Guest Author - Jacqueline Suffolk
Check, check, check and check again. Even if you have written a brilliant original story, with a great plot and loveable characters, an editor won’t read past the first paragraph, if the spelling and grammar are poor.
Here are a few tips to help you produce the best work you can. Some are obvious and some I’ve found are invaluable, I hope they help you as well.
• Use a spelling and grammar checker on your computer. Always have a good dictionary and thesaurus by your side. Mine is well thumbed.
• As I’ve said before check, check and check again. I know this sounds obvious but you want to give it your best shot.
• Read your story out loud to a friend or someone close to you; remember not to take advantage of this very precious resource. When my partner’s eyes begin to glaze over, I know it’s time to stop repeating the same story. When the flow of your story falters, this is where you need to take another look.
• Use a Dictaphone, before you go out and buy one, check your mobile phone, because many phones today, contain a voice recorder, use this to record your story and play it back, to see how your story sounds. This way you can pick up repetitions and long-windedness.
• Pitch your story at the start or just before the start, of the action. Lengthy introductions are unnecessary and a waste of words.
• A satisfying ending, even if the piece is part of a novel, try and make it a complete, stand alone story.
• Character studies, before you even start to write your story, have a good picture of the characters in your mind and write few sentences about each. What do they look like? How do they act? What makes them who they are?
E.g. Clarissa, tall, skinny, tight leopard print leggings, stiletto shoes, loud, always slightly inebriated, totters when walking, glass in hand.
• A short story normally has only one setting. It takes too long to go into explanations, if your story jumps from place to place. Instead, do a series of stories, one for each setting.
• Don’t waffle, take out the empty words and phrases ‘and then he’ ‘and until she’
• Keep it simple and have a quirky or a twist in the tale ending. A little surprise.
• Oh. Good luck and every success. Let me know how you get on.
