Fiction Craft Blog

The standard advice for handling dialect in commercial fiction is to stick to fairly standard forms. Popular advice says that: 1) You can include more dialect in dialogue as it's not expected to be standard or "correct" 2) You can use a basic pattern to infer a strong dialect, but don't try and reproduce the dialect yourself unless you are very comfortable with it and use it. ( More on that here. ) 3) You can go "all in" and write a novel completely in nonstandard forms, but

What is the difference between a novel and a short story?

“Write what you know” is popular advice often given to writers. That’s because it’s easier to imagine a setting you know well and write about it in a way that reflects what it really is like there. You’re less likely to make big errors that will make the story sound unbelievable or unconvincing to readers. That doesn’t mean you don’t have to do any research, and memory is fallible too, but it’s an easier option than writing beyond your experience. Setting and perspective offe

What problems often emerge when translating fiction?

Many science-fiction and fantasy writers overuse italics and capitalisation in their work. In this short blog post, I’ll cover basic style guidelines and explain why this happens. Key points: Science-fiction and fantasy authors often overuse capitalisation and italics as they want to mark out new elements of their world as different. It's a kind of mental scaffolding in the writing process. However, in the final version, this is often unnecessary and can break reader immersio

This blog post explains basic and more advanced issues linked to head hopping in fiction writing. It explains what head hopping is, and how it is particularly problematic in immersive points of view, such as first person and close third. And it explains why traditional publishers sometimes ignore head hopping in a novel. Head hopping is a big problem for many new writers and a bit of a problem for experienced ones. But don’t worry – with a little bit of practice and craft kno

Is a comma before ‘as’ ever mandatory? Takeaway: A comma before as hints at a break, which suggests as is being used in the sense of because . A comma before as to mean because is not mandatory but can be helpful for clarity Some editors argue that the comma before as changes the meaning to because , despite the lack of editorial consensus on this issue The different meanings of as The style guides are quiet on this one. Here’s my attempt, as not even the Chicago Manual

This post discusses: exposition in fiction, especially in science fiction and fantasy writing contextual distance, a new concept for understanding the need for exposition exposition across genres and the purposes it serves Exposition in science fiction and fantasy stories Science fiction and fantasy authors create new imaginary worlds. These need some explaining to the reader. While worldbuilding is best when it's sprinkled in, it's common for authors to drop into infodumpin