Don't fall victim to the 12 fatal flaws of fiction writing
Fiction writers often struggle to improve their craft
And the biggest challenge comes from the inability to see what isn’t working. The prose feels off. The scene isn’t gelling. The dialogue sounds stilted or clunky. But they don’t know why or how to fix it.
This book lays it all out
5 Editors Tackle the Twelve Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing demonstrates the deadly dozen pitfalls on the road to a strong story, along with revisions that show writers exactly how to avoid novel failure.
No other writing craft book offers such detailed instruction in how to spot and remedy the major flaws of fiction writing.What makes this book an important addition to a writer’s bookshelf?<ul>
<li>More than 60 Before and After passages showcase each of the twelve fatal flaws, which are then picked apart and examined to help writers spot these flaws in their own writing and fix them.</li>
<li>Five editors with extensive background in both editing fiction and writing novels bring a wealth of insights, examples, and solutions to these flaws, using various genre styles and POVs.</li>
<li>Each chapter ends with a checklist to help writers seek and destroy these fatal flaws in their manuscript, followed by bonus Before and After passages to help them test what they’ve learned.</li>
</ul>
This in-depth guide to self-editing is an invaluable resource for any writer of any genre. It shows, not just tells, how to write better fiction. Using it, you’ll be armed with the tools and skills you need to conquer the twelve fatal flaws of fiction writing.Here are some of the 12 fatal flaws:<ul>
<li>Overwriting—the most egregious and common flaw in fiction writing.</li>
<li>Nothin’ Happenin’—Too many stories take too long to get going. Learn what it means to start in medias res.</li>
<li>Weak Construction—It sneaks in at the level of words and sentences, and rears up in up in the form of passive voice, ing verbs, and misplaced modifiers.</li>
<li>Too Much Backstory—the bane of many manuscripts. Backstory has its place, but too often it serves as an info dump and bogs down pacing.</li>
<li>POV Violations—Head hopping, characters knowing things they can’t know, and foreshadowing are just some of the many POV violations explored.</li>
<li>Telling instead of Showing—Writers have heard this admonition, but there’s a lot to understanding how and when to show instead of tell.</li>
<li>Lack of Pacing and Tension—Many factors affect pacing and tension: clunky passages, mundane dialogue, unimportant information, and so much more.</li>
<li>Flawed Dialogue Construction—Writers need to learn to balance speech and narrative tags and avoid “on the nose” speech.</li>
<li>“Underwriting”—just as fatal as overwriting. Too often scenes are lacking the necessary actions, descriptions, and details needed to bring them to life.</li>
<li>Description Deficiencies and Excesses—Learning how to balance description is challenging, and writers need to choose wisely just what to describe and in what way.</li>
</ul>
Don’t be left in the dark. Learn what causes these flaws and apply the fixes in your own stories.
No one need suffer novel failure. You don’t have to be brilliant or talented to write strong fiction. You just need to be forewarned and forearmed to be able to tackle these culprits. And this book will give you all the weapons and knowledge you need.
“This book should be on every writer’s bookshelf.” —Cheryl Kaye Tardif, international best-selling author

5 Editors Tackle the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing (The Writer's Toolbox Series)

Reference

Thomson, Rachel Starr

Patchen, Robin

Lakin, C.S.

Clare, Linda S.

Distler, Christy

Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

Ubiquitous Press

As 1756 dawns, Isaac Lukens leaves the Pennsylvania wilderness after two years with the Lenape people. He's failed to find the families of his birth parents, a French trader and a Lenape woman. Worse, the tribe he's lived with, having rejected his peacemaking efforts, now ravages frontier settlements in retaliation. When he arrives in the Quaker community where he was reared, questions taunt him: Who is he-white man or Lenape? And where does he belong?Elisabeth Alden, Isaac's dearest childhood friend, is left to tend her young siblings alone upon her father's death. Despite Isaac's promise to care for her and the children, she battles resentment toward him for having left, while an unspeakable tragedy and her discordant courtship with a prominent Philadelphian weigh on her as well. Elisabeth must marry or lose guardianship of her siblings, and her options threaten the life with her and the children that Isaac has come to love. Faced with Elisabeth's hesitancy to marry, the prospect of finding his family at last, and the opportunity to assist in the peace process between Pennsylvania and its Indian tribes, Isaac must determine where-and to whom-the Almighty has called him.

A Cord of Three Strands

Literature & Fiction

United States

Avodah Books

The Heart Knows the Way Home

Sometimes home isn't a place, but a people.As children, Janna Carpenter and Luke Martin lived on opposite sides of Division Highway, and that wasn't the only division in their lives. While he grew up in the gmay-Lancaster County's Old Order Mennonite community-she was the daughter of a single mother who left her in the care of Luke's grandmother. For six years Janna found love with the Martins, until her mother abruptly moved them away.Now, almost fourteen years later, Janna returns to the area with her daughter. Her hope for a new beginning is lost when they find their home uninhabitable after a storm, then an out-of-gas car leaves them stranded. When two women stop to help, they turn out to be Luke's aunts, and the Martin family again takes her in.Janna and Luke, a widower struggling to balance business and family responsibilities, reacquaint as Janna assists his grandmother and cares for his son. Her self-protective independence and his conservative principles put them at odds, but the difficulties they face draw them closer.When long-lost friendship rekindles into unexpected love, will either be willing to make changes so they can be together?A portion of the proceeds from each sale will be donated to Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, Pennsylvania.

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

2021 Best Book Awards Winner\nSometimes home isn't a place, but a people. 
As children, Janna Carpenter and Luke Martin lived on opposite sides of Division Highway, and that wasn’t the only division in their lives. While he grew up in the gmay—Lancaster County’s Old Order Mennonite community—she was the daughter of a single mother who left her in the care of Luke’s grandmother. For six years Janna found love with the Martins, until her mother abruptly moved them away. 
Now, almost fourteen years later, Janna returns to the area with her daughter. Her hope for a new beginning is lost when they find their home uninhabitable after a storm, then an out-of-gas car leaves them stranded. When two women stop to help, they turn out to be Luke’s aunts, and the Martin family again takes her in. 
Janna and Luke, a widower struggling to balance business and family responsibilities, reacquaint as Janna assists his grandmother and cares for his son. Her self-protective independence and his conservative principles put them at odds, but the difficulties they face draw them closer. 
When long-lost friendship rekindles into unexpected love, will either be willing to make changes so they can be together? 
A portion of the proceeds from each sale will be donated to Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, Pennsylvania.

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