I'm reading in a frenzy to learn how to write the perfect novel. Is it possible? The perfect novel I mean. Don't fool yourself, every thing is loved and hated. But I can at least learn enough to minimize the hating. Personally, people may hate my stories, but I'll faint if my actual writing is puked on.
The first rule I remember learning and implementing asap is the following death trap I think first time writers always trip into:
NO PASSIVE VOICE
Passive voice is when the subject of your sentence is also the object. For example:
"The ball was hit."
Here the ball is your subject but it's also receiving the action, getting hit. Who actually acted here? That's what the reader wants to know.
"Joe hit the ball."
Ah, much better. Just think, do you want your book to be passive or ACTIVE? Well, the way you word things emits feelings to the reader so STAY AWAY FROM PASSIVE VOICE. Sometimes you'll get a headache trying to avoid it because we use it when we talk ALL the time.
"It is estimated that..."
"A letter was written..."
"The call was made..."
"It got lost..."
"It was mailed..."
My first painful brain excercise was searching for and revising my passive voice use. I'm better at avoiding it now, but it gets slipped in all the time...
For more on passive voice:
Stephen King's book On Writing
ego4u.com
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