We all make mistakes in our writing – the best thing is to spot them early on, so we can change them quickly!
Over the winter I’ve enjoyed quite a few books. Winter is a wonderful time to curl up with a good book, especially as we had a cold snap in London, with even a bit of snow! I do love an inspiring biography. Isn’t it exciting to hear what the Lord has done/is doing in people’s lives?
I also read several novels. Some were great! But some not so much.
I don’t know about you, but I tend to read novels with quite a critical voice – it’s an unfortunate side-effect of working in publishing…
One of the novels I read just wasn’t thought through carefully enough, and I thought that perhaps there are some lessons we can all learn from it.
1. The characters forded a river in October in northern France, up to their waists, and one girl fell in! However, there was never a mention of anyone getting dry or changing their clothes, which would have been essential. They would have been very cold! I was waiting for them to find a way to dry off, as they continued their journey, but they never did – they carried on as if their clothes were dry. Ooops! Tip: Check for inconsistencies.
2. A French girl was part of this group of travellers. Unfortunately, some of the French words and phrases that she used in the book were incorrect. Ooops! Tip: if you are using foreign words in your narrative or dialogue, better get them checked out by a native speaker.
3. The book was written in the first person, by five of the characters, who all told their parts of the story as it unfolded. Unfortunately one of them died before the book ended… so it would have been impossible for him to have written his part! Ooops! Tip: Don’t kill your characters off, until after they have committed their story to paper!
Of course, there were some good things about the book, too… but I hope these will be good pointers for a salutary check of your own novel.
All these errors are so easy to commit… which also shows us how important it is to have a great editor… but that’s for another time!
Blessings abundant,
Janet
P.S. What have you been reading? Have you gleaned any useful tips? Do pass them on!