And the biggest challenge comes from the inability to see what isn’t working. The prose feels off. The scene isn’t gelling. The dialogue sounds stilted or clunky. But they don’t know why or how to fix it.

This book lays it all out

5 Editors Tackle the Twelve Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing demonstrates the deadly dozen pitfalls on the road to a strong story, along with revisions that show writers exactly how to avoid novel failure.

No other writing craft book offers such detailed instruction in how to spot and remedy the major flaws of fiction writing.

What makes this book an important addition to a writer’s bookshelf?

More than 60 Before and After passages showcase each of the twelve fatal flaws, which are then picked apart and examined to help writers spot these flaws in their own writing and fix them.
Five editors with extensive background in both editing fiction and writing novels bring a wealth of insights, examples, and solutions to these flaws, using various genre styles and POVs.
Each chapter ends with a checklist to help writers seek and destroy these fatal flaws in their manuscript, followed by bonus Before and After passages to help them test what they’ve learned.

This in-depth guide to self-editing is an invaluable resource for any writer of any genre. It shows, not just tells, how to write better fiction. Using it, you’ll be armed with the tools and skills you need to conquer the twelve fatal flaws of fiction writing.

Here are some of the 12 fatal flaws:

Overwriting—the most egregious and common flaw in fiction writing.
Nothin’ Happenin’—Too many stories take too long to get going. Learn what it means to start in medias res.
Weak Construction—It sneaks in at the level of words and sentences, and rears up in up in the form of passive voice, ing verbs, and misplaced modifiers.
Too Much Backstory—the bane of many manuscripts. Backstory has its place, but too often it serves as an info dump and bogs down pacing.
POV Violations—Head hopping, characters knowing things they can’t know, and foreshadowing are just some of the many POV violations explored.
Telling instead of Showing—Writers have heard this admonition, but there’s a lot to understanding how and when to show instead of tell.
Lack of Pacing and Tension—Many factors affect pacing and tension: clunky passages, mundane dialogue, unimportant information, and so much more.
Flawed Dialogue Construction—Writers need to learn to balance speech and narrative tags and avoid “on the nose” speech.
“Underwriting”—just as fatal as overwriting. Too often scenes are lacking the necessary actions, descriptions, and details needed to bring them to life.
Description Deficiencies and Excesses—Learning how to balance description is challenging, and writers need to choose wisely just what to describe and in what way.

Don’t be left in the dark. Learn what causes these flaws and apply the fixes in your own stories.

No one need suffer novel failure. You don’t have to be brilliant or talented to write strong fiction. You just need to be forewarned and forearmed to be able to tackle these culprits. And this book will give you all the weapons and knowledge you need.

“This book should be on every writer’s bookshelf.” —Cheryl Kaye Tardif, international best-selling author

"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

GreatBookPricesUK

Woodford Green, United Kingdom

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since January 28, 2020

Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.

Item	10 to 27 business days	10 to 30 business days
First item	£ 15.00	£ 15.00

Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.

Payment methods

Store description

GreatBookPrices.com is your top source for finding new books at the absolute lowest prices, guaranteed ! We offer big discounts - everyday - on millions of titles in virtually any category, from Architecture to Zoology -- and everything in between. Discover great deals and super-savings, on professional books, text book titles, the newest computer guides, or your favorite fiction authors. You'll find it all - at HUGE SAVINGS - at GreatBookPrices. Browse through our complete online product catalog today. Serving customers around the world for years, we help thousands find just the books they're looking for -- at incredibly low, bargain prices.…

Specialty

TradeBooks

Seller's business information

Far Corner Europe Limited

19-20 Bourne Court, 19-20 Bourne Court
Woodford Green, United Kingdom IG8 8HD

Contact sellerView this seller's itemsView seller's storefront

Terms of sale

Company Name: GreatBookPricesUK
Legal Entity: Far Corner Europe Limited
Address: 19-20 Bourne Court, Southend Road, Woodford Green Essex, UK IG8 8HD
Registration #: 10691061, VAT GB307932304
Authorized representative: Danielle Hainsey

Right of withdrawal

If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.

Information regarding the right of withdrawal

Statutory right to withdraw

You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.

The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.

To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.

To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.

Effects of withdrawal

If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).

We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.

We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.

We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.

We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.

You shall send back the goods or hand them over to GreatBookPricesUK, Castle Donington, Derby, United Kingdom, without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.

Exceptions to the right of withdrawal

The right of withdrawal does not apply to:

The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.

Shipping terms

Our warehouses across the globe are fully operational without substantial delays. We are working hard and continue to overcome the daily challenges presented by COVID-19. There have been reports that delivery carriers are experiencing large delays resulting in longer than normal deliveries to customers. We would like to apologize in advance if your item arrives later than the expected delivery due date.

Internal processing of your order will take about 1-2 business days. Please allow an additional 4-14 business days for Royal Mail delivery.

5 Editors Tackle the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing

Bibliographic details

Synopsis