[Hong Kong - October 19, 2017] We read fiction for a number of reasons. It can take us on a magical journey, make us laugh, cry, or scare us to death. It makes us think, feel, and for a while, it allows us to forget where we are. Whether you’re a child or an adult, fiction has the power to encapsulate us with its ability to tap into our imagination.
But how do we entertain our readers? Is it with an exciting plot or fascinating characters? Maybe it’s the use of beautiful language. As editors we have read countless stories written by people of all ages from around the world. Over the years we have found particular trends that have featured in the best stories. As such, we would like to give you a brief insight into what we have discovered.
The point of fiction is to cast a spell. It’s a momentary illusion that tricks readers into believing that they’re living within a story. This is achieved by carefully selecting the most descriptive words to convey your thoughts. As readers, we don’t want to understand, we want to feel, taste, smell, hear, and experience everything. For example, “The sky was blood orange. Jet black silhouettes began to emerge from the deep void within the eroding cliff-face. The eerie calm was now a symphony of chaos as the bats set off to feed.” In this case, we could have said, “It was sunset. The bats left their cave and were looking for food.” But in reality, this does not tap into the reader’s imagination. The scene is relatively clear, but there’s nothing to capture the audience. As editors, we will always leave comments in such areas, and make suggestions on how to enhance a character, scene, or plot.
For many non-native English authors in Hong Kong, the use of metaphors and descriptive language can be challenging. So rather than merely proofreading or editing a story, we provide insightful comments and feedback, which will address word choice, usage flow, and clarity. That being said, we always try to preserve the author’s original ideas. It’s a matter of enhancing existing material, rather than re-writing. From our experience, we have found that the best stories take advantage of descriptive language. But remember, too much description can clog up your story and confuse the reader to a point where they might not want to read any further.
In addition to using descriptive language, we have found that the best stories have a solid plot. There is also an element of the protagonist having to make decisions based on unforeseen circumstances. Think of the most popular books ever written – Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Great Gatsby etc. All of these stories have similarities in terms of having a strong plot, and characters that face adversity. There’s always a calculated game of conflict and resolution that is developed by the author. We suggest that you spend time on figuring this out. These components of the story will allow the reader to feel emotions such as tragedy, elation, joy, despair and everything in between.
As a final thought – you should never be afraid to delete things that don’t add to your story. It could be the best paragraph you’ve ever written. But if it’s meaningless, then it must be removed. As Agatha Christie once said, “Kill your darlings”.
We hope our experienced team at English Editorial Solutions has given you a brief-but-useful insight into what it takes to write a good story. We are always free to chat, so please don’t hesitate to drop us a line. Whether you’re looking for editing, proofreading, or copywriting, we’re here to help.