Another common ailment among new authors is Sisyphus Syndrome. They work hard on a section to submit to a critique group, and the group tears it apart. So they start over, and submit the rewritten section to the group. Or they start a new project, only to have the same thing happen to their next […]
Tag Archives: aspiring authors
Prologue Cancer
0Prologue Cancer results from a prologue which grows far beyond its intended size. This is often the result when a writer doesn’t understand the purpose of the prologue, and puts in carcinogenic content, bloating the prologue until it chokes off the first chapter, which the audience will never read. Preventing prologue cancer is easy if […]
Manuscript Measles
0Manuscript Measles is a common disease, especially among young writers who haven’t built up a good immune system to harsh criticism. It is easily diagnosed when a manuscript is received back from an editor with red marks all over every page. These marks, however, are not the same as the biting, often scathing edits which […]
Dissociative Character Disorder
0Dissociative Character Disorder, also known as Multiple Character Disorder, results when the author shows the thoughts of multiple characters in a single scene. The reader becomes dissociated from all the characters, because the author is bouncing between them so fast, the reader has nothing to latch on to. One of the most important aspects where a […]
The Hair in the Soup
0Almost everyone has had the experience of finding a hair in their soup. If this happens at a restaurant, people are less likely to return. If this happens in a novel, or a series, the author can loose their audience. So what kinds of things qualify as a hair in the soup for writing? The […]
I-I-I-itis
0Our most recent patient presented me with a novel written in the first person. When done right, this can be a very effective tool in drawing the reader into the story, reducing the separation between the main character and the reader until the reader feels like they are actually living through it. However, the first […]
Dialog-arrhea
1Dialog-arrhea can be a very embarrassing issue, and difficult to discuss, even with your Book Doctor, so I will try to handle this issue gently. Many aspiring authors are unsure how to handle the dialog of their story, which can lead to having the dialog all come out at once in a blast of characters […]
Genre Identity Crisis
0Genre Identity Crisis develops when an author does not know or does not care which genre their book falls into. I’m not talking about books which cross genres, or mix genres. If you’re writing a paranormal historical fiction, or a mystery romance, by all means, go for it. I’m speaking about books where the first […]
Upper Back-Story Pain
2Our first patient chooses to remain anonymous, but presents with a problem very common to new writers. If your first chapter is filled with things your character knows, which your audience does not, and nothing else, then your novel is probably crippled by this common, yet painful condition. A novel suffering from Upper Back-Story Pain […]