Here is a list of things to watch out for when polishing your stories:
- Spell out numbers.
- Don’t have characters suspended in a vacuum. Create a scene. So instead of saying he said, she said at the end of dialogue, (which are called tags), tell us who is speaking by having the character move, or do something, like pick up a glass of water, or a book. Put items in the room, or wherever the character is.
- Proper punctuation for dialogue ending with a tag: “She wanted to kill the orc,” Grandfather said. Note that a comma goes inside the double quote marks and that there’s a period after the word said.
- Watch for run-on sentences.
- Use punchy verbs. Example:
- She ran from the room.
- She bolted from the room.
- Whenever someone else replies, or a different character talks, make it a new paragraph.
- Don’t put your story in one big paragraph.
- Show, don’t tell. Have the action happening as the story unfolds. Don’t have someone tell a story about the action after it has already occurred. This makes it more exciting, and keeps the reader interested.
- Know the difference between “there” and “their.” When you are editing your work, look for these words and make sure you are using the correct one. “Their” shows possession.
- Example: The elves stayed in there forest. This is wrong. It should be — The elves stayed in their forest.
- A comma goes before or after a name. Example: “And that is my story, Alexander.” Or — “Alexander, that is my story.”
- Don’t back into dialogue a lot. Example: Grandfather said, “Be quiet so I can tell my story.” Do this maybe once. This is another way: “Be quiet so I can tell my story,” Grandfather said. OR EVEN BETTER–Grandfather raised his bushy brows and put a finger to his lips. “Be quiet now so I can tell my story.”
- Instead of using tags, such as he said, she said–have the character do something before he says whatever. Example:
- Kovu withdrew her sword from its sheath and ran a finger along the edge. Blood welled from the hairline cut, but she didn’t seem to notice. “You said recapture. Does that mean you have possessed it at one time?”
- Make sure that if a different person is talking that the dialog is in a separate paragraph from the other character.
