10 Things Every Writer Should Do in Their Novel by Brenda Novak
writersdigest.com
Here’s a guest post from bestseller Brenda Novak, who reveals 10 key basics to writing a great novel.
1. Start your story in the right place—when something exciting happens, when something unusual comes to pass, when a worthy challenge has been presented to your protagonist.
Bro-Tip: Describing Skin Color.
- Do not compare skin color to food because it’s fucking insulting.
- Do not say someone looks “exotic” because it, too, is insulting.
- If you are going to describe the skin color of a non-white person, fucking describe the white person’s skin color too. The fact that you feel the need to state a non-white character’s race is a reminder that people assume characters are white until stated otherwise — an undeniable and unpleasant fact of society. If you’re going to do it for one, do it for the other. (If you’re using a face claim, you don’t fucking need to describe skin color, please stop)
- Your characterization should not begin and end with skin color in your writing, even for NPCs.
- Do some research about race before you commit to a skin color for your character, if you choose to describe it at all — it can only help.
