"How-To" Buddy Edit

Suggestions:
[1] Just added a comma…
[2] Maybe break this up too for more clarity.
[3] Replace with progress?
[4] Loses
[5] Remove this.
[6] Things
[7] Maybe add an “an” here.
[8] Add.
[9] Points

Overall, awesome paper. Each piece of advice you present are all things I think readers could honestly take to heart.


HOW TO WRITE FICTION
When I first began my fiction writing mentorship with Laura Carlson, she told me, “Learn all the rules, so that you can break them.” This was, and still is, extremely important advice, because writing fiction is an intimate process, and authors should therefore be allowed the freedom to explore their stories without the over-opposition of rules. However, when a good author breaks a rule or standard they do so consciously and with decided effect, not simply because they are unaware or don’t care. Keeping this in mind, [1] the following hints on how to write good fiction should be taken as guidelines that factor heavily into the writing process, but with understanding, guidelines that can be broken. [2]

1. One of the most famous and often over-drilled rules of writing fiction, is “Show, don’t tell!” While I was still in mentorship, this phrase was so often written across my work so as to appear in my dreams. Despite my rebelliousness against the “show don’t tell” rule however, any author, including myself, must understand the virtues it embodies.
Fiction readers want to be entertained. It is much more interesting to show them how your character is considered the runt of the football team, rather than to tell them in an expository tone. Writers who have done a lot of background research and planning for their stories need to be especially careful of this, as they tend to enter into long speeches about all the background information that the reader does not necessarily need to know, and certainly does not want to hear in authorial voice.
2. Write to a purpose. “Everything that happens in your story should result in something else happening.” It is very important to decide what you want to show or accomplish with a story, chapter, paragraph, or even sentence. As in all genres, everything should be progressing [3] the reader’s mind towards your goals, and the fulfillment of the plot.
3. “An engaging story…usually balances characters or situations that are familiar to the reader with enough new information to pique curiosity…” Reader’s need to be able to relate on some level to the characters and the situations they face. It is important to expose the humanity of your main characters for this reason, if they are extraordinary in other ways. However, if a fictional piece is just a boring ordinary day not serving to further character development, the reader losses [4] interest. Keep in mind, [5] that many readers read as some form of escape or relaxation. They want to read and learn about things that have striking resemblances to their life and yet thing [6] that they have not and probably will never experience first hand.
4. “Become intimately acquainted with your characters.” Many serious authors practice this point to such [7] extreme as to appear almost crazy. Authors invest so much into their main characters that they feel they really do know the person as one might know his best friend. This, [8] of course, makes for very believable and interesting characters, and dramatically enhances the story. Be careful that your main character does not just become the eyes through which the reader is seeing the action. They want to know who he/she is, and why they are in these situations.

These are some of the major point [9] addressed by most writing instructors and coaches, and certainly do not guarantee great fiction, but can serve to spark some thought about your own piece. Remember that rules can and should be broken, but in order to do so skillfully, you must know the rules original purpose.

-Will McMullen