Know This, Before Writing Fiction

1)  Believability

Even though it is fiction, make your stories believable nonetheless. Nobody wants a story that is exciting yet cannot happen in real life or the details are just made up.

Make it real.

The average reader's mind is like, "Oh cool piece." the other side of him says, "But really, can it happen that way?" The world loves stories they can relate to, with characters whose weaknesses, struggles, and conditions the reader can identify with A story that mirrors reality.

2) Simplicity

The essence of a writer is that he has an intended audience, at least one reader. It would be wise if narrates the piece, paints the pictures, create the emotions with simple enough expressions for the reader to grasp. Taking pride in the use of high sounding phrases and terminologies that would require the reader's constant visit to the dictionary is vanity on the writer's part.

Like my Dad would tell me, "The beauty of any art of communication is its simplicity."

A writers should not get so carried away with what he has to say that he forgets he has to express it in language comprehensible to the reader.

3) Brevity

Don't over-explain. The beauty of stories also consists in what is left out, information left to the reader to figure out. You know, that aha moment when you pause and figure out something astounding in a storyline that the writer decided to keep or mention sparsely. That is beautiful.

Brevity requires rigorous editing to cut out superfluous expressions, extraneous ideas and paragraphs whose presence is no better than its absence.

The writer should trust his readers' intelligence to fathom what is not said.

I like to tell myself this about brevity: Brevity means not everything has to be said.

 (Is it not ironic I used so many words to explain brevity.😊)

Opinion by Bunmi Oke

Compiled by Abbey Lawal {07069597664}