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How NOT to Write a Novel

915 statements
180 feature instances
38 referencing feature instances

How NOT to Write a Novel	type	TVTItem
How NOT to Write a Novel	label	How NOT to Write a Novel
How NOT to Write a Novel	page	HowNotToWriteANovel
How NOT to Write a Novel	comment	How NOT to Write a Novel is a 2008 self-help Book on Trope by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman. It deals a lot with tropes (and improper use of them), and even contains some tropes itself.The book, naturally, is about how not to write a novel. It is probably the only self-help book that you'll want to read over and over, because it's actually amusing to read. It includes many "samples" (written by the authors, though they claim they're based on submissions they received as editors) of writing that range from "good prose, but used tropes vitally wrong" to "OhgodIcan'tlookbutIhaveto."Take the quiz here!
How NOT to Write a Novel	fetched	2024-04-11T11:30:37Z
How NOT to Write a Novel	parsed	2024-04-11T11:30:38Z
How NOT to Write a Novel	processingComment	Dropped link to CallBack: Not a Feature - ITEM
How NOT to Write a Novel	processingComment	Dropped link to GenreBusting: Not a Feature - IGNORE
How NOT to Write a Novel	processingComment	Dropped link to ShaggyDogStory: Not a Feature - ITEM
How NOT to Write a Novel	processingComment	Dropped link to SmurfettePrinciple: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
How NOT to Write a Novel	processingComment	Dropped link to SoBadItsGood: Not a Feature - ITEM
How NOT to Write a Novel	processingComment	Dropped link to TalesOfTheUnexpected: Not a Feature - ITEM
How NOT to Write a Novel	processingUnknown	SmurfettePrinciple
How NOT to Write a Novel	isPartOf	DBTropes
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_10f35f3a	type	Creator Breakdown
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_10f35f3a	comment	Creator Breakdown: Invoked in "Revenge Is a Dish Best Served in Public" (Where the author has failed to move on). The passage featured is quite blatantly the author taking revenge on his ex-girlfriend after an acrimonious breakup.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_10f35f3a	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_10f35f3a	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_10f35f3a
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_11bc87bc	type	Comic-Book Fantasy Casting
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_11bc87bc	comment	Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: "Channeling the E! Channel" says there's nothing wrong with basing a character on a celebrity, but directly saying "She looked like a blonde Julia Roberts" is a no-no.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_11bc87bc	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_11bc87bc	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_11bc87bc
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_12b1f5f3	type	No Such Thing as Bad Publicity
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_12b1f5f3	comment	No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: Discouraged under "Voice in the Wilderness." Editors will not pick up your novel that's controversial just for the sake of being controversial.invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_12b1f5f3	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_12b1f5f3	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_12b1f5f3
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_137f2d7	type	Card-Carrying Villain
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_137f2d7	comment	Card-Carrying Villain: "Inside the Mind of a Criminal" advises against characterizing antagonists as committing villainous acts purely For the Evulz.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_137f2d7	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_137f2d7	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_137f2d7
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_177a6464	type	Genre Shift
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_177a6464	comment	Genre Shift: "'And One Ring to Bind Them!' Said the Old Cowpoke". They emphasize that if you want to do this, it still has to be set up with foreshadowing and the like, or else it comes across as very similar to a Deus ex Machina.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_177a6464	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_177a6464	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_177a6464
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_18e2980	type	Poirot Speak
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_18e2980	comment	Poirot Speak: Discouraged in "El Foreigner", along with other ham-fisted means of depicting foreign accents, like Funetik Aksent and You No Take Candle.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_18e2980	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_18e2980	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_18e2980
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1b75022a	type	The Law Firm of Pun, Pun, and Wordplay
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1b75022a	comment	The Publishing Firm of Pun, Pun, and Wordplay: In their warning against sending in a manuscript to any agent or editor charging a fee, the authors call their unscrupulous agency "Fuxom and Snickers."
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1b75022a	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1b75022a	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1b75022a
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1c3e4c9	type	Gratuitous Animal Sidekick
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1c3e4c9	comment	Gratuitous Animal Sidekick: Discouraged. "It does not work to give a character a pet to make him or her sympathetic. People are often at their least sympathetic when cooing over a bored cat."
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1c3e4c9	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1c3e4c9	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1c3e4c9
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1c5002bc	type	The Stoic
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1c5002bc	comment	The Stoic: Exaggerated in "Failing The Turing Test". See Angst? What Angst? above.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1c5002bc	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1c5002bc	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1c5002bc
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1d8733d3	type	Overly Narrow Superlative
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1d8733d3	comment	Overly Narrow Superlative: "I love you more than any woman that I've met on the Upper West Side in a really long time."
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1d8733d3	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1d8733d3	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1d8733d3
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1e7487cd	type	Breaking the Fourth Wall
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1e7487cd	comment	Breaking the Fourth Wall: In "The Court Reporter". "I'm afraid so. The author is actually going to list all the specials."
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1e7487cd	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1e7487cd	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1e7487cd
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1ec3eb0a	type	Take Our Word for It
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1ec3eb0a	comment	Take Our Word for It: Heavily discouraged in "Words Fail Me" (where the author stops short of communication), since it defeats the purpose of literature.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1ec3eb0a	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1ec3eb0a	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1ec3eb0a
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1fc3d0a8	type	Captain Obvious Aesop
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1fc3d0a8	comment	Captain Obvious Aesop: invokedDiscouraged in "The Educational Film";
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1fc3d0a8	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1fc3d0a8	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_1fc3d0a8
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_21586e8c	type	Padding
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_21586e8c	comment	Padding: "The Second Argument in the Laundromat" (using more than one scene to establish a single fact), "The Redundant Tautology" (the author repeating him or herself), and "The Skipping Record" (a character's thoughts repeating themselves). They also make passing reference to "The Second Fellatio in the Laundromat" (multiple sex scenes involving the same characters under more-or-less the same circumstances).invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_21586e8c	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_21586e8c	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_21586e8c
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_21d70919	type	Crapsack World
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_21d70919	comment	Crapsack World: "The Diane Arbus Retrospective". They discourage the excessive application of this trope where everybody you meet is a miserable degenerate, because it will give the audience no one to root for.invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_21d70919	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_21d70919	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_21d70919
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_22cf536c	type	Chekhov's Gun
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_22cf536c	comment	Chekhov's Gun: "The Gum on the Mantelpiece" uses a version of Chekhov's law: if there is gum on the mantelpiece in the first chapter, it must go on something by the last chapter. For bonus points, the example text is a Chekhov pastiche. They also approve the use of this trope as a Red Herring.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_22cf536c	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_22cf536c	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_22cf536c
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2534ee67	type	In Medias Res
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2534ee67	comment	In Medias Res: "The Waiting Room" advises that this can be used to provide chunks of exposition without delaying the plot.invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2534ee67	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2534ee67	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2534ee67
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_259d5879	type	Anachronism Stew
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_259d5879	comment	Anachronism Stew: "Xeno's iPod" for objects that just 'appear,' "The Vegan Viking" for anachronistic attitudes and beliefs, and "Yo, Charlemagne, how dost thy big war?" for modern-sounding dialogue in a historical setting.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_259d5879	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_259d5879	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_259d5879
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_25b5600	type	Captain Ersatz
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_25b5600	comment	Captain Ersatz: Alluded to after a long speech on why not to try to sell fanfic which ends with "now go back and change all the names."invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_25b5600	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_25b5600	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_25b5600
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_273b3163	type	Vanity Publishing
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_273b3163	comment	Vanity Publishing: Discussed, with the subsequent Protection from Editors not necessarily being a good thing.invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_273b3163	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_273b3163	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_273b3163
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2821d59c	type	Anatomically Impossible Sex
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2821d59c	comment	Anatomically Impossible Sex: "The Superhuman Feat" (Wherein a man performs). It is generally not a good idea to write sex scenes that move out of the domain of physical possibility.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2821d59c	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2821d59c	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2821d59c
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_285f34c7	type	World of Symbolism
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_285f34c7	comment	World of Symbolism: Strongly discouraged in a discussion of symbolism following "The Timely Epiphany":
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_285f34c7	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_285f34c7	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_285f34c7
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_294ed981	type	Bilingual Bonus
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_294ed981	comment	Bilingual Bonus: Several jokes in foreign languages. In many of the examples, the characters offhandedly use foreign "expressions" that either make no sense in context, or even constitute commentary from the authors. In addition, see an example quoted several times on this page. "Deus ex machina" is not, in fact, French for "are you fucking kidding me?" Folie adieu is used to refer to a sudden Tone Shift at the end, causing crippling Mood Whiplash that makes the novel unsellable. It is a pun on a folie a deux, a "madness shared by two," and translates as "Goodbye madness". In "El Foreigner", a Spanish speaker reprimands a Korean's (supposed) Foreign-Language Tirade by saying, "Hijo de puta! Hold the tongue!" "Hijo de puta" is Spanish for "son of a whore". Many "food items" with French names, if translated, are anything but. Peau de hommeblanc, for instance, means "White Man's Skin".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_294ed981	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_294ed981	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_294ed981
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_299d33f2	type	IKEA Erotica
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_299d33f2	comment	IKEA Erotica: "Assembly Instructions." One of the scenes in "The List of Ingredients" deserves a mention as well.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_299d33f2	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_299d33f2	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_299d33f2
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2cc736e4	type	Bondage Is Bad
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2cc736e4	comment	Bondage Is Bad: Discouraged in "When To Kiss And Tell" because, as Real Life will attest, it's not:
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2cc736e4	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2cc736e4	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2cc736e4
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2d409194	type	Unsettling Gender-Reveal
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2d409194	comment	Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Joseph Mengele "got radical plastic surgery and began life again as Josephine Womengele".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2d409194	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2d409194	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_2d409194
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3451fdb2	type	Wall of Blather
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3451fdb2	comment	Wall of Blather: The front cover, with the background text being some sort of proto-Twilight Vampire Romance.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3451fdb2	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3451fdb2	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3451fdb2
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_35ab4cec	type	You Watch Too Much X
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_35ab4cec	comment	You Watch Too Much X: "'The Unruly Zit' — When the author has read too much Bukowski."
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_35ab4cec	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_35ab4cec	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_35ab4cec
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3684532f	type	Never Heard That One Before
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3684532f	comment	Never Heard That One Before: "The Newborn Dinosaur." Never use jokes that everyone knows.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3684532f	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3684532f	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3684532f
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_384dbbbd	type	Purity Sue
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_384dbbbd	comment	Purity Sue: Invoked and discussed in "Too Good to Be True", noting that it's usually an attempt to make a character sympathetic but which has overshot the mark and made them nauseatingly perfect instead. Naturally discouraged, as being in the presence of perfection tends to breed not admiration but resentment.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_384dbbbd	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_384dbbbd	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_384dbbbd
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3b16449	type	Plot Tumor
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3b16449	comment	Plot Tumor: With the conveniently similar name of "The Benign Tumor".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3b16449	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3b16449	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3b16449
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3c0a4666	type	Noodle Incident
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3c0a4666	comment	Noodle Incident: The "spaying incident" that is mentioned in a few segments.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3c0a4666	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3c0a4666	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3c0a4666
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3dd3a9eb	type	Tone Shift
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3dd3a9eb	comment	Folie adieu is used to refer to a sudden Tone Shift at the end, causing crippling Mood Whiplash that makes the novel unsellable. It is a pun on a folie a deux, a "madness shared by two," and translates as "Goodbye madness".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3dd3a9eb	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3dd3a9eb	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3dd3a9eb
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3e99593b	type	Freakier Than Fiction
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3e99593b	comment	Freakier Than Fiction: "Why Your Job is Harder Than God's". A Contrived Coincidence can resolve a conflict in real life, but for fiction, the reader will expect the resolution to be set up within the context of the plot. As a rule, major coincidences can be used to set a plot in motion, but not to resolve it.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3e99593b	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3e99593b	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3e99593b
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3ec27f76	type	Costume Porn
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3ec27f76	comment	Costume Porn: "The Joan Rivers Pre-Novel Special" and "The Sharper Image Catalog". They discourage it whenever it interferes with the plot or slows down the pace of the novel, but acknowledge that there are genres where it is practically mandatory.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3ec27f76	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3ec27f76	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3ec27f76
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3fca462c	type	Deus ex Machina
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3fca462c	comment	Mistranslations of "Deus ex Machina".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3fca462c	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3fca462c	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_3fca462c
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_415b3315	type	Stylistic Suck
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_415b3315	comment	Stylistic Suck: Every mistake comes with an (often quite humorous) excerpt of writing.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_415b3315	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_415b3315	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_415b3315
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4192763e	type	Malaproper
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4192763e	comment	Malaproper: Strongly cautioned against in "The Crepuscular Handbag" and "Are Sticks and Stones Still an Option?" (Where the author mangles common expressions). Also used for humor in other examples.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4192763e	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4192763e	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4192763e
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_48d9e12d	type	Funetik Aksent
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_48d9e12d	comment	Funetik Aksent: Discouraged in "El Foreigner", e.g. an Italian man saying "He's-a gotta pretty-a daughter-a". Also discouraged are Poirot Speak and You No Take Candle.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_48d9e12d	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_48d9e12d	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_48d9e12d
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_48f0ca7f	type	PostModernism
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_48f0ca7f	comment	Postmodernism: "Hello! I Am the Author!" They recommend not trying it because it's really, really hard to do well. This includes using: Author Avatar (at least when the author is actually a character in their own novel) Footnote Fever Unconventional Formatting
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_48f0ca7f	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_48f0ca7f	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_48f0ca7f
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_49b1fe0	type	Beige Prose
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_49b1fe0	comment	Beige Prose: "The Minimalist" (wherein synopses take the place of writing) and "The List of Ingredients" (wherein lists substitute for description). List of Ingredients has a particularly humorous example of bland description gone bad:
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_49b1fe0	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_49b1fe0	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_49b1fe0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_49d59be9	type	Scenery Porn
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_49d59be9	comment	Scenery Porn: "Vacation Slideshow" features endless descriptions of exotic landscapes, with no bearing on characterization and story. The trope is discouraged because these tend to run too long and add no substance.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_49d59be9	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_49d59be9	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_49d59be9
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_49f6a9e4	type	Most Writers Are Writers
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_49f6a9e4	comment	Unusually for a guide to creative writing, these tropes are averted; since Most Writers Are Writers, the authors observe that "Write what you know" results in an abundance of novelists writing about authors. That said, they encourage extensive research about topics with which the author is unfamiliar, and they also note that unskilled writers who stray too far from writing about the sorts of people they know end up basing their characters on stock characters and archetypes which may unintentionally offend (such as the Magical Negro or Camp Gay). invoked The idea the authors promote is not "Write what you know," but "Know what you write."
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_49f6a9e4	featureApplicability	-1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_49f6a9e4	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_49f6a9e4
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4cf9fe88	type	Clueless Mystery
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4cf9fe88	comment	Clueless Mystery: "The Service Interruption" advises against having sudden blackouts in the Point-of-View narrative once a scene is underway, e.g. to enforce Unspoken Plan Guarantee.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4cf9fe88	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4cf9fe88	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4cf9fe88
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4eaa9b84	type	Author Tract
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4eaa9b84	comment	Author Tract: "The Educational Film" (wherein the deck is stacked). In the example, everything the saintly hippie protagonist encounters is somehow an example of corporate greed, and everyone she meets is someone opposed to her beliefs who goes out of their way to bully and humiliate her.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4eaa9b84	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4eaa9b84	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4eaa9b84
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4fc92b68	type	Suddenly Always Knew That
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4fc92b68	comment	Suddenly Always Knew That: "And by the Way, I'm an Expert Marksman!", in which the protagonist, when forced to dive through a long tunnel, suddenly reveals that he grew up with oyster divers in the South Seas. Obviously discouraged, while tying "Why Your Job Is Harder Than God's" to it for further discussion.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4fc92b68	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4fc92b68	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4fc92b68
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4ff19e3d	type	Defenestrate and Berate
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4ff19e3d	comment	Defenestrate and Berate: Deconstructed in "Prince Charming Doesn't Deserve Me" (Wherein the bad boyfriend is more sympathetic than the protagonist). Melinda cheats on Joe and throws his clothes out on the lawn for the heinous crimes of "not wanting to help with her mother's taxes on their anniversary" and "buying her the wrong colored roses". The example paints Melinda as petty and vindictive, tormenting Joe at the slightest provocation rather than giving him his just deserts.invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4ff19e3d	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4ff19e3d	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_4ff19e3d
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_517f8d71	type	Delusions of Eloquence
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_517f8d71	comment	Delusions of Eloquence: "The Crepuscular Handbag," where the example story is a dramatic rape scene turned into unintentional comedy by using all the wrong words. ("Ululating under his breath, he perused her bikini to the floor and embroiled himself in her well-endowed bust.") Also used (although not discussed) in "The Long Runway", with words like "brolly", "merkin", and "pangolin" being misused.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_517f8d71	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_517f8d71	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_517f8d71
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_55bf1a48	type	At Least I Admit It
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_55bf1a48	comment	"The Fig Leaf", where the author lovingly describes some vice, but has a viewpoint character pronounce it disgusting, implicitly because the author's trying to distance themselves from their own kink. They discourage it, because no one will be fooled; if you want your work to indulge in some form of smut, you might as well be honest about it.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_55bf1a48	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_55bf1a48	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_55bf1a48
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_55ec42d7	type	Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_55ec42d7	comment	Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: "Yo, Charlemagne, How Dost Thy Big War?" Discouraged for much of the same reasons as "The Crepitating Parasol"; it's all too easy to get incorrect, and it will break the immersion of your story.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_55ec42d7	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_55ec42d7	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_55ec42d7
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_5977de6c	type	Write What You Know
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_5977de6c	comment	Write What You Know: Unusually for a guide to creative writing, these tropes are averted; since Most Writers Are Writers, the authors observe that "Write what you know" results in an abundance of novelists writing about authors. That said, they encourage extensive research about topics with which the author is unfamiliar, and they also note that unskilled writers who stray too far from writing about the sorts of people they know end up basing their characters on stock characters and archetypes which may unintentionally offend (such as the Magical Negro or Camp Gay). invoked The idea the authors promote is not "Write what you know," but "Know what you write." In keeping with this point, a lot of the in-book examples are clearly written by an author who is trying a bit too hard to spin their own — often apparently rather mundane — life circumstances into compelling fiction, with less-than-successful results. Such as one author who seems to be desperately trying to spin an exciting thriller out of an optometrist's office, and another trying to make ergo-hydralics sound like some kind of exciting MacGuffin.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_5977de6c	featureApplicability	-1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_5977de6c	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_5977de6c
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_5eb3a0a0	type	Audience-Alienating Premise
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_5eb3a0a0	comment	Audience-Alienating Premise: "Voice in the Wilderness" provides an example, where the story paints a sympathetic picture of an SS officer desperately trying to save the inmates in his concentration camp from disease and starvation (while the Allies have invented The Holocaust as a piece of perfidious propaganda). Whether the author sincerely holds widely-reviled beliefs, or is simply seeking attention, the book strongly discourages airing such views in public.invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_5eb3a0a0	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_5eb3a0a0	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_5eb3a0a0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_615fdb1f	type	Dream Sequence
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_615fdb1f	comment	Dream Sequence: "Mr. Sandman, on Second Thought, Bring Me a Gun." An attempt at pseudo-Freudian stream of consciousness narrative in the form of a bizarre dream with no obvious connection to any plot. Discouraged. invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_615fdb1f	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_615fdb1f	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_615fdb1f
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_626f55cc	type	Said Bookism
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_626f55cc	comment	Said Bookism: "Asseverated the Man" highlights the unusual tendency for beginning writers to avoid using the unadorned word "said". Experienced authors know that it is in fact an "invisible word" like "the", "a", or "it". Using flowery synonyms as speech indicators or using too many adverbs will only draw attention to the writing and break the reader's immersion in the story. However, the authors concede that an adverb can be helpful when it adds nuance that the dialogue alone may not convey. They comment that "'I love you, all right' he said jokingly" is worlds apart from "'I love you, all right' he said coldly." But adverbs that add no meaning ("lovingly") or are unusual and distracting ("effervescently") are best left off. There's a wonderful example in the text on the front cover: '"This is silly!" she scoffed glibly.'
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_626f55cc	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_626f55cc	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_626f55cc
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_63357bac	type	I Just Write the Thing
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_63357bac	comment	I Just Write the Thing: Discouraged in "The Fig Leaf". The authors note that most of the time you don't have to include your Author Appeal in your work in the first place. But since they can't actually stop you from doing so, they insist that if you're going to include it, then you should at least be up front about what you're doing, since no one's going to be fooled anyway. The example demonstrates this by having an author, who clearly enjoys visiting strip clubs but equally clearly doesn't want anyone else to know this, combine a lovingly detailed description of the club and the strippers working there with a viewpoint character who sniffily declares how beneath him he finds everything as much as possible.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_63357bac	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_63357bac	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_63357bac
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_641cf81d	type	Viewers Are Geniuses
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_641cf81d	comment	Viewers Are Geniuses: "The Crepitating Parasol." Discouraged, since it runs the risk of being considered pretentious rather than clever (or, in the case of "Gibberish for Art's Sake", too baffling).
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_641cf81d	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_641cf81d	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_641cf81d
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6627695f	type	Author Appeal
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6627695f	comment	Author Appeal: "The High Colonic by Mail" advises against this, particularly if what appeals to the author is unlikely to appeal to anyone else. "The Fig Leaf", where the author lovingly describes some vice, but has a viewpoint character pronounce it disgusting, implicitly because the author's trying to distance themselves from their own kink. They discourage it, because no one will be fooled; if you want your work to indulge in some form of smut, you might as well be honest about it.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6627695f	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6627695f	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6627695f
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_66755d29	type	Author Avatar
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_66755d29	comment	Author Avatar (at least when the author is actually a character in their own novel)
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_66755d29	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_66755d29	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_66755d29
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_67d5984e	type	Mills and Boon Prose
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_67d5984e	comment	Mills and Boon Prose: "The Purple Blue Prose". Discouraged since it can make the sex scene sound too funny.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_67d5984e	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_67d5984e	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_67d5984e
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6977c45e	type	Purple Prose
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6977c45e	comment	Purple Prose: "The Puffer Fish", "Mouth-Watering World-Class Prose", which reads like advertisements or blurbs, "Gibberish for Art's Sake", which purposely tries to sound like the classic authors did. It also gives an example of "The Purple Blue Prose", which is a sexual version. And "The Crepitating Parasol," in which that fundamental line between "clever" and "stupid" is crossed due to suffocating the prose with obscure references and jokes. Naturally, it's discouraged. The authors do acknowledge that big fancy words can have their place in writing, but they are insistent that they should be used sparingly and only when the word in question is the correct word for the idea that is being expressed.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6977c45e	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6977c45e	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6977c45e
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6b35bdff	type	Serious Business
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6b35bdff	comment	Serious Business: A lot of the excerpts have their authors attempt to create a lot of drama out of seemingly non-dramatic scenarios. Such as the eternal battle for ergo-hydraulics, a love affair based on a mutual love of toggles, and a lot of funny business surrounding an optometrist.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6b35bdff	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6b35bdff	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6b35bdff
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6bda9a30	type	Meaningful Name
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6bda9a30	comment	Meaningful Name: They discourage using names where the symbolic meaning of the name is blatantly obvious to any reader (for example, "Vivian", a character who symbolizes life, against "Mort", a character who symbolizes death). Doubly so if the author feels the need to stop the narrative just to point out the symbolism.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6bda9a30	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6bda9a30	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6bda9a30
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6f61b60b	type	Trope Breaker
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6f61b60b	comment	Trope Breaker: They specifically refer to the damage done to the techno-thriller genre by the fall of Communism, and also to several genres by the invention of the cellphone.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6f61b60b	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6f61b60b	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6f61b60b
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6fcfbf9c	type	The Plot Reaper
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6fcfbf9c	comment	The Plot Reaper: "Goodbye, Cruel Reader!" They discourage having Bob the Villain kick off just for narrative convenience. If this trope is going to be used, the writer needs to set up Bob's impending death so that it doesn't just come out of nowhere (heart condition/suicidal fixation/unsafe building etc.)
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6fcfbf9c	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6fcfbf9c	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_6fcfbf9c
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_714741cc	type	Like Reality, Unless Noted
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_714741cc	comment	Like Reality, Unless Noted: This is provided as the reason why research and thorough world building are needed for historical fiction, sci-fi or fantasy.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_714741cc	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_714741cc	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_714741cc
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_71e8a5c5	type	Trauma Conga Line
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_71e8a5c5	comment	Trauma Conga Line: Discouraged in "Compassion Fatigue". A character whose life is nothing but pain and misery and a hero who never gets anything right will quickly turn readers off.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_71e8a5c5	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_71e8a5c5	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_71e8a5c5
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_720ef89f	type	Unconventional Formatting
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_720ef89f	comment	Unconventional Formatting: Not only do they advise against abnormal formatting in the writing in "Hello! I Am the Author", but they break convention with providing a proper format for submitting to publishers.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_720ef89f	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_720ef89f	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_720ef89f
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_737a65f4	type	The Watson
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_737a65f4	comment	The Watson: They encourage this to avoid the problem of people telling each other things both of them already know.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_737a65f4	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_737a65f4	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_737a65f4
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_743d2893	type	The Woobie
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_743d2893	comment	The Woobie: "Compassion Fatigue" is when this trope is done badly, with a character whose misfortunes are so manifold that they seem beyond rescue.invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_743d2893	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_743d2893	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_743d2893
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_74f57438	type	Cell Phones Are Useless
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_74f57438	comment	Cell Phones Are Useless: Discussed in "The Padded Cell", which suggests a number of plausible ways of cutting off communication.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_74f57438	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_74f57438	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_74f57438
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_76d233f9	type	Straw Feminist
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_76d233f9	comment	Straw Feminist: The excerpt of "The Fearless ExposÃ©" stars a man who lives next door to a group of these, who berate him for keeping one of their toddlers from falling into a swimming pool, live like animals, and advise their sons to "remember to be ashamed of your penis". Use of them (and strawmen in general, for that matter) is discouraged in favor of more nuanced and three-dimensional characters, at the very least because you'll be stepping on people's political toes, and it will bring all the wrong kind of attention.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_76d233f9	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_76d233f9	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_76d233f9
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7719cf90	type	It Began with a Twist of Fate
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7719cf90	comment	It Began with a Twist of Fate: They note that a plot being set in motion by an arbitrary coincidence or decision is acceptable, but a plot being resolved thereby will likely frustrate and annoy readers.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7719cf90	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7719cf90	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7719cf90
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_77552932	type	Character Shilling
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_77552932	comment	Character Shilling: Writing characters just to laugh at the protagonist's jokes or gush about how awesome they are is a big no-no.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_77552932	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_77552932	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_77552932
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7c0bc759	type	Cheater Gets Cheated On
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7c0bc759	comment	Cheater Gets Cheated On: The novel encourages this if you're going to have the protagonist cheat on their significant other with someone else. If a writer doesn't do this, they run the risk of the significant other looking Unintentionally Sympathetic. The writer has to make sure the significant other is clearly worse than the protagonist, and having them cheat first is a good way to establish how awful they are.invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7c0bc759	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7c0bc759	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7c0bc759
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7e74d66f	type	Politically Correct History
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7e74d66f	comment	Politically Correct History: Discouraged in "The Vegan Viking" and, to a lesser extent, in "Hello, I Am the Medieval Knight!". While it's usually done to avoid Values Dissonance, giving your 14th-century character neoliberal attitudes towards homosexuality (or neoconservative attitudes towards economics) will merely undermine your efforts to persuade readers that your story is taking place in the 14th century.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7e74d66f	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7e74d66f	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7e74d66f
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7febc23b	type	Establishing Character Moment
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7febc23b	comment	Establishing Character Moment: Discussed in one segment to explain why it's not a good idea to have a character's first appearance involve them doing something lewd unless you want them to be thought of as a pervert by the readers.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7febc23b	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7febc23b	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_7febc23b
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8010bd0c	type	The War on Straw
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8010bd0c	comment	The War on Straw: "The Fearless ExposÃ©" features a Straw Feminist neighbor. Also crops up in the example for "The Educational Film", wherein everyone the hippie protagonist meets isn't just opposed to her beliefs, but is a cruel bully who goes out of their way to humiliate and attack the innocent, angelic protagonist.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8010bd0c	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8010bd0c	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8010bd0c
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_808cbaeb	type	Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_808cbaeb	comment	Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: "The ranks of the would-be novelists are filled with Holocaust deniers, men who question whether women have souls, followers of Ayn Rand..."
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_808cbaeb	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_808cbaeb	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_808cbaeb
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_83743fe3	type	Mary Sue
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_83743fe3	comment	Mary Sue: Several of the hypothetical examples appear to have been written by authors placing themselves in the story too directly. Such as what appears to have been an action thriller written by an ergonomics expert. invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_83743fe3	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_83743fe3	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_83743fe3
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8409a385	type	Exactly What It Says on the Tin
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8409a385	comment	Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Subverted. While it's a tongue-in-cheek guide to writing a bad novel, the actual purpose is to teach the writer how to avoid the obvious mistakes and (hopefully) produce a good one.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8409a385	featureApplicability	-0.3
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8409a385	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8409a385
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_84abb088	type	StereotypeGay
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_84abb088	comment	Stereotype Gay: Discouraged in "Priscilla, Queen of the ClichÃ©s", along with any other obvious stereotype characters.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_84abb088	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_84abb088	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_84abb088
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_84dbbd8c	type	Foreign-Language Tirade
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_84dbbd8c	comment	In "El Foreigner", a Spanish speaker reprimands a Korean's (supposed) Foreign-Language Tirade by saying, "Hijo de puta! Hold the tongue!" "Hijo de puta" is Spanish for "son of a whore".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_84dbbd8c	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_84dbbd8c	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_84dbbd8c
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_85557b38	type	Reality Is Unrealistic
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_85557b38	comment	Reality Is Unrealistic: "Why Your Job Is Harder Than God's" explains that just because something unbelievable could happen or has happened in real life is not a pass to do so poorly in fiction, which is more scrutinized.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_85557b38	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_85557b38	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_85557b38
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_863fa679	type	What Happened to the Mouse?
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_863fa679	comment	What Happened to the Mouse?: "Oh, Don't Mind Him" (Where a character's personal problems remain unexplored). In the example, this character is the protagonist's brother, an alcoholic war veteran who seems to exist only to provide the protagonist with an inspirational conversation before he goes to Yale. "The Gum on the Mantlepiece" is similar, a kind of unintentional Red Herring.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_863fa679	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_863fa679	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_863fa679
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_870bbf64	type	Show, Don't Tell
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_870bbf64	comment	Show, Don't Tell: Many examples allude to this concept; for example, they advise against the use of adverbs when reporting speech because the writer is in effect telling the reader what to think about their dialogue, rather than showing them.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_870bbf64	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_870bbf64	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_870bbf64
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_89434320	type	Protagonist-Centered Morality
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_89434320	comment	Protagonist-Centered Morality: "Prince Charming Doesn't Deserve Me" is closely related to this: The main character cheats on her husband and throws him out of the house for what would be, objectively speaking, very minor flaws.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_89434320	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_89434320	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_89434320
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8b6e8d7	type	Anachronic Order
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8b6e8d7	comment	Anachronic Order: They have no problem with this trope at the level of the broader form and structure of the novel (even recommending the use of In Medias Res if the chronological opening of the story is rather slow). "Linearity Shrugged" is their example of how not to use it: the chronology and subject matter change after every other sentence, making the narrative impossible to follow.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8b6e8d7	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8b6e8d7	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8b6e8d7
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8bd16732	type	The Law of Conservation of Detail
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8bd16732	comment	The Law of Conservation of Detail: Underwrites a lot of the book. The details you provide will set up reader expectations about the plot, characters, love interests, etc. If you add too much extra detail, or direct the reader's attention to something and don't follow up, your novel will be dead no matter how good it is.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8bd16732	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8bd16732	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_8bd16732
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_94680696	type	Shaped Like Itself
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_94680696	comment	Shaped Like Itself: The Sight Gag (In which there is a sight gag.) "Ask yourself: 'do I know this word?' If the answer is no, then you do not know it."
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_94680696	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_94680696	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_94680696
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_946bf555	type	Snowclone
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_946bf555	comment	Snow Clone: "Hello, I am the [example]!", "The Second [example] in the Laundromat"
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_946bf555	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_946bf555	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_946bf555
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_94ce222f	type	Sobriquet Sex Switch
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_94ce222f	comment	Sobriquet Sex Switch: After getting sex reassignment surgery, Joseph Mengele started going by "Josephine Womengele".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_94ce222f	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_94ce222f	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_94ce222f
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9593e2d7	type	Stereotype
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9593e2d7	comment	Stereotype: Dealt with in various forms in "The Road to the Trash Heap is Paved with Good Intentions".invoked Also featured in "Obsession, by Calvin Klein (you know he's Jewish, right?)" (when the author is unaware that his ideÃ© fixe is showing), in which the male narrator states that "women got no more pleasure from sex than I would from scratching a mosquito bite".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9593e2d7	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9593e2d7	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9593e2d7
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_95bca4c9	type	Tuckerization
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_95bca4c9	comment	Tuckerization: Ever heard of the Marquis vin Diesel?
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_95bca4c9	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_95bca4c9	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_95bca4c9
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_97c8b5b0	type	Tyop on the Cover
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_97c8b5b0	comment	Tyop on the Cover: "'Spellcheck' Isn't in My Dictionary" straight-up tells the author to fix all of their typos.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_97c8b5b0	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_97c8b5b0	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_97c8b5b0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9843be73	type	As You Know
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9843be73	comment	As You Know: "But, Captain..." is a direct translation; "Hello, I am the Mommy!" and "Hello, I am the Medieval Knight!" are similar, with exposition about the characters and the setting clumsily inserted into dialogue, often as a case of Shown Their Work.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9843be73	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9843be73	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9843be73
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_987be393	type	Gambit Roulette
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_987be393	comment	Gambit Roulette: "The Riddler" (Wherein the nefarious plot is more complex than string theory). Naturally, they discourage it, because it will make your story way too hard to follow and make your villain seem way too competent to be believable.invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_987be393	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_987be393	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_987be393
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9c224098	type	Deliberately Bad Example
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9c224098	comment	Deliberately Bad Example: Though supposedly based on real literary submissions, many of the samples provided are so outlandishly atrocious that any competent-to-good aspiring writers will find them more entertaining than informative. That said, there are plenty of tips following these samples that can be genuinely helpful even to those who already have a decent grasp of the subject.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9c224098	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9c224098	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9c224098
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9fb8b0ac	type	Textual Celebrity Resemblance
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9fb8b0ac	comment	Textual Celebrity Resemblance: Noted as a generally bad idea in "Channeling the E! Channel", since describing a character as "a young Angelina Jolie" means the reader's imagination is now off somewhere trying to picture a younger Angie instead of staying with the story.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9fb8b0ac	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9fb8b0ac	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9fb8b0ac
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9fc04a54	type	Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9fc04a54	comment	Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: The entire point of "I Am Expressing My Sexuality." They recommend against it.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9fc04a54	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9fc04a54	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9fc04a54
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9fe35833	type	Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9fe35833	comment	Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas/Evil Virtues: This said to be frequently used a cheap way to get reader sympathy or at least respect for otherwise one-dimensional, loathsome villains, illustrated in an example in which a character takes a moment off from gleefully forcing young girls into prostitution to reminisce fondly about his mother.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9fe35833	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9fe35833	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_9fe35833
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a07afea2	type	Random Events Plot
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a07afea2	comment	Random Events Plot: Implicitly discouraged â€” for the section dealing with "Plot", the subtitle is "Not just a bunch of stuff that happens".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a07afea2	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a07afea2	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a07afea2
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a0c0ab8c	type	Platonic Writing, Romantic Reading
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a0c0ab8c	comment	Platonic Writing, Romantic Reading: A section dealing with unintended shipping ("The Deafening Hug"), Ho Yay ("We're Going to Need a Bigger Closet"), and suggested pedophilia ("Alice in Lapland"), and the actual article deals with accidental Brotherâ€“Sister Incest shipping.invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a0c0ab8c	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a0c0ab8c	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a0c0ab8c
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a1d753b6	type	Featureless Plane of Disembodied Dialogue
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a1d753b6	comment	Featureless Plane of Disembodied Dialogue: "The Convention of the Invisible Men".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a1d753b6	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a1d753b6	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a1d753b6
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a237392c	type	Detective Animal
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a237392c	comment	Detective Animal: Discussed. The writers observe that unless the protagonist's cat Bartok is the one solving mysteries, Bartok should receive about as many words in the narrative as the couch he is sitting on.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a237392c	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a237392c	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a237392c
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a3912d0e	type	Sexy Discretion Shot
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a3912d0e	comment	Sexy Discretion Shot: Discussed in "The Hays Code"; they point out that if the genre you're writing in (such as a steamy 'sexploitation' romance novel, for example) is one where the reader expects to see sexy fun times, then coyly using this trope is a bit of a cheat.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a3912d0e	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a3912d0e	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a3912d0e
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a4c37cbe	type	Mood Whiplash
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a4c37cbe	comment	Mood Whiplash: Discouraged in various forms. "'And One Ring to Bind Them!' Said the Old Cowpoke" deals with an abrupt Genre Shift with zero foreshadowing near the end of a story. "The Underpants Gnomes" is for when the writer suddenly skips to the end, the protagonist's problems having been solved off-screen. "Dear Penthouse Letters" is about the importance of setting up sex scenes properly.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a4c37cbe	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a4c37cbe	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a4c37cbe
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a6c69bd	type	MacGuffin
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a6c69bd	comment	In keeping with this point, a lot of the in-book examples are clearly written by an author who is trying a bit too hard to spin their own — often apparently rather mundane — life circumstances into compelling fiction, with less-than-successful results. Such as one author who seems to be desperately trying to spin an exciting thriller out of an optometrist's office, and another trying to make ergo-hydralics sound like some kind of exciting MacGuffin.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a6c69bd	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a6c69bd	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_a6c69bd
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_aa42306e	type	Totally Radical
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_aa42306e	comment	Totally Radical/Two Decades Behind: "I, Youngster" suggests that older authors do their research and apply common sense when writing a young, hip character, and not make clichÃ©d assumptions about youth culture. They also suggest the practical alternative of writing a novel about young people at a time when the author themselves was of that age, for purposes of accuracy and realism.invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_aa42306e	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_aa42306e	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_aa42306e
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_aabe2fb	type	Deliberate Values Dissonance
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_aabe2fb	comment	Deliberate Values Dissonance: Encouraged for historical settings; see Politically Correct History below. If a character in that time and place really would believe x, that has to be part of their characterization, even if social attitudes have changed to the point where it risks alienating the audience.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_aabe2fb	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_aabe2fb	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ac0cd9fc	type	Little Professor Dialog
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ac0cd9fc	comment	Little Professor Dialog: The example of "Sock Puppet" has a group of plucky kid detectives speaking in the same voice as the narration.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ac0cd9fc	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ac0cd9fc	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ac0cd9fc
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ad22fa80	type	Apocalyptic Log
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ad22fa80	comment	Apocalyptic Log: "'And One Ring to Bind Them!' Said the Old Cowpoke" jarringly morphs into one (from some sort of Chick-Lit pastiche, no less!)
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ad22fa80	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ad22fa80	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ad22fa80
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_adfd3165	type	For the Evulz
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_adfd3165	comment	For the Evulz: "Inside the Mind of a Criminal". Generally discouraged, if the author wants to create a believable villain.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_adfd3165	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_adfd3165	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_adfd3165
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b11ac9f5	type	Abusive Parents
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b11ac9f5	comment	Abusive Parents: Discouraged in "A Novel Called It", with the explanation that they are simply hard to write well and hard to read about without puking. They also suggest that horror is the best genre for handling this trope well, using Carrie as an example. Another problem they mention is that this trope is a Dead Horse Trope, with them claiming entire cities could be populated with the number of abusive parents that show up in unpublished works.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b11ac9f5	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b11ac9f5	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b26cc887	type	Just Between You and Me
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b26cc887	comment	Just Between You and Me: "The Retirement Speech" and this quote, "Now that I have you in my power, I shall tell you my whole life story!"
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b26cc887	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b26cc887	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b486877f	type	Squick
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b486877f	comment	Squick/Nausea Fuel: Overuse of this is discouraged in "The Unruly Zit" (with a sly Take That! at Charles Bukowski). They say it's fine if individual scenes in a novel that are meant to be disgusting and horrible are described appropriately, but if everything in the novel is described as such, then no one will want to read it. The romantic version of this is also discouraged in "The Funny Valentine" (wherein the protagonist settles for less). invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b486877f	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b486877f	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b486877f
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b537784e	type	Fauxlosophic Narration
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b537784e	comment	Fauxlosophic Narration: "The Overture" (Wherein the prologue is a brief guide to the meaning of life) and "Now With 20% More Homily!" (similar, but at the end of the work). Both discouraged.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b537784e	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b537784e	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b537784e
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b5914444	type	Noodle Implements
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b5914444	comment	Noodle Implements: A hypothetical example is discussed in which a character called Joe is terrified of raisins because his father and the parish priest did something traumatizing to him as a child with a raisin.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b5914444	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b5914444	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b5914444
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b593baf1	type	Author Filibuster
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b593baf1	comment	Author Filibuster: "The After-Dinner Sermon" (in which the author wields a mallet) is specifically about this, but several of the other excerpts (such as "The Educational Film" and "Voice in the Wilderness") are clearly written by an author who has A Very Important Lesson Or Opinion To Share and has decided that the best way to share it is to hector their unfortunate reader with it at every given opportunity. The authors discourage it; while they don't exactly deny the room for some kind of moral within fiction, they generally take the opinion that novels are entertainment first and foremost, and that pious sermonising or lecturing is neither very fun to read nor as successful at persuading a skeptical reader to accept a new viewpoint as these authors seem to assume.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b593baf1	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b593baf1	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b593baf1
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b707726f	type	Hypocritical Humor
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b707726f	comment	Hypocritical Humor: The section advising against clichÃ©s ends with the line "And in your heart of hearts, you know this is true." And then there's the gem, "This point is worth repeating: don't reiterate." See also Stylistic Suck below.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b707726f	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b707726f	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b707726f
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b7b1e990	type	Emphasize EVERYTHING
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b7b1e990	comment	Emphasize EVERYTHING: "I Mean This!! It's Important!!!" Needless to say, they advise against it.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b7b1e990	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b7b1e990	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b7b1e990
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b913a5df	type	Accidental Innuendo
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b913a5df	comment	Accidental Innuendo: "The Deafening Hug." The example text is an embrace between a pair of siblings which is described in such erotic terms that the reader can only infer Brotherâ€“Sister Incest.invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b913a5df	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b913a5df	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_b913a5df
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ba753dc9	type	Wangst
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ba753dc9	comment	Wangst: Warned against in "Compassion Fatigue":invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ba753dc9	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ba753dc9	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ba753dc9
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bc00493f	type	Precision F-Strike
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bc00493f	comment	Precision F-Strike: "Deus ex Machina" is cited as a French expression which means "Are you fucking kidding me?"
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bc00493f	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bc00493f	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bc00493f
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bd188274	type	Description in the Mirror
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bd188274	comment	Description in the Mirror: "What Color Am I?" (Where the character must be in front of a mirror to know what she looks like). They discourage it, naturally.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bd188274	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bd188274	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bd188274
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bd79d896	type	Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bd79d896	comment	Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: In "The Manchurian Parallax of the Thetan Conspiracy Enigma", a murder with a frozen leg of mutton leads to a Conspiracy Kitchen Sink involving Those Wacky Nazis led by a transgender Josef Mengele plotting to destroy Winnipeg.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bd79d896	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bd79d896	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bd79d896
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bf1f379a	type	Sense Freak
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bf1f379a	comment	Sense Freak: "The Hothouse Plant," where sensory descriptions overwhelm the rest of the writing.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bf1f379a	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bf1f379a	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bf1f379a
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bfc2ec8a	type	That Makes Me Feel Angry
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bfc2ec8a	comment	That Makes Me Feel Angry: Discouraged. Characters should not baldly announce the emotions they are experiencing (even in internal monologue, never mind dialogue), but rather these emotions should be depicted indirectly.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bfc2ec8a	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bfc2ec8a	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_bfc2ec8a
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c325f125	type	Ho Yay
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c325f125	comment	Ho Yay: invoked"We're Going to Need a Bigger Closet", specifically for unintentional homoerotic subtext.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c325f125	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c325f125	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c325f125
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c3448a6f	type	Informed Attribute
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c3448a6f	comment	Informed Attribute: The dialogue equivalent is shown in "Said the Fascinating Man" (Where the author tells you what you think of his dialogue).
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c3448a6f	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c3448a6f	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c3448a6f
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c37a7e2b	type	No Yay
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c37a7e2b	comment	No Yay: "Last Tango in Santa's Village".invoked (Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like.) If you have a non-sexualized character in your story, for the love of God, give them some sex appeal before making them hook up with someone. Otherwise, your readers will just be bored, confused, and/or disgusted with the relationship.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c37a7e2b	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c37a7e2b	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c37a7e2b
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c4bb17a1	type	Pet-Peeve Trope
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c4bb17a1	comment	Pet-Peeve Trope: While it's hard to disagree with most of the advice given, some of the tropes mentioned are more mild annoyances the authors have rather than ones you should actively avoid to not be seen as the worst writer ever, such as the Pet's Homage Name and their heavy discouragement of Post-Modernism.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c4bb17a1	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c4bb17a1	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c4bb17a1
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c75df49a	type	Shout-Out
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c75df49a	comment	Shout-Out: They occasionally make random references, some named, some unnamed. These include Harry Potter, the Underpants Gnomes, A Child Called "It", HAL, Gone with the Wind, Gravity's Rainbow and so on.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c75df49a	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c75df49a	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c75df49a
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c82e751f	type	Unspoken Plan Guarantee
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c82e751f	comment	Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Dealt with in "Deja Vu." Specifically, the authors state that any plan should always go wrong (or at least have unexpected complications) if spoken out loud; otherwise, the author has essentially written a spoiler into their own story.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c82e751f	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c82e751f	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_c82e751f
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_cabb2632	type	Dead Horse Trope
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_cabb2632	comment	Dead Horse Trope: This book is written by people who have worked for publishers, so they point out several tropes that they've seen time and time again. They do acknowledge that these tropes aren't inherently bad and they can be handled well. However, they often show up in poorly written works, leading to them being associated with bad writing. This means stories will get rejected if too many of these tropes pop up.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_cabb2632	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_cabb2632	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_cabb2632
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ce0b2b21	type	Monochrome Casting
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ce0b2b21	comment	Monochrome Casting: "The Country Club" discourages having all the characters be of the same ethnicity. They note that unless one's novel happens to be set somewhere like rural Sweden, the reader may start to get the undesired impression that some form of ethnic cleansing has taken place.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ce0b2b21	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ce0b2b21	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ce0b2b21
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d05cf3f	type	Footnote Fever
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d05cf3f	comment	Footnote Fever
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d05cf3f	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d05cf3f	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d05cf3f
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d33456e7	type	Improbable Age
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d33456e7	comment	Improbable Age: Noted under "Magic-onomics", pointing out that it is perfectly fine to explain where a character's wealth comes from by giving them a backstory in which they were a partner in a law firm â€” but not if the character is twenty-five.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d33456e7	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d33456e7	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d33456e7
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d52d28b6	type	Hypocrite
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d52d28b6	comment	Hypocrite: The author of the example in "The Fig Leaf" clearly enjoys visiting strip clubs but is vaguely aware that this is something that shouldn't be boasted about in polite company, so combines a lovingly detailed description of the club and the ladies working in it with the viewpoint character sniffily declaring how above it all he is in a transparent attempt to cover his tracks.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d52d28b6	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d52d28b6	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d52d28b6
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d5ed0c51	type	Humor Dissonance
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d5ed0c51	comment	Humor Dissonance: invoked"A Confederacy of Shills" advises against having characters laugh uproariously at every joke during a conversation. At best, it alienates readers by, in effect, telling them when to laugh; at worst, if the jokes are truly weak, it disorients the reader the same way as would having characters cry or smash things for no reason.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d5ed0c51	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d5ed0c51	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d5ed0c51
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d7117f01	type	Angst? What Angst?
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d7117f01	comment	Angst? What Angst?: "Failing the Turing Test", in which Professor Johnson finds a college student lying naked in his bed instead of his wife... and emotionlessly asks why she's there. She pulls out a gun and says that she's going to kill him... and he simply asks why. When she says that it's because he gave her a bad grade, he says he'd be willing to reconsider if she does him a favor. And then, when she assumes sex is the "favor" and tries to seduce him, he asks her to be his cat-sitter.invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d7117f01	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d7117f01	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d8f6a563	type	Good Night, Sweet Prince
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d8f6a563	comment	Good Night, Sweet Prince: Used in a completely out of context Shout-Out in one segment.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d8f6a563	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d8f6a563	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_d8f6a563
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_daa79d2f	type	Unintentionally Sympathetic
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_daa79d2f	comment	Unintentionally Sympathetic/Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Discussed and discouraged in "Prince Charming Doesn't Deserve Me"; in the example provided, the author clearly intends the protagonist's boyfriend to be unsympathetic, but only gives him minor flaws, whereas the supposedly sympathetic protagonist would immediately be recognized by anyone sane as an unreasonable, selfish harpy.invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_daa79d2f	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_daa79d2f	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_dbca2c99	type	Red Herring
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_dbca2c99	comment	Red Herring: They encourage these ("The Red Herring on the Mantelpiece") to give a novel more depth, though they warn authors to watch out for unintentional examples (see What Happened to the Mouse?).
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_dbca2c99	featureApplicability	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_dbccae32	type	Slow-Paced Beginning
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_dbccae32	comment	Slow-Paced Beginning: "The Waiting Room" advises that exposition and background should wait until the actual plot is kicked off, lest readers lose interest. It also advises that In Medias Res can be used to provide chunks of exposition without delaying the plot. invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_dbccae32	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_dbccae32	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_dbccae32
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_dd6ce5db	type	Artistic License
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_dd6ce5db	comment	Artistic License: Discouraged with prejudice. They are adamant that any novel which makes use of some form of specialized knowledge (especially historical novels) must be an accurate depiction.
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_dd6dcee0	type	Tradesnarkâ„¢
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_dd6dcee0	comment	Tradesnarkâ„¢: On using product names in fiction (Kmart Realism)-"TM?"
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_dd6dcee0	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_dd6dcee0	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_dd6dcee0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e0d20ea6	type	Intentionally Awkward Title
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e0d20ea6	comment	Intentionally Awkward Title: Some of the headings parody awkward prose this way. Notable examples: "The Penis-Like Sausage" and ""Fuck You!" He Said Profanely".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e0d20ea6	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e0d20ea6	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e0d20ea6
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e10cdc1c	type	Gay Best Friend
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e10cdc1c	comment	Gay Best Friend: "Priscilla, Queen of the ClichÃ©s". Discouraged, as examples tend to be one-dimensional stock characters, which can seem rather patronizing and insulting.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e10cdc1c	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e10cdc1c	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e10cdc1c
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e3109dae	type	Switching P.O.V.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e3109dae	comment	Switching P.O.V.: "Grabbing the Mike: Wherein the point of view momentarily strays", "The Tennis Match: Wherein the point of view bounces back and forth", "The Democracy: Where everyone is heard from", and "The Service Interruption: Wherein the point of view suffers a temporary blackout" are examples of how not to do this (in a word, "inconsistently"). They also recommend against writing from the perspective of a background character who only exists so that they can witness some key event (unless the novel already has numerous points of view).
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e3109dae	featureApplicability	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e3da6e6c	type	Deus Angst Machina
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e3da6e6c	comment	Deus Angst Machina: invoked"Compassion Fatigue". Strongly discouraged; a character whose life is nothing but a parade of misery and misfortune is difficult to sympathize with, and Too Bleak, Stopped Caring will set in pretty quickly.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e3da6e6c	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e3da6e6c	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e3da6e6c
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e46fabf7	type	Observation on Originality
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e46fabf7	comment	Observation on Originality: In the "how-clichÃ©d-are-your-characters" quiz, the ideal score is a balance of formula and novelty, i.e. somewhere in the middle. Too many predictable notes are boring; too many erratic beats are jarring.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e46fabf7	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e46fabf7	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e545d293	type	Narm
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e545d293	comment	Narm: All of the bad writing examples are intentionally over-the-top bad, but the chunk of text on the cover takes the cake. invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e545d293	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e545d293	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e545d293
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e624f0e8	type	Suspiciously Specific Denial
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e624f0e8	comment	Suspiciously Specific Denial: It's fine as long as the author is doing it on purpose. Doublespeak highlights how easily this can be done by accident. "The Service Interruption" talks about this being done wrong, by having the POV effectively blank out in order to maintain suspense.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e624f0e8	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_e624f0e8	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_eae0129f	type	Anti-Advice
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_eae0129f	comment	Anti-Advice: In a tongue-in-cheek way — the authors list things that generally indicate a bad novel, from which the reader is meant to conclude that it would be best not to do those things if they want to get published.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_eae0129f	featureApplicability	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ec36b7f3	type	Overly Pre-Prepared Gag
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ec36b7f3	comment	Overly Preprepared Gag: One segment has a detective from Belgium who's made long-winded solely so one of his monologues can end with "the Belgian waffled".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ec36b7f3	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ec36b7f3	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ec36b7f3
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ec3ff1f7	type	In Which a Trope Is Described
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ec3ff1f7	comment	In Which a Trope Is Described: All the sub-headings of the examples have this or variations.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ec3ff1f7	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ec3ff1f7	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ec3ff1f7
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_edebe3c8	type	Plot-Based Voice Cancellation
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_edebe3c8	comment	Plot-Based Voice Cancellation: Discouraged in favor of Instant Mystery, Just Delete Scene.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_edebe3c8	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_edebe3c8	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_edebe3c8
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ee8ac7f9	type	Alice and Bob
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ee8ac7f9	comment	In an Alice and Bob sort of way, they use several characters multiple times: Chip; Jack and Synthya; Leonard Cohen; Joe and Melinda, the evil Nefaro, Santa... there are many, occasionally unrelated.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ee8ac7f9	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ee8ac7f9	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_eeb4a5eb	type	Anti-Climax
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_eeb4a5eb	comment	Anti-Climax: "I'm Melting!" (Wherein the villain conveniently gives up).
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_eeb4a5eb	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_eeb4a5eb	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_eeb4a5eb
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_eef90616	type	Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_eef90616	comment	Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: When discussing "monogamy", or two characters in a novel who only ever interact with each other:
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_eef90616	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_eef90616	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_eef90616
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ef20d7bc	type	A Minor Kidroduction
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ef20d7bc	comment	A Minor Kidroduction: Discouraged in "The Long Runway". Describing the main character's childhood is often only an excuse to put off getting to any actual plot.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ef20d7bc	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ef20d7bc	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ef20d7bc
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f0d8db11	type	Fanon Discontinuity
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f0d8db11	comment	Fanon Discontinuity: The real life variety, historical negationism, is discouraged in "The Voice in the Wilderness"; the example is a story in which the Holocaust is a lie. invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f0d8db11	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f0d8db11	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f168fc9d	type	Pet's Homage Name
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f168fc9d	comment	Pet's Homage Name: They discourage using the trope, noting that if your novel's protagonist must have a cat, do not name it after a composer (such as Bartok), after a writer (Hemingway), after an ancient Greek (Socrates), or after a person that reflects the character's political leanings (Trotsky), among several other examples.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f168fc9d	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f168fc9d	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f1d3f0c9	type	Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f1d3f0c9	comment	"Ask yourself: 'do I know this word?' If the answer is no, then you do not know it."
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f1d3f0c9	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f1d3f0c9	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f1d3f0c9
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f23ad6de	type	Food Porn
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f23ad6de	comment	Food Porn: Discussed and discouraged in "The Food Channel".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f23ad6de	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f23ad6de	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f23ad6de
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f2a5f7f2	type	Expospeak Gag
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f2a5f7f2	comment	Expospeak Gag: "The Puffer Fish" notes how abusing Purple Prose can create these unintentionally.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f2a5f7f2	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f2a5f7f2	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f300ca44	type	Cliché Storm
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f300ca44	comment	Cliché Storm: "Breeding Contempt" advises against using too many hackneyed turns of phrase. While they usually became clichÃ©s for a reason (they are vivid and evocative), and they are sometimes so commonplace that they have entered the common vocabulary (e.g. "drop dead gorgeous"), relying too much on them will make an author's writing seem unimaginative.invoked
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f300ca44	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f300ca44	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f300ca44
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f37c192	type	Wanton Cruelty to the Common Comma
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f37c192	comment	Wanton Cruelty to the Common Comma/Bold Inflation: "I Mean This!! It's Important!!" â€” "While commas, often appear, randomly in unpublished manuscripts - and there is an epidemic - of unnecessary â€” em-dashes, it is the exclamation mark which takes the most punishment." It also talks about Capitalizing Words The Author Thinks Are Important, and compares it to Ironic Capitalization, a combination of which is Repeatedly Used On This Very Wiki.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f37c192	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f37c192	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f75cf3bd	type	Terrible Interviewees Montage
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f75cf3bd	comment	Terrible Interviewees Montage: Discouraged in "the Second Argument At The Laundromat", stating that while this works well on film where three scenes pass in 30 seconds, it becomes a repetitive drag on paper.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f75cf3bd	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f75cf3bd	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f75cf3bd
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f9f2c33	type	Running Gag
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f9f2c33	comment	Running Gag: In an Alice and Bob sort of way, they use several characters multiple times: Chip; Jack and Synthya; Leonard Cohen; Joe and Melinda, the evil Nefaro, Santa... there are many, occasionally unrelated. The phrase "medium-sized breasts" (or "perfect breasts" for variety.) Misuse of the word "ironically" Mistranslations of "Deus ex Machina". And the eternal battle for ergo-hydraulics. At least two people in the samples own cats named Bartok. The leg of mutton. It was the only clue. "The Second [insert incident here] at the Laundromat." Nefarious plots and doings surrounding an optometrist. The third date and all things associated with it (anniversaries, wine, etc.).
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f9f2c33	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f9f2c33	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_f9f2c33
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_fa6bfde9	type	Have a Gay Old Time
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_fa6bfde9	comment	Have a Gay Old Time: Among words you aren't advised to use just for the sake of making the writing fancier (see Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness below) is "ejaculated" in its old sense of "exclaimed".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_fa6bfde9	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_fa6bfde9	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_faa71569	type	Romantic False Lead
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_faa71569	comment	Romantic False Lead: Discussed in "Prince Charming Doesn't Deserve Me": They don't recommend against the trope per se, but they do caution against making the False Lead too Unintentionally Sympathetic or the protagonist too Unintentionally Unsympathetic in the process. They also recommend that the nice-but-dull variation can be traded in for a better model, but only if the protagonist shows an appropriate amount of remorse rather than glee.invoked
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_faa71569	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_fab3235a	type	Easy Evangelism
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_fab3235a	comment	Easy Evangelism: Discouraged.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_fab3235a	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_fab3235a	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_fab3235a
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_faf4a043	type	Good Adultery, Bad Adultery
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_faf4a043	comment	Good Adultery, Bad Adultery: Discussed in "Prince Charming Doesn't Deserve Me"; in particular, they recommend at the very least having the protagonist's significant other cheat first, as what the protagonist does after that "doesn't feel like cheating". Otherwise, well, the protagonist can still be unfaithful, but will then be in the wrong and must be acknowledged to be such.
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_fd3680e7	type	WhyWereBummedCommunismFell
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_fd3680e7	comment	Why We're Bummed Communism Fell: Jokingly referenced in "The Padded Cell".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_fd3680e7	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_fd3680e7	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_fd3680e7
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ff5a74c8	type	Talking Is a Free Action
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ff5a74c8	comment	Talking Is a Free Action: Discussed (and discouraged) in "Hello, I Must Be Going".
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ff5a74c8	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ff5a74c8	featureConfidence	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ff5a74c8
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ff7f34c5	type	Pet the Dog
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ff7f34c5	comment	Pet the Dog: "But He Loves His Mother". Using this to make a one-dimensional villain seem human is a bad idea; it's better to make the villain not one-dimensional and make his evilness believable.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ff7f34c5	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ff7f34c5	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ffad4e9f	type	Shown Their Work
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ffad4e9f	comment	Shown Their Work: "The Research Paper." "...But the glories of the Calvin cycle, and the further intricacies of the Krebs cycle, essential to cellular respiration, were little comfort now that...". While the author needs to know what details are accurate to the setting, he/she also needs to know how to make those details a natural part of the narrative instead of just dumping them in.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ffad4e9f	featureApplicability	1.0
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ffad4e9f	featureConfidence	1.0
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How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ffb79066	type	Chromosome Casting
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ffb79066	comment	Chromosome Casting: They note a particularly extreme version of the male form of this trope, called "The Stag Night", in which not only the main characters but apparently every person in a novel's fictional universe appears to be male. They also note that it's curiously common in Science Fiction.
How NOT to Write a Novel / int_ffb79066	featureApplicability	1.0
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

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How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	A Minor Kidroduction / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Audience-Alienating Premise / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Author Appeal / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Beige Prose / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Best Known for the Fanservice / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Black Comedy Rape / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Blah, Blah, Blah / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Bondage Is Bad / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Chromosome Casting / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Defenestrate and Berate / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Delusions of Eloquence / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Description in the Mirror / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Faux-To Guide / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Fauxlosophic Narration / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Featureless Plane of Disembodied Dialogue / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	High-Pressure Blood / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	IKEA Erotica / int_6a6066cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Instructional Title / int_6a6066cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Left Your Lifesaver Behind / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Mad Lib Thriller Title / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Misery Lit / int_6a6066cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Monochrome Casting / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Padding / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Pedophile Priest / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Pet's Homage Name / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Publicly Discussing the Secret / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Rape and Switch / int_6a6066cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Said Bookism / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Shaped Like Itself / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Sobriquet Sex Switch / int_6a6066cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Straw Feminist / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Suddenly Always Knew That / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Switching P.O.V. / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Textual Celebrity Resemblance / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	The Joy of X / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	The Law Firm of Pun, Pun, and Wordplay / int_e186e2cf
How NOT to Write a Novel	hasFeature	Vanity Publishing / int_e186e2cf

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