Writing Narrative Clear concise narrative builds believable characters. Establish the tone of your narrative and dialogue and stick with it throughout your book. Follow the advice in, Elements of Style, by Strunk and White. Avoid passive verbs. Use the active voice and action verbs. Action verbs speak directly to the reader. The passive voice looks like this: Bud was trying not to cry. Tears were filling his eyes and were spilling down his cheeks. The active voice would read: Bud tried not to cry. His eyes filled with tears. Using active verbs makes your narrative powerful, direct, and easy to understand. Try to stay away from passive verbs like was and were (is and are). Tone Set the tone of your narrative from the start and be consistent throughout your story. For Example - Tough ex-cop/private eye: Way back in the 1990’s when Dave still found his courage in Kentucky bourbon straight up and a beer back, he transferred to Dade County, Florida, were he trained police cadets for Miami PD and did limited time with Miami Homicide. He stayed busy teaching a criminal justice class at the local community college, way up in Hollywood. Hard work gives life meaning. Everyone needs to work hard at something to feel good about themselves. Every job can be done well and every day has its satisfactions. Osceola McCarty Laundress and philanthropist Write some words. Then, push on for a few more words. When the going is hard, hard workers get going.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 15:01:59 +0000