I spend a lot of time on this blog talking about what we can do right in our writing (or how to make what's not working work again).
But what about the flipside?
Whether you're writing page one or three hundred and one, here are five easy ways to ruin your story:
1. There's no clear protagonist.
On page one we have Bob and Betty and Mildred and Flo. Bob is pissed at Mildred and she and Flo are icing out Betty, and then Ricky comes along and decks Bob for no reason at all, and Oh My God I have no idea who I'm supposed to pay attention to or even root for in this situation.
It's okay to start your story in the middle of the action; it's not okay to throw tons of information at your reader at once. If people are yelling and tossing punches on page one, it needs to be made absolutely clear that Ricky is the hero of this tale.
2. The protagonist doesn't have a goal.
We know we should be paying attention to Ricky, but we have no clue what it is that he wants (except to punch Bob in the face). Maybe he doesn't even know . . . though wanting to know is, in fact, a goal. . . . but I digress. It should be very clear within the first few pages not only who your protagonist is, but what he's working toward. This, of course, can change as the narrative progresses, but readers subconsciously pick up a book with the resolution in mind. How will we know the story has ended if we don't know when Ricky has accomplished what he set out to do or even what, exactly, he wants to accomplish?
3. There's no inner conflict.
Sure, Ricky is great at throwing punches, and he clearly hates Bob, but if he's the same person on page three hundred as he was on page one, then the reader is likely to feel cheated. Along with an outer conflict, there should be an inner conflict. After a litany of fight scenes, a story where Ricky hangs up his boxing gloves and turns to meditation to control his anger might be a journey worth following.
4. The plot doesn't align with the goal.
We know about Ricky and his beef with Bob. We know he's intent on bringing Bob down. We know he has anger management issues he's trying to deal with. Now the plot (or the scenes that follow) needs to show a realistic progression from where Ricky is at present to who he's going to become. If you lose sight of the story question, the reader will be left scratching his or her head, wondering what shopping for leeks at the grocery store has to do with anything. (The answer? Nothing. Leave it out.)
5. The character isn't believably attached to the goal.
Ricky says he wants to stop fighting with Bob, but he's made zero progress and we're moving into the final chapter of the story. Are we sure that's what he wanted? You know I love a good plot twist, but even these need to feel inevitable.
No protagonist, no goal, no conflict, irrelevant commentary, no attachment to the ultimate outcome. . . . These are five of the best ways to ruin your story for the reader. . . .
Unless, of course, you write esoteric literary fiction.
In that case, #$%! the rules.
Be Brilliant!
~Katie~
