Mechanics

1. *Show Not Tell*

It's better to show through a character's actions than "tell" by

having the narrator describe. Please do not "tell."

*Example 1:* "Garth became nervous" is "telling." It is

better to "show" with: "Garth's hands trembled."
*Example 2:* "Garth did not want to go down the hall with
the Major" is "telling." It is better to "show" with:
"What?" Garth said, "There's no way in hell I'm going with you!"
2. *Body Movement*

Occasional reference to body movement and scene interaction is

important so that characters are not disembodied talking heads.
It's also important to occasionally use body movement *before* a
person talks, in order to establish who is talking.

Example:
"When are you going to leave for France?" John asked.
could be cast as:
John took a slow breath. "When are you going to leave for
France?"
(Many times beginning authors make it hard to figure out who
is talking, but a quick reference to body movement before
the speaker speaks makes it all clear.)

3. *Short Better Than Long*

In real life, people often talk in short sentences and phrases,

rather than in long drawn-out sentences with big words. Another
dialog tip: use contractions often. For example, a character may
be more apt to say "I'll" than "I will."
4. *Break the Dialog*

Always insert a "he said" or "she said" as early as possible into

a line of dialog (if a "he said" is even needed at all).

Example:
Never do: "Yes, I will kill him, but not until you buy the
peaches for dinner," he said.
Instead do:
"Yes," he said, "I will kill him, but not until you buy the
peaches for dinner."
5. *Use Active Voice*

Don't say: "The paper was placed on the wall by the doctor." Use
active voice: "The doctor placed the paper on the wall."
6. *Avoid Omniscient Narrator*

Books have more immediacy if you stay within one character's head
and therefore the narrator does not have knowledge of what other
people are thinking. For example, if you are in Jake's head, we
are in Jake's head for most of the book. We can't suddenly know
how Melinda is feeling. Jake doesn't read her mind. We can suggest
how she feels through Jake's opinions and what he sees and hears,
and what she says and does. (Some people use an omniscient
narrator, but the best books avoid it.)
7. *Don't Rush The Scene*

If a scene sounds rushed, with too little attention to detail and

texture, then more words are needed to draw out the action and
suspense.
8. *Natural Dialog*

If you are unsure if the dialog sounds natural, read it out loud
to yourself. This is a great way to make sure the dialog is natural.
9. *Involve All Senses*

To really get the reader involved, try to stimulate more of the

reader's senses. For example, if you've gone ten pages without
stimulating the reader (and character in the book) with an odor,
or tactile feeling, sound, or taste, the book will have less
immediacy.
10. *Use "Said"*

I notice some beginning writers seem to dislike using "said" and

try to replace the word "said" with words like commanded,
remarked, uttered, began, etc. Perhaps they feel that too many
"saids" stick out. However, you don't have to be afraid of using
too many "saids." In fact, it is much worse to try substitutions.
The best writers use "said" almost all the time and let the dialog
convey the meaning. For example,

"Get out of here now!" he commanded.

is much worse than
"Get out of here now!" he said.
The word "commanded" is an unnecessary distraction. In any
case, it's obvious the sentence is a command. When readers
read "said", their eyes barely pause. The "said" goes almost
unnoticed. This is what you want. Replacement words, such as
"remarked", stick out obtrusively, which is what you don't
want. For these reasons, some authors don't even use "he
asked" for questions; rather they do: "Where is it?" he said.

11. *Don't Begin To*

 Don't have your characters "begin to do something," "try to do
something," and so forth. Just have them do it. Example: "Mary
began to skip down the block." Change to "Mary skipped down the
block."

12. *Avoid "as he"*

Avoid excessive "as he" constructs. Example: "Mary turned on the

TV as she thought all the time about Joe." Change to: "Mary turned
on the TV, thinking all the time about Joe." Or, better yet: "Mary
turned on the TV and thought about Joe."

13. *Provide Character Reactions*

Example: When something is said or done to a character that is out

of the ordinary, have the character respond. New writers often
forget to show the responses of characters before moving on with
the plot.

14. *Which or That?*

Use "which" with a comma when the phrase seems as if it could

easily be set off with parentheses and make sense. Examples with
"that" and "which": 1) I like dogs that bark. 2) I like the German
Shepherd species, which has pointed ears, a tan coat, and teeth
that rip.