I simply added in dialog toward the beginning of the story of Noah asking his father if he’s proud of him.

When I realized this, it was an easy fix. I messed up, however, because I neglected to set up this payoff.

That’s a payoff, because throughout the book, Noah sought, but never received, his father’s approval. In Sand Dollar: A Story of Undying Love, for example, Noah’s father uses his last, dying words to tell his son something that he previously could never get himself to say - that he’s proud of him. Similarly, if you create a great payoff, don’t forget to set it up. If you set something up, don’t forget to pay it off.For example, if a character is going to suddenly run a marathon, you should at least have him/her go for a jog once in a while. Writing a novel is an exercise in problem solving.Don’t overwhelm the reader with a lot of insignificant characters.

If you were writing a screenplay using a lot of erroneous characters, the first thing the director would do would be to eliminate some of the minor roles, combining them instead into a single, more important role.In real life, even really bad people have some redeeming qualities. Unless the genre calls for it, antagonists should not be cartoonishly evil.Create characters who are three-dimensional, not two-dimensional.Each chapter should end with the reader anxious to start the next chapter.(Besides, that’s all you may get to send a literary agent along with a query letter, so make the first 10 pages great.) Hook the reader in the first 10 pages.Be careful not to make dialog too “on the nose.” Dialog should be natural, reflecting the way we speak in everyday life.You can only be in one person’s head, not in everybody’s. The point of view (P.O.V.) should always be from the same person.Instead of explaining how someone feels, use actions or dialog to show us. Similarly, if a character is not important to the story, there’s no need to describe him or her in detail. If you’re going to use a lot of sentences to describe something, it better be something important.For example, if someone is nodding, obviously it’s with their head - so no need to write nodding her head. And don’t use a lot of unnecessary words. Don’t use a lot of adverbs (e.g., run fast).Posted on AugBy Sebastian Cole, author of Sand Dollar: A Story of Undying Love Writing a Manuscript Elements of Writing & Story The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.What You Need to Know About Writing and Publishing Your First Novel If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it.

Sand Dollar by Sebastian Cole