1)
Failure
to have it professionally edited: Agents and publishers aren’t going to
waste their time with a manuscript that has misspelled words, or improper
spacing, run-on sentences etc. Want to be taken seriously? Then have the
manuscript PROFESSIONALLY edited before submitting.
2) Speechifying: Lack of contractions, soapbox oratory, bombastic self-serving dialogue.
3) Talking heads: Conversational dialogue
where there is no action. People gesture when they speak, have facial
expressions, respond to outside noises (dog barking, train whistle) touch
surrounding objects etc.
4) Telling not showing: Don’t just write
it was a dark and stormy night, describe it. Make us feel that we are in that
place.
5) Stagnant pacing: Suspense requires
scene building detail, concise description utilizing all five senses. (What
they see, hear, feel, smell and taste.) Action require sharp, to the point
pacing with no unnecessary detail.
6) Timeline errors: You can’t have Bob go
out to get Tuesday’s newspaper then announce when he comes home that he wants
to watch Monday Night football that evening. Or switching between past, present
and future without a clear and self-explanatory jump-cut.
7) Inconsistent dialogue: Once you
establish your character he/she must be consistent in his or hers conduct and
speech patterns. You can’t have a British nobleman suddenly start wise cracking
or using southern colloquialisms.
8) Exposition: You shouldn’t stop your
story to explain to your reader what led up to their present circumstances,
weave it into the story.
9) Magic solution: You should NEVER use a
solution to a problem that hasn’t been mentioned anywhere else in the story. For
example: Jane is about to be murdered by crazed assailant then suddenly
remembers she has a gun in her purse. If this fact hasn’t been address earlier
you shouldn’t use it. EVER!
10) There is no “Secret” The secret is what
keeps the reader reading. Who is the mysterious stranger who calls Jane every
night at 2 am.? Who is that boy in the picture she keeps in a locket around her
neck? What is Ben using to blackmail Kyle? Remember it’s very easy to put a book down. Make
it difficult for your reader to do.
There
is a lot more to mention. In fact there is an entire book filled with
everything you need to know to get your book published. It’s called The Best
Book on How to Write, Publish and Market your Novel into a Best Seller and you
can get it if you CLICK HERE
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