to dialogue. 3.) They allow readers to form a picture of what is happening in the scene. But at the same time, Browne and King caution too many beats can interrupt a scene to the point that it loses its tension or flow.
  2. Be careful about proportion in your writing. Do not fill in every detail and leave nothing to the reader’s imagination. Example: “Joe saw the orange and white cat with the light green eyes and short whiskers run across the sixteen-foot oak tree whose leaves had fallen down this past month.”
  3. Avoid needless repetition. Example: “Sue missed the house she lived in while growing up. The house was spacious and comfortable and her parents had hosted many parties at this house. Sue thought about the house often.” The writing will not flow and interfere with the readers’ enjoyment of the story.
  4. Stay away from cliches, such as “Think outside the box” and “The pot calling the kettle black.”
  5. Avoid -ly adverbs. Strive for strong verbs in place of a weak verb with an adverb. For example, replace “Angrily she put the book on the desk” with “She slammed the book on the desk.”
  6. Do not overuse as and -ing constructions. Although they are grammatically correct, a writer should not use them in a story because, as Browne and King explain, they “…take a bit of action…and tuck it away in a dependent clause” and “they sometimes give rise to physical impossibilities” (p. 156). Examples: “As she unpacked her suitcase, she glanced at her mother from the window” or “Unpacking her suitcase, she glanced at her mother from the window.” Better: “She unpacked her suitcase and glanced at her mother from the window.”
  7. Do not overuse interior monologue to the point where it is constantly interrupting dialogue, repeating what is already mentioned in the actual dialogue, or packing them in with too much information.
  8. Use dashes (–) for interruptions and ellipsis (…) for gaps in the dialogue.
  9. This is probably the flaw fiction writers hear the most: Show, don’t tell. Instead of telling readers a man is greedy, show him paying his workers a meager wage while keeping all the profits for himself. The authors also write, “Are you describing your characters’ feelings? Have you told us they’re angry? irritated? morose? … Keep an eye out for any places where you mention an emotion outside of dialogue. Chances are you’re telling what you should show” (p. 11).
  10. Do not keep shifting the point of view. The point of view may be in the first person, it may be omniscient (not inside any of the character’s heads), or third person. When choosing third person, keep it consistent. If the writer wants to change the point of view, there has to be a scene or chapter break.
  11. When writing dialogue, be sure to use contractions (I’m, can’t, etc.) because you want to write the way people talk. You can also include sentence fragments. Avoid using complex words with many syllables unless that particular character uses them all the time. You want to write dialogue that sounds natural.

Important points to keep in mind!

The book includes a checklist and exercises at the end of the chapters. I recommend Self-Editing for Fiction Writers as a reference book. For this fiction writer, I found it truly helpful in the writing and editing processes.

Idelle Kursman is an editor, proofreader, and SEO copywriter. She is also the author of the novels True Mercy and The Book of Revelations.

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Interview with Wattpad Star Benjamin Sobieck

Writing

Writer Benjamin Sobieck
Ben’s The Writer’s Guide to Wattpad

At the Greater Lehigh Writers Conference last year, I listened to Benjamin Sobieck introduce and explain Wattpad, a social storytelling platform for readers and writers. Writers post their stories, often a chapter at a time, and readers from all over the world read them, offer comments, and vote on them. Wattpad began in 2006 and in 2007, it became available through mobile devices. Today Wattpad has millions of readers and hundreds of millions of stories.

After the class, I took Ben’s business card and emailed him a few times with questions, but I didn’t feel ready to try it until six months later when I read his book The Writer’s Guide to Wattpad: The Comprehensive Guide to Building and Sustaining a Successful Career. This time I wanted to put my current book project on Wattpad and I emailed Ben about enrolling as a writer. He graciously answered my questions and I was now ready to take the plunge.

Wattpad is a whole new writing world that has the potential to reach people all around the world. Many writers have begun successful careers and readers enjoy a vast selection of stories and the opportunity to offer feedback and become actively involved in story development.

I noted Ben’s enthusiasm and willingness to help from our first meeting. He is a crime and thriller writer and a member of Wattpad Stars. His website is crimefiction.com. Ben agreed to do an interview for my website.

1.) Q. Ben, please tell me about yourself and your writing career.

First off, thank you for hosting this interview. The short version is that I went to school for journalism and creative writing, got a job as a reporter, moved over to magazines and wound up working for a large publisher of print, digital and broadcast content. That continues to pay the bills, but if you’re a writer, you know you won’t stop there. I kept writing on the side, and eventually picked up some fiction and non-fiction projects. 

2.) Q. How did you first come across Wattpad? It seems like a perfect match for you and the stories you write.

Thank you! I’d hit a dead end outside of Wattpad with some stories that I thought had legs. I posted them to Wattpad to see what would happen, and the rest is history. It wasn’t overnight, and there were times I felt like quitting. But I knew I had something good to share, and it worked out in the end.

As far as matching content to Wattpad, I write, in general, thrillers. Horror, YA and romance all do well on the platform, too, but that shouldn’t put off anyone not writing in those genres. Wattpad is an enormous place, with 70 million monthly users. If you can find even a tiny, tiny percentage to give your work a read, you’re on the right track.

3.) Q. Wattpad is geared toward millennials and Generation Z. Do you think there is room for older writers/readers?

Of course! The demos certainly skew to those generations, but you’d be surprised at how open minded and advanced those readers are. Remember, these are voracious readers. They want compelling stories. I never intended to write for the 18-25 demo, but that makes up a big chunk of my followers.

For adult readers, there’s plenty of content, too. It takes a little more digging, but you’ll find what you’re looking for. And, hey, even if you don’t, you didn’t spend a bunch of money to find out!

4.) Q. I am a writer that is older than the targeted audience. I am presently posting a chapter a week of my new novel on Wattpad. The main characters are in their forties. Would you say this novel would be a tough sell on Wattpad?

I wouldn’t mistake a slow burn for a tough sell. All Wattpad stories are a slow burn, because it takes time to build up momentum. Writers who frequent Wattpad will see a pay off in reads, votes and comments. It’s just a matter of sticking with it.

As an example, Zandra, the lead character in my “Confessions of a Fake Psychic Detective” series, is in her 40s. She deals with adult issues, and there is zero romance. On the surface, that doesn’t look like a Wattpad story. However, it won a Watty Award in 2016.

5.) Q. It is mentioned quite a few times in your book that there are currently 65 million users and 400 million stories. These statistics suggest it would be exceedingly difficult for a writer to stand out. Yet the writers in your book are very encouraging about joining Wattpad. Why do you think they believe new writers have the potential to do well if they stick with it?

It’s up to 70 million now! That sounds intimidating, yes, but remember that of those millions of stories, most of them are one-offs, just for fun or not written by someone interested in a full-fledged writing career. The dedicated writers there to build an audience, and therefore a career, are smaller in number. I don’t know what that number is, exactly, but the readers will always want new material. They enjoy following writers putting out good work. If you’re doing that, the readers will come. It just takes time.

6.) Q. Have any plagiarism concerns come up? After all, many writers are sharing their works in progress.

Yes, unfortunately. There are websites off of Wattpad that post work, and there are “writers” who imitate or copy Wattpad successes. Issue a DMCA notice or alert Wattpad directly. Piracy is always a risk. Hopefully, the benefits of Wattpad outweigh the risk of plagiarism.

7.) Q.  Most of the chapters are written by women. Is that because there are more women writers and readers than men? Do you see a closing of this gap anytime soon?

Wattpad users are female, and I think that reflects readerships at large and Wattpad’s makeup behind the scenes. Most workers at Wattpad HQ are women. That trickles through to the user experience, too. So, no, I’m not sure that will change, but what they’re doing is working.

8.) Q. Many writers mention Watty Awards, the Wattpad Top 100 Hot List, and Wattpad Star. How do writers achieve these benchmarks?

The Watty Awards are an annual competition that anyone can enter. It’s as simple as tagging a story. The Hot Lists are based on reads and votes, but not entirely on reads and votes. The more active you are on Wattpad, the more likely it is you’ll wind up with a ranked title. Wattpad runs a lot of algorithms, and I doubt they’d ever disclose the specifics.

The Wattpad Stars program is by invitation. It used to be that you could apply for it, but that’s since changed.

9.) Q. Would you mind explaining the role of Wattpad Ambassador?

To put it simply, the Ambassadors are there to ensure users have the best experience possible. That can take on a number of forms, from addressing trolls to getting the word out about contest, and they all do great work. 

10.) Q. Some writers have even captured the attention of television executives, movie studios, and publishers! Do you have any statistics on how often this occurs? 

They do! The exact figures are kept close to the chest at Wattpad Studios, the division that licenses content in that way. Should an opportunity come up, though, Wattpad contacts the writer directly to gauge interest. Writers own all the rights to their work. The only time Wattpad would sell those rights to a third party is after having a conversation with the writer and signing a contract. No surprises.

11.) Q. Author Daryl Jamison wrote the chapter, “Writing for Wattpad campaigns.” She mentions ways writers can make money on Wattpad. Would you mind touching on this briefly?

Wattpad Next, Wattpad Futures, Wattpad Books and the branded campaigns are all ways for writers to make money directly through Wattpad. These are invite-only programs at the moment.

12.) Q. Do you have advice for writers on how to become successful on Wattpad?

Keep posting! Keep writing! Build your audience! That’s the best way to do it.

13.) Q. What about story length? Are most short stories, novellas, or full-length novels?

You’ll find work in a variety of lengths, but complete novels seem to do the best.

14.) Q. Ben, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Is there anything else you would like to mention?

Give Wattpad a try! I did and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for my writing career. If you can build an audience that cares about your work, you can port that into any other avenue in publishing. You can’t buy devoted readers, but you can build them. All you need is a tool. Wattpad gives you an entry ramp for readers to find you. For me, it’s home base.

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