Author Archive | Rachel Hauck

It Was Raining, You Know? Did I Tell You It Was Raining? A Nor’easter If Ever There Was One Rehashing what the reader already knows. Definition: Hanging on a plot point too long as a way to make sure the reader gets it, OR as a way to boost word count. This is a big struggle for a lot of writers. I see this in published books all the time. The heroine ponders the hero’s invitation to dinner for three chapters. The hero ponders asking the heroine to dinner for a whole chapter. The heroine ponders her future husband while pondering what she has to do to save the family estate – for sixty pages. Don’t linger! Move the story forward. Set the problem once and move one. Hint at it one more […]

Hi! How Are You? I’m fine! Good, Good. So, What’s New? Using dialog to as filler. Letting prose do the heavy lifting. Dialog is the gas to your story. It’s what makes the characters come to life. And characters are the story. Without them, we have nothing engaging to hold the reader for 400 pages. Dialog is created to tell the story. It is not every day communication. Dialog is not used to show the reader the protagonist is a nice Christian by saying “thank you” and “I’m sorry.” Show they are a Christian by the journey they take and decisions they make. Dialog isn’t a place holder for storytelling prose. I was recently reading a novel where the author told a lot of the story from the internal thoughts of […]

Last week I started this perilous journey. Talking about author mistakes. I hate to even start down this road. Author mistakes? Really? Is there such a thing? I read all kinds of books that defy craft rules and guidelines. They sell well. They win awards. But for new authors, it’s really important to watch a few key things, to watch the writing pitfalls we easily fall into. I found this web site talking about author mistakes, but the author talks about small things that can easily be overlooked and fixed. An editor probably won’t reject a manuscript for most of these reasons. Nevertheless, the site highlights good things to be on guard for as you write. If you Google “author mistakes” you’ll find a plethora of sites. The first of July, I […]