Writers' Hotline

General Advice ~ @kainatazharr

By the amazing kainatazharr - author of Journey to Hidayah!

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Disclaimer: These are my personal assessments / preferences of writing. They are not set in stone (except maybe grammar :P), so don't feel pressurized or offended if any of these don't apply to you. Every writer writes differently. 🙂

[1] Ambiguity

I think this is a big one for me.

What I mean by having ambiguity in your story is that sometimes, you should allow the reader to interpret what is going on between the lines, in the unsaid words, in that awkward laugh, that tense fidgeting. I think something that really turns me off in a story is when the writer says something super direct like, Mia was an introvert."

Okay, now I know that Mia is an introvert without having observed any of her characteristics. But it would have been much more refreshing to have seen her be described in a way that leads me to infer she's an introvert. Such as: Mia's brother asked whether she would like to attend the party with him and she shook her head. She didn't know why he even bothered asking — he knew her preference would always be to stay at home.

[2] Beware of the point of view switches

It's a major turnoff when one character has control of the reins of the scene and suddenly, we're experiencing it from another character's head. I.e. Head hopping. For example, this should be avoided:

'Sameer didn't like the way Amira was looking at him. He shifted slightly, turning away from the uncomfortable curiosity in her eyes. Amira cocked her head to the side, smirking. She loved making Sameer nervous; it was one of her favorite hobbies. And right now, as she observed him with her bright eyes, she felt that nothing in the world was more enjoyable than making the man in front of her tremble.'

See what happened there? We were in Sameer's head and experiencing his emotions and suddenly Amira's the one telling the story. Not only does this confuse the reader but it's also unprofessional. If you want to show how both characters are feeling, either have separate POVs for each of them (but I wouldn't recommend doing that for the same scene often because it can get repetitive) or describe the other character's behavior in relation to the character's POV you are writing from. Here's the previous example revised:

'Sameer didn't like the way Amira was looking at him. He shifted slightly, turning away from the uncomfortable curiosity in her eyes. From his peripheral vision, he noticed Amira cocking her head to the side the way she often did when she was about to pounce on her prey. In fact, Sameer could bet without a doubt that she was wearing her signature smirk — the one that usually made her opponent want to melt into the floor.

Although Sameer was told multiple times that Amira acted this way with everybody, he could always tell by the bright spark in her eyes that she delighted only in making him tremble.'

That's better, isn't it? Not only has the scene stayed in Sameer's head the entire time but Amira's behavior has also been described based on Sameer's observance of her.

[3] Try to show more than tell but telling isn't a crime

You've probably heard a million times to show, not tell. I definitely agree, but I think it also depends on the situation. Sometimes (most of the time, I think) showing works better than telling. 

Instead of saying 'Zoya was sad', try 'Zoya's eyes welled with tears. She turned away, biting her lip. The sun streaming through the windows contrasted starkly with the turmoil raging in her heart.'