Best Resource Links for Fiction Writing
By: Tantra Bensko
Tags: Writing Advice, Plotting The Novel, Editing And Proofreading, Fiction Writing, Editing

Best Resource Links for Fiction Writing

Image by ComFreak at Pixabay

Want an easy go-to list for writing narrative?

Well, here you go.

I have found that, from time to time, it’s useful to suggest one or more of these links to students or clients.

Have at it!

Elements of a complete scene

Dwight Swain’s Techniques of the Selling Writer is good to buy if you can, and if you can’t, there are summations of Scene and Sequel that can be found by putting those terms in a search engine.

In addition: There must be a shift from negative to positive or vice versa relative to the scene protagonist’s goal in that scene. There must be one: he or she must be proactive.

Story structure

K.M. Weiland website is a wonderful free resource, my favorite part being The Secrets of Story Structure. She also has craft books for sale advertised there.

While avant-garde Literary fiction subverts these rules with definite and meaningful purpose, conventional Literary and all Genre follows them.

Writing a Romance?

Gwen Hayes’ book Romancing the Beat, is very useful to make sure your narrative has all the expected elements.

In a Romance, the antagonist is the other lead romantic interest, though it can be differently set up if it’s a Romantic Suspense, in which there can be a villain who plays that role.

Need to make the language fresh?

This list of 400 cliches doesn’t cover them all, but it’s a good start.

If you’ve ever heard the sentence or phrase used before, consider getting creative and writing something original.

Punctuate and write dialogue correctly

With this handy article.

“Go home.” He said. — — is an editor’s facepalm. So is, “‘Go home,’ he smiled.” Smiling, laughing, sighing, etc are not substitutes for saying they spoke. They are how it was spoken or what came before or after.

Avoid comma splices

With my slideshow about this rogue pirate that takes over sentence structure.

If you can’t figure out how to use a semi-colon properly, don’t use it. Many people don’t use it, so that’s OK.

Know traditional short story rules

With my article.

One time period without gaps, ideally. One POV character only, whether 3rd or 1st person point of view.

Solidly plot short stories, novels and screenplays

With my article. Innovative Literary and Art Films may vary, but the writers know the rules and the ways they break them create meaningful statements.

Protagonist’s flaw generally drives a drama, causing him to make mistakes until the the encounters with the antagonist teach him: the Crisis makes him sacrifice his flaw so he can rise victorious in the battle against the antagonist in the last Act.

Expository backstory making readers flee in droves?

Check out my article. Fiction is primarily narrative format, not expository. You’ll probably need a tiny bit of expository, but ideally not near the beginning or in long swatches. Expository backstory is even harder on readers. And if you use expository backstory near the beginning of a narrative, your reader may never read it. You have to earn their interest in it through snagging them with a mystery, dilemma, etc. through action.

Backstory is not a Plot Progression Point.

How to work with Track Changes when edited?

My article about it explains the logistics. Also note that your editor may employ the function Insert Comment, in which case, look for words TC has put into reddish rectangles. Off to the right, if you follow along the red line, you’ll see feedback to you.

If an editor is doing a sample and makes edits, fix and address those edits before sending the manuscript in full to the editor you’ve hired. If an editor makes edits and is doing multiple passes, fix and address those edits before sending the manuscript back for the next pass.

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Rosemary Tantra Bensko’s novels have won gold, silver and bronze medals in awards and one of her books was listed as one of the year’s dozen best Thrillers. She teaches online with UCLA Writing Program, Writers.com, and her own Online Writing Academy. She edits and coaches through that academy and with BookButchers.