A style sheet is simply a statement and a reflection of the style standards and practices of a publisher of newspapers, books, or magazines.

One publishing house may adhere to recommendations from the Chicago Manual of Style and a newspaper may follow the Associated Press’s guide. But both may have special rules and recommendations for specific instances, in-house rules that they recommend for their writers.

Depending on the publisher, some items from a style sheet might be absolute rules and some might be strong recommendations. A writer or editor might be able to make a case for a usage contrary to the publisher’s recommendation or accepted practice. The writer or editor can always ask or challenge a standard practice.

These recommendations, both in-house and not, make up the publisher’s style guide or style sheet.

Style sheets inform writers and editors about spelling, punctuation, and capitalization practices so a manuscript can be consistent within itself as well as match the style of the publication.

Yet writers and editors don’t have to rely solely on a publisher’s style guide. Instead, they can put together their own style sheet for their manuscripts.

If you’re a plotter, you may have written a detailed spreadsheet listing scene layout, plot threads, and character traits, physical description, and history. But even plotters can benefit from a style sheet.

A style sheet can help writers and editors maintain consistency and help them reduce errors in story details.

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How to set up a style sheet
Since I edit from hard copy, I create a style sheet on a sheet of paper rather than using a spreadsheet on the computer. (I do, however, copy the details to a spreadsheet when I share them with clients.) Use whatever method, paper or computer, that works for you.

If you use the paper method, simply draw a horizontal line across the center of one side of the paper (think landscape view rather than portrait). Then draw three vertical lines from top to bottom to divide the page into eight boxes.

Flip the paper over. Draw another horizontal line across the page, yet do it a little higher than center on this side (you’ll need more room in the boxes at the bottom of the page). Divide the top section into three or four boxes. The bottom section may have two or three or four different-sized boxes. (The setup is virtually the same for a spreadsheet done on the computer.)

Mark the eight boxes on the first page and those on the top of the second page with groups of letters in alphabetical order. Put A/B or A/B/C at the top of the first box, C/D or D/E/F in the second box and so on until you’ve covered all the letters and used all the boxes. 

You’ll be entering words based on their first letters into these boxes.

Why? To keep track of odd spellings or words that you make up. To list titles or place names used in the manuscript. To keep up with oddities of any kind from the manuscript. To create a reference document so that anyone working on the manuscript can see exactly how words should be spelled or capped or hyphenated or abbreviated.

Title columns at the bottom of page two with Characters, Punctuation, Numbers, and Miscellaneous. The column for characters may require the most space; you might not need a separate column for numbers. If you’ve got another column option, feel free to include it.

What to include
Include any item or topic for which the writer or editor must make a decision. Remember that the style sheet is an aid for consistency. A writer might use it as a reminder for herself as she writes and edits or she might pass it on to her copy editor at a publishing house. An editor might use her own style sheet to show a writer what choices she made while editing.

Use a style sheet to—

~  List character names in the character column with the first spelling you find for each and the page number of the first use of each name. If there are different spellings, note the differences and the page number of the first usage of each different spelling.

~  List punctuation rules—serial comma or no serial comma, em dash rather than parentheses, and so on, whatever you’ve decided you’ll use for the manuscript.

~  Spell out the rules for using numerals and words for numbers. Will it be numerals for all numbers greater than nine or will your cut-off be ninety-nine?

~  Note if which is acceptable in place of that for American English restrictive clauses.

~  Note whether a mix of British English and American English spellings is acceptable or if it’s necessary to choose one style.

~  Show how contractions will be used, if they’ll be used. Might all characters except for one use contractions? Are any contractions unacceptable?

~  Spell out uses of quotation marks and/or italics, especially for unusual words or for emphasis or for words used as words.

~  List acceptable dialogue tags other than said or asked, if there are any. Or list unacceptable dialogue tags.

~  List any limits on curse words, either by word or use by specific characters.

~  Show correct spelling of unusual or made-up words.

~  List abbreviations. List words that are always capped.

~  List hyphenated words or unusual compound words.

~  List oddities in grammar or punctuation, especially anything outside standard usage. If the writer wants a knowingly different usage, be sure to include a note about that unusual usage.

~  List foreign words.

~  Note anything unusual that the writer or copy editor should know about, anything that would enhance consistency if followed throughout the story or that would challenge the suspension of disbelief if not followed.

Most of these suggestions are geared toward a fiction manuscript, but you can also include notes for non-fiction works. For example, spell out the procedures for labeling graphs or images, explain layout, include standards for headings and titles, and make clear how scientific notation and definitions will be written.

Make a note in the style sheet for the unusual or use the style sheet to tell the writer about grammar, punctuation, or spelling rules he might not know. For example—

Write words for numbers and symbols in dialogue rather than using numerals and the symbols themselves.

Use ellipsis for dialogue that trails off, em dash for dialogue that’s cut off.

Use a comma to separate names in dialogue from the rest of the dialogue when a character is being addressed.

“I warned you, Syd. Now it’s too late.”

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A style sheet is easy to fill out. Easy to forget to fill out as well, unfortunately. But it can be highly useful for both writers and editors, especially as a writing project nears completion.

Writers, you might not want to start your style sheet until after you’ve written the first draft. Working on one before that point might get in the way of your creativity. Of course, if keeping up with the details helps you as you write, by all means begin the style sheet with your first page.

Do consider adding a style sheet to your writing tasks. Don’t feel that you must start it early in the project.

If you’re a freelance editor, there’s no consideration about it; prepare a style sheet for your clients. Show them how consistency can be worked into their manuscripts.

Give them one more tool for writing better fiction.

***

The semicolon looks like this ;

Semicolons are found between words in a sentence; the semicolon is not a terminal punctuation mark found at the end of a sentence. It immediately follows the letter before it, with no space in between. There is a space after the semicolon, before the beginning of the word that follows.

What can you do with a semicolon? Use it to connect elements in a sentence and to separate elements in a sentence.

Connect independent clauses

Independent clauses are groups of words that can stand alone as sentences. They have a subject and a predicate.

The subject is the noun or the noun phrase—it’s the person, place, thing, or idea that is doing or being something.

The predicate is the part of the sentence that describes the subject or shows what action the subject is performing. It includes verbs and objects or phrases related to the verb.

~  Two sentences can be separated by a period.

Beauregard fell into a well. Beauregard’s momma was not happy.

Hope was in short supply in my world. Anna had made sure of that.

We’d wanted watermelon for breakfast. Now we wanted chocolate.

~  If sentences have a strong connection or you want to emphasize the relationship between them or the second completes the thought stated by the first, consider using a semicolon to join them. Also, consider joining sentences that state cause and then effect.

Beauregard fell into a well; Beauregard’s momma was not happy.

Hope was in short supply in my world; Anna had made sure of that.

We’d wanted watermelon for breakfast; now we wanted chocolate.

~  You can also join sentences with a comma and a coordinating conjunction.

Beauregard fell into a well, but his momma was not happy.

We’d wanted watermelon for breakfast, and now we wanted chocolate.

Don’t use a semicolon to join independent clauses that use a coordinating conjunction (the fanboys—for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). Use the comma.

Exception. If one independent clause joined to another with a coordinating conjunction has internal commas, you can separate the clauses with a semicolon for clarity, so the reader knows where each independent clause begins and ends. 

Kelly hoped for peace, joy, and love; she feared she’d get chaos, heartbreak, and oppression; but what she actually got was a pat on the back, a bottle of Prozac, and one “I told you so.”

Not impossible to understand without the semicolon, but perhaps confusing. Of course, you can always rewrite a confusing sentence.

Kelly hoped for peace, joy, and love, yet she feared she’d get chaos, heartbreak, and oppression. What she actually got was a pat on the back, a bottle of Prozac, and one “I told you so.”

~  Some sentences don’t have a relationship sufficient for joining by semicolon.

Beauregard fell into a well. I wanted to read the newspaper.

There’s no logical connection between these two sentences, no reason to join them, so a semicolon wouldn’t be appropriate. However what if we had  . . .

Beauregard fell into a well. I wanted to join him.

These sentences do have a logical connection, and they could be joined by a semicolon.

Beauregard fell into a well; I wanted to join him.

~  Use a semicolon if you join independent clauses with conjunctive adverbs and transitional phrases rather than with coordinating conjunctions. (Or simply write them as independent sentences separated by a period.)

Conjunctive adverbs show relationship—cause and effect, contrast, comparison. Conjunctive adverbs include besides, however, thus, otherwise, nevertheless.

Transitional phrases include for example, for instance, in other words, on the other hand, after all.

There are many conjunctive adverbs and transitional phrases. My purpose in this article is not to name them all or to list their uses, but to point out that when you join independent clauses with coordinating conjunctions, use a comma. When you use something else—such as conjunctive adverbs or transitional phrases—to join the independent clauses, use a semicolon.

Alfred and Winston stood their ground; however, Alfred’s knees were shaking and Winston’s face had lost all color.

Time passes slowly when grief has a tight grip on the heart; nevertheless, it does pass.

______________________________

Separate elements that are subdivided by commas

Use a semicolon to separate elements of a sentence whose internal parts are separated by commas. This keeps each element as a group while separating the parts within elements. Even if only one element has parts separated by a comma, use a semicolon to separate each group. (You are more likely to find this use of the semicolon in non-fiction than to use it in fiction although it is quite valid for use in fiction.)

Think of using this construction to separate a series from another series or to separate lists within sentences.

I’d played basketball, football, and soccer as a freshman; basketball, lacrosse, and hockey as a sophomore; and football as a junior.

The talented Mr. Jonas wrote books on English and French grammar, poetry, and literary criticism; studied anatomy, human evolution, philosophy, and astronomy; and composed sonatas.

Without the use of semicolons, the reader might be confused and wonder what discipline studied anatomy was and conclude that Mr. Jonas wrote books about it as well as about human evolution, philosophy, and astronomy. The reader might also conclude that Mr. Jonas wrote books about composed sonatas.

The talented Mr. Jonas wrote books on English and French grammar, poetry, and literary criticism, studied anatomy, human evolution, philosophy, and astronomy, and composed sonatas.

______________________________

When not to use a semicolon

Don’t use the semicolon to separate items within a list (unless commas are used within an element of the list and the use of commas to separate the items of the list would be confusing*).

The animal ate the apples; the bananas; and even the grapes. incorrect

The animal ate the apples, the bananas, and even the grapes. correct

My hopes were crushed; destroyed by rejection; stomped on by indifference. incorrect

My hopes were crushed, destroyed by rejection, stomped on by indifference. correct

*Eliott stood on the steps, hoping for three outcomes: evidence of his innocence; immediate release, along with the return of all his property; and an apology from Esther, even though he knew she’d never utter the words I’m sorry to him. correct

Don’t use the semicolon to separate an independent clause and a dependent clause (as if they were both independent clauses).

Because the house was so old; we wouldn’t consider buying it. incorrect

Because the house was so old, we wouldn’t consider buying it. correct

We wouldn’t consider buying the house; because it was so old. incorrect

We wouldn’t consider buying the house because it was so old. correct

Don’t use the semicolon as a colon, to introduce a list.

Elmer thought about what he’d wanted; a good name, a successful business, and a son to inherit his riches. incorrect

Elmer thought about what he’d wanted: a good name, a successful business, and a son to inherit his riches. correct

*******

Semicolons have specific uses. Using them—and using them correctly—can add choices to your writing options.

The semicolon stands out and draws attention. Use it sparingly.

Use the semicolon to join short, choppy sentences into a smoother flow.

Use the semicolon to add variety to your sentence styles.

Put the semicolon to work for you.

***

Confusion isn’t difficult to achieve since there are as many explanations of the elements as there are writers, teachers of writing, editors, and students of the craft.

But most agree on the basics. Or maybe I should call them the most basic of basics.

Tier One

The three most important elements of fiction are character, plot, and setting. We can call this the first tier of elements.

These elements are essential to fiction—a story without any one of these three is not a story. We need at least one person (being) doing some thing in some place. Think of these three as the legs of a tripod, each necessary for balance and the support of whatever sits atop them.

Character, plot, and setting answer the questions of who [character], what & how [plot], and where & when [setting]. Character motivation and/or theme can be called upon to answer the why question.

In non-fiction, the five W’s (and one H) provide information necessary for a news story or to complete a report based on fact. If one of the five W’s is missing, any explanation is incomplete. Many of us learned about the five W’s when we learned to write and practiced with news articles.

Fiction has the same needs, even though the details and facts or the events or the characters (or any combination thereof) are made up.

The reader still wants to know who done it and how. He wants to know the sequence of events.

Now, he might want that information presented in an entertaining manner, but the reader doesn’t want to reach the end of a book only to find vital information withheld by the author. Readers want the blanks filled in by story’s end.

And so, the basic elements take care of essential information.

What, then, falls to the second tier? What are the elements that bolster the top three?

Tier Two

Point of view, theme, and style (or tone) are sometimes mentioned along with the top three in the basics category. But I’ll relegate them to second-tier status. A story will probably have a theme, but it doesn’t require one to make it a story. (You could argue it needs one to make a good story, but a story can stand without an apparent theme.)

Point of view is obviously important since every story has one (or two or five, a discussion for a different article). But stories all have words as well, and we don’t list words among the elements of fiction.

So, I can say that point of view is important for directing or presenting a story, but it doesn’t carry the weight for story that character, plot, and setting do.

Style—what the author brings to a story—and tone—the story’s own personality—are both important for fiction. They’re so important that a change in either can steer a story on a different course than first intended. Yet a story will have them whether the writer consciously works at them or not. Thus, they will be there; writers don’t have to intentionally put them into a story. (Writers would do well to direct tone, but they don’t have to worry that they’re forgetting it.)

A writer’s style includes diction (word choice) and syntax (word order). A writer can also vary pace in short passages, in scenes, and throughout chapters. Each of these three elements can be manipulated by the writer to create effects, to influence reader emotions, to shade meaning. These elements don’t necessarily drive story, but they can direct it.

Tier Three

Third-tier elements include dialogue, action, description, and exposition (and all their sub-elements).

Dialogue, action, description, and exposition are what writers use to address the five W’s, to show character, plot, and setting. Excluding description, these are the fiction elements that move the story. Dialogue, action, and exposition carry character or plot forward. (Any of the three can also provide back story, which is a look back rather than a movement forward. But even back story should give the reader the understanding that what’s happening out of sight and what happened prior to the story’s opening even now propel the story forward.)

Description doesn’t necessarily have the forward movement of the other three elements mentioned here. In fact, too much of it (too much dialogue or exposition as well) can stop the forward motion of story.

These four are elements the reader sees on the page, no supposition necessary to understand them.

Tier Three, part 2

Conflict, motivation, and symbolism can share the third tier with dialogue, action, description, and exposition, but their focus and impact is different. Their appearance is different.

Conflict, motivation, and symbolism might be seen by a clear-sighted reader, but they can be felt more than seen.

Conflict and motivation drive the story. Think of them as the force behind action, events, and dialogue. They are not result but impetus. They are instigators to plot events.

Without conflict, a story is flat. Without character motivation, a story is pointless.

Symbolism is often the grace note of a story. Some might not notice symbols or not know what to do with them if they caught sight of them. But for those who see and understand, a symbol adds depth and often deeply felt meaning. Symbols can be portrayed by recurring objects, words, or actions, or by other repeated elements.

Climax and resolution are often mentioned as two of the elements of fiction. Both are necessary to good storytelling since a story needs to come to a head [climax], after which something happens to bring closure [resolution]. I consider both sub-elements of plot.

*******

I was tempted to include scene as one of the elements of fiction since I find it to be one of the basics, yet I would be one among few to characterize scene as one of the fiction elements. May I suggest, however, that you keep scene in mind as you write, rewrite, and edit.

You may find that this list of fiction elements differs slightly from other lists which also differ from one another. The major difference seems to be in how sub-elements are listed; sometimes they’re included separately and sometimes they aren’t mentioned.

A recap—

character
plot
setting

point of view
theme
style (diction, syntax, pace)
tone

dialogue
action
description
exposition

conflict
motivation
symbolism

*******

Although we’ve looked at the elements of fiction as though they were separate, we need to remember that they don’t work in isolation. They are related, intertwined, interdependent. Changing one either changes others or sets up the need to make changes in the other elements.

The elements at odds with one another, working at cross purposes, make for poor fiction, confusing stories. The elements working together, with balance, make for strong stories and satisfying fiction.

The kind of fiction we like to read.

The kind of fiction we aspire to write.

*******

Expect, over time, to find articles on each of the elements of fiction at The Editor’s Blog. Some articles may define an element, others may give suggestions for using an element to its best advantage.

***

Only what is spoken is within the quotation marks. Other parts of the same sentence—dialogue tags and action or thought—go outside the quotation marks.

Dialogue begins with a capitalized word, no matter where in the sentence it begins. (Interrupted dialogue, when it resumes, is not capped.)

Only direct dialogue requires quotation marks. Direct dialogue is someone speaking. Indirect dialogue is a report that someone spoke. The word that is implied in the example of indirect dialogue.

Direct: “She was a bore,” he said.

Indirect: He said [that] she was a bore.

Here are some of the rules, with examples.

Single line of dialogue, no dialogue tag
The entire sentence, including the period (or question mark or exclamation point) is within the quotation marks.

“He loved you.”

Single line with dialogue tag (attribution) following
The dialogue is enclosed in quotation marks. A comma follows the dialogue and comes before the closing quotation mark. A period ends the sentence. Punctuation serves to separate the spoken words from other parts of the sentence.

Because the dialogue tag—she said—is part of the same sentence, it is not capped.

“He loved you,” she said.

Single line with dialogue tag first
The comma still separates the dialogue tag from the spoken words, but it is outside the quotation marks, and the period is inside the quotation marks.

She said, “He loved you.”

Single line of dialogue with dialogue tag and action
The dialogue is enclosed in quotation marks. A comma follows the dialogue and comes before the closing quotation mark. The dialogue tag is next and the action follows the tag—no capital letter because this is part of the same sentence—with a period to end the sentence.

“He loved you,” she said, hoping Sue didn’t hear her.

The action and dialogue tag can also come first.

Leaning away, she said, “He loved you.”

Dialogue interrupted by dialogue tag
Dialogue can be interrupted by a tag and then resume in the same sentence. Commas go inside the first set of quotation marks and after the dialogue tag (or action).

“He loved you,” she said, “but you didn’t care.”

“He loved you,” she said, hoping to provoke a reaction, “but you didn’t care.”

Separating this into two sentences also works. The first sentence will end with a period and the second will begin with a capital letter.

“He loved you,” she said, hoping to provoke a reaction. “But you didn’t care.”

Questions in dialogue, no dialogue tag
Question mark is inside the quotation marks.

Use this same construction for the exclamation point.

“He loved you?”

“He loved you!”

Questions in dialogue, with dialogue tag
Question mark is inside quotation marks. There is no comma. The tag doesn’t begin with a cap since it’s part of the same sentence, even though there’s a question mark in the middle of the sentence.

Use this same construction for the exclamation point.

“He loved you?” she asked, the loathing clear in her voice and posture.

“He loved you!” she said, pointing a finger at Sally.

Dialogue interrupted by action or thought but no dialogue tag
Characters can pause in their words to do something and then resume the dialogue. If there is no dialogue tag, special punctuation is required to set off the action or thought.

Enclose the first part of the dialogue in quotation marks but omit the comma. Follow the end quotation mark with an em dash and the action or thought and then another em dash. Resume the dialogue with another opening quotation mark, complete the dialogue, and end with a period and a closing quotation mark. There are no spaces between the quotation marks and the dashes or between the dashes and the action/thought.

Thus the spoken words are within quotation marks and the action or thought is set off by the dashes.

“He loved you”—she pounded the wall with a heavy fist—”but you never cared.” *

“He loved you”—at least she thought he had—”but you never cared.” *

Compare this to a similar construction without dialogue:

He’d forgotten all about me—my heart ached at the thought—but I’d never forgotten him.

* The quotation marks before but in both sentences should curl the other way. I’ve been unable to edit this to make them go the correct way.

Quote within dialogue
A character may be speaking and also quoting what someone else has said. Punctuation is necessary to indicate the difference between what the character is quoting and what are his own words.

The entirety of what a character says is enclosed by double quotation marks. The part the character is quoting from another person is enclosed by single quotation marks.

When single and double quotation marks are side by side, put a space between them.

“He said, and I quote, ’The mailman loves you.’ ”

“He said, ‘The mailman loves you.’ I heard it with my own ears.”

Indirect dialogue for the inner quote would also work.

“He said the mailman loves you. I heard it with my own ears.”

Direct and indirect dialogue emphasize different elements of the sentence, so choose the one that works best for what you want to convey.

Dialogue abruptly cut off
When dialogue is cut off—the character is being choked or something suddenly diverts his attention or another character interrupts him—use an em dash before the closing quotation mark. Dialogue can be interrupted mid-word or at the end of a word. Consider the sounds of words and syllables before deciding where to break the interrupted word: you wouldn’t break the word there after the T (t—), because the first sound comes from the combined th (th—).

“He loved y—”

Dialogue that trails off
When dialogue trails off—the character has lost his train of thought or doesn’t know what to say—use the ellipsis.

“He loved you…” A long, long time ago, she thought.

Names in dialogue
Always use a comma before and/or after the name when addressing someone directly in dialogue (even if the name isn’t a proper name).

“He loved you, Emma.”

“Emma, he loved you.”

“He loved you, honey.”

“He loved you, Emma, more than he loved Sally.”

Multiple lines of dialogue
For a paragraph with several sentences of dialogue, put the dialogue tag, if you use one, at the end of the first sentence. The tags are for readers, to keep track of the speaker. A tag lost in the middle or hiding at the end of the paragraph doesn’t help the reader at the top of the paragraph.

This is not an absolute rule, of course. Sometimes the feel or rhythm requires a different construction. But you can use this rule to keep your readers on track. If a group of guys is talking, the reader might guess who is speaking, but there’s nothing wrong with helping out the reader.

“I wanted to know if James had planned to go to the game. He wasn’t sure, said he had to ask his wife. Thank God I don’t have to ask permission of a wife. None of that ball and chain stuff for me, no sir. I can go where I want, when I want. Yep, freedom,” Maxwell said. “Nothing beats freedom.”

“I wanted to know if James had planned to go to the game,” Maxwell said. “He wasn’t sure, said he had to ask his wife. Thank God I don’t have to ask permission of a wife. None of that ball and chain stuff for me, no sir. I can go where I want, when I want. Yep, freedom. Nothing beats freedom.”

Multiple paragraphs of dialogue
Dialogue may stretch across paragraphs without pause. To punctuate, put a terminal punctuation—period, question mark, or exclamation point— at the end of the first paragraph. There is no closing quotation mark at the end of this paragraph.

Begin the next paragraph with an opening quotation mark.

Follow this pattern for as long as the dialogue and paragraphs continue. At the last paragraph, use a closing quotation mark at the end of the dialogue.

“He was my best friend. I told you that, didn’t I? And then he stabbed me in the back. Stole my wife and my future. I hated him for that. Still do. Hate him bad.

“But he’s been punished, yes he has. He went to jail for embezzling thousands. Not even millions. Just thousands. Serves him right, the petty crook. He’s just a petty man.”

Changing Speakers
Begin a new paragraph each time the speaker changes.

She looked up at the man hovering over her. “I’d wanted to tell you for years. I just didn’t know what to say.”

“We’ve been married for thirty-four years, Alice. You couldn’t find a way, in thirty-four years of living together and seeing each other sixteen hours a day, to tell me you were already married?”

“I’m sorry.”

Exception. There are reasons having to do with style when you could limit a back-and-forth dialogue between characters to a single paragraph, but each speaker’s sentences would need to be brief and you wouldn’t want the paragraph to go on for too long. Keep in mind your readers’ expectations—they expect to find only one character’s words in a paragraph.

Mixing dialogue with narration in the same paragraph
Dialogue and narration can be placed into the same paragraph. If the narration refers to a single character or is in the point of view of only one character, simply add the dialogue. Dialogue can go at the beginning, the middle, or the end of the paragraph and the narration.

If the narration refers to several characters or you can’t tell which character is the focus of the paragraph, begin the dialogue with a new paragraph and a dialogue tag. That is, don’t make the reader guess who is speaking.

If the paragraph opens with a wide view of a group of people but then the focus narrows to a single character, you could introduce that character’s dialogue into the end of that same paragraph. Or, you could begin a new paragraph with the dialogue. The key is to keep the reader in the flow of the story. Confusion over dialogue will pull the reader out of the fictional world.

Rachael was a beautiful woman; she’d been told so since the day she turned sixteen. And at forty-two, she decided she was just entering her prime. She stared at herself in the mirror, patted her hair, and grinned at the man watching her reflection with her. “I still got it, don’t I, baby?”

He reached for her bare shoulders. “And I love every inch of the it you’ve got.”

—

Rachael was a beautiful woman; she’d been told so since the day she turned sixteen. At forty-two, she was determined to see herself as the ingenue. Carl wanted to tell her she was now more femme fatale than ingenue. And that was all right by him.

“I still got it, don’t I, baby?” she asked his reflection.

“More than ever, honey.”

—

Rachael was a beautiful woman; she’d been told so since the day she turned sixteen. At forty-two, she was determined to see herself as the ingenue. “You’re stunning, sweetheart,” Carl said, pausing by the dressing table.  He wanted to tell her she was now more femme fatale than ingenue, that she turned him on more than she had as a younger version of herself. But Rachael was not only beautiful. She was touchy. And being reminded of her age wouldn’t keep her happy.

Carl was all about keeping Rachael happy.

“Simply stunning,” he said again

*******

Attributions can come before the dialogue, especially if you want the dialogue tag to be noticed. To hide them, put them at the middle or end of sentences. You will typically—but not always—want the dialogue and not the attribution to stand out.

*******

A reader asked a few questions about this topic that are answered in the article, More Punctuation in Dialogue.

***

A few quick tips for self-editing…

• Edit from hard copy. Mistakes, unintended repetition, overused sentence construction can all jump off the page of a hard copy.
• Edit in a location different from where you write. Stimulate the mind with sounds and sights different from those of the writing environment. Stir your mind to look for differences in the room and on the page.
• Be free with your pen or pencil. Cut out long sections that go nowhere or that add nothing to plot or character. Delete pointless repetition. Cut out scenes that slow forward momentum. (You can always add back anything you take out.)
• Remove or change favorite words. We all have words that we repeat in every piece we write. Learn your favorite words and go after them ruthlessly.
• Cut down on adverbs and adjectives. Make your nouns and verbs do heavier duty and get rid of modifiers that bloat the work.
• Ignore the manuscript for a while. If you’re not under deadline, allow the piece to breathe before editing. Go on to another story, read something new, start a project around the house. Get the story out of your head for a while. For weeks if you have the time. If you give it enough time, the bloated phrasing and poor rhythms and plot threads to nowhere will jump out at you when you come back to edit.
• Delete character names. Check for overuse of names, especially in dialogue. The repetition of names can cause a story to drag.
• Check first words of consecutive paragraphs (and sentences). Every paragraph shouldn’t begin with he or she or Elvis.
• Look for unanswered questions. Read the first three to five chapters and make a list of problems your characters face. Then find the places in your manuscript where the problem is solved. If there is no solution, write one. Or get rid of the problem. Also, make sure that the solution is sufficiently satisfying for the level of the problem. You may intend one problem to play a large part in the story, but by the time you get to it, other story elements may have taken over. Adjust problems and solutions so their weights match.
• Read the story once as a reader would, to see if it entertains. If it doesn’t, try to determine where the storytelling went off track and then make corrections.

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Find an expanded version of Self-editing Tips on my video page.

Check out the very detailed Editor’s Checklist for specific editing suggestions for the major elements of fiction.

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Repetition can also drive your readers crazy.

Repeated words, repeated information, repeated sentence construction can turn your reader’s attitude from eager interest to downright hostility. Face it, there’s not much more irritating in a novel than reading the same events again and again. Or the same phrases. Or the same unusual word used three times in five pages.

Yes, readers like connection in their stories. But they certainly don’t enjoy overkill—Fiona and Ed walked the avenue, the most beautiful of the avenues surrounding central Paris. Of the roads and tree-lined avenues, the one just outside their hotel was the prettiest avenue.

Single-word repetition is often easy to spot. Yet sometimes its use does get past a writer. Be sure to proof your work for this irritant.

Information that’s repeated until a reader wants to throw your book across the room is also a problem. Tell the readers once. Repeat if you have to, using different words, a different character, a different tone. But don’t treat your readers like students who have to be told a point again and again. They find repetition of this kind more than annoying. And you lose readers when they’re annoyed.

Character description is often repeated in novels. How to avoid the annoyance factor? Give it a twist. If a character has unusual eyes and you’ve already said so, show how those unusual eyes affect another character rather than repeating that they’re unusual. Build on what you’ve established rather than saying the same thing.

Repetition That Works
Lest you think all repetition is bad, here’s a reminder that it can be strong rather than annoying.

Repetition is great for making a point, for creating a mood, for establishing rhythm. Sometimes a repeated word or phrase hammers home a point. And as long as you don’t overuse the technique, it can be powerful and effective.

Robert intended to leave a legacy, a legacy that would remind his children where he’d come from. Where they’d come from.

Because it’s noticeable, repetition has great power in fiction. It can drive the reader away or draw him deeper into your imaginary events. Repetition can weave threads to hold your reader close or pound at your reader until he gets the unintended message—leave this place; there’s nothing new here.

Use repetition, but practice restraint as well. Repetition should be effective without calling attention to itself. While you want readers to experience effect, you don’t want them noticing the cause.

If you’re writing long fiction, you’re trying to entertain your reader, hold him with your storytelling skills until he finishes the story. Yet, if he sees the mechanics, the underpinnings of the tale, he’s no longer involved in the fiction but in the elements that create the fiction. The reader doesn’t want to see Oz behind the curtain, manipulating him. He just wants to enjoy the manipulation. After all, he’s willing to believe your lies. He’s willing to invest time with your imaginary world. He’s willing to let his emotions be stirred and to put his mind to work to figure out the resolution before he reads it.

He doesn’t really believe there’s a serial killer loose in Dallas, picking off husbands of female cops. But if you write the story well enough, he’ll indulge himself and join his imagination to yours and he’ll act as if he believes, at least for the time it takes to read the novel.

Keep him involved. Keep him interested. Don’t give the reader an excuse to doubt that what you’ve written could happen—did happen—and that there’s something vital at stake for your characters and for himself.

As you use other writing tools, use the power of repetition to strengthen the fiction, the story, the emotion. Refuse to let it come between you and the reader’s enjoyment.