What is on-the-nose writing? It’s prose that mirrors real life without advancing your story. No one chooses to write this way. It has nothing to do with your ability to put together a sentence, paragraph, or scene. Even pros have a hard time with it.
I’m a big fan of Jerry Jenkins and recommend his blog to anyone reading my posts. I have gained so much useful information from him and he writes in a way that anybody can understand. He’s a great teacher. With this being said, I’m using an example that he gave to help you understand on-the-nose writing.
Paige’s phone chirped, telling her she had a call. She slid her bag off her shoulder, opened it, pulled out her cell, hit the Accept Call button and put it to her ear.
“This is Paige,” she said.
“Hey, Paige.”
She recognized her fiancé’s voice. “Jim, darling! Hello!”
“Where are you, Babe?”
“Just got to the parking garage.”
“No more problems with the car then?”
“Oh, the guy at the gas station said he thinks it needs a wheel alignment.”
“Good. We still on for tonight?”
“Looking forward to it, Sweetie.”
“Did you hear about Alyson?”
“No, what about her?”
“Cancer.”
“What?”
Here’s a good example of how that scene should be rendered:
Paige’s phone chirped. It was her fiancé, Jim, and he told her something about one of their best friends that made her forget where she was.
“Cancer?” she whispered, barely able to speak. “I didn’t even know Alyson was sick. Did you?”
We don’t need to be told that the chirp told her she had a call, that her phone is in her purse, that her purse is over her shoulder, that she has to open it to get her phone, push a button to take the call, identify herself to the caller, be informed who it is. I think you’re getting the point.
This is a good example of dragging dialogue as well. It’s not necessary and adds fluff without any real purpose. Don’t distract with minutia. Give the reader the adventure they signed up for when they chose to purchase your book. Take the reader with Paige when she says:
“I need to call her, Jim. I’ve got to cancel my meeting. And I don’t know about tonight…”
Remember show don’t tell is one of the most important aphorisms of the writing life.
Something to think about.
-Jan R
You may be a natural. Maybe you studied Creative Writing or English Composition in College, but don’t use that degree as a crutch or allow it to lull you into a false sense of security.
If all you want to do is write, go for it. You don’t have to get permission or a license. All you need is a pencil and paper or maybe a computer depending on how serious you take your endeavor.
So you’ve spent the last year or so writing your first novel. It may be a great story, but it won’t make the cut if it’s poorly written. Great stories with a significant number of structural and grammatical errors get tossed to the side every day. How’s your dialogue? Does it move your story forward or just sit like a rock slowing things down and encouraging the reader to skip it completely. What about the pace? Do you have the right POV? Have you considered your platform?
You ever wonder how many words you need to have an acceptable novel? Well, it varies depending on the genre. I pulled the following list from Writer’s Digest and The Manuscript Appraisal Agency. There are slight differences in their numbers, but they are within the following range.
Am I the only person who has a problem with who versus whom? Fortunately, I don’t use sentences requiring these words that often, but when I do, I become paralyzed. I’m not sure. I usually read through the sentence a few times using both words and pick the one that sounds better to me. There is nothing scientific about that. It simply boils down to preference.
You’re coming to a close on your manuscript and have started thinking about agents. If you go the traditional route, you are going to want one. Where are they? How do you find one that would be a perfect fit for your work?
Think about the books you have read. What motivated you to continue to the end? What kept you turning the pages?
I know you may feel helpless at times. You’ve written an exciting adventure and edited it so many times you’ve lost count. You know you’ve produced a publisheable piece of work, so why isn’t it published. I’ve been there – done that.
I remember my middle sister as a child. She was the kid who sat in the corner with her nose in a book, didn’t play well with others, well to be honest, didn’t want to play at all. Her friends were imaginary. I always thought that she was a little strange, and she probably was, but she is also one of the most talented writers I know.
Writing your first novel-Things you should know 