assembled by Robyn Collins

This list of common mistakes made by writers of romance fiction has been assembled by Robyn Collins. She says: "One thing I do regularly is cut out/cut and paste articles about romance writing. Thanks to Marg's tips and RWA magazines I now have a huge file. The following is based on one of these articles. Unfortunately I'm not sure where the original article came from or who wrote it, so I apologise for using their ideas, even though the words are mine."

Additional Note from Marg: You'll actually find that many articles - and even some books - are based on common mistakes made by writers. I'd advise you to read through these, even if you write in a completely different genre. Although the mistakes you see below are slanted toward romance writing, much of what you read here could apply to any novel.

Mistake #1 The Submissive/Passive Heroine

Since I read my first romance novel, more years ago than I care to reveal, romance plots have changed dramatically. In earlier books, the heroine was often a nurse, a governess or a teacher -- or perhaps she was still living at home looking after elderly parents -- while the hero was a doctor, a reclusive millionaire with a lonely child or a college professor. Times have changed!

The modern heroine is independent, active and feisty. She doesn't let events happen around her or sit back waiting for the hero to rescue her. She does the rescuing herself and advances the plot by taking action. That is not to say that she doesn't have moments of letting the hero take the lead but she is never, ever a 'victim'.

Mistake #2 Taking too long to get started

Most writers begin their stories well. They've agonized over the first few paragraphs, have read the articles about having only a chapter or two to get the reader's attention and know it's important to get into the action quickly. The problems usually start appearing after the first few pages when the hero is investigating what is going on or the heroine is describing how she got to this point in the story.

Heroes/heroines shouldn't simply investigate, they need to take action and they need to do so quickly. One way to avoid this problem is to start the story as late as possible -- and then go back to fill in details if they're absolutely necessary.

Mistake #3 The Problem of the Middle

How often do you start a story, begin with a 'bang', get to chapter five and discover the middle of your story has degenerated into repetitive conflict and regurgitation of plot points over and over again? The characters aren't changing and progressing and you can almost feel the spark disappearing.

The escalation of conflict and lifting of the stakes for the hero and the heroine are critical to the middle of your book. The writer needs to make the internal and external conflict so immense that by the time the 'black moment' is reached there seems to be no way out. Some writers overcome the middle problem by introducing a sub-plot. You need to be careful when you do this in romance to make sure you do not distract from the central romance plot. Jenny Crusie says every word you write must either advance the plot or reveal/develop character.

Mistake #4 Predictability

We all know that virtually every plot there is has already been written, so how do to we achieve originality? The last thing we want is a plot so predictable that the reader knows exactly what is going to happen next. The writer must surprise, veer from the expected course, be spontaneous. How do you do this?

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. The main tip is to be conscious of what you are doing and when you find yourself writing something you've read before, try to veer off in a different direction. Publishers and editors say 'originality' is what they are looking for in every submission.

Mistake #5 Ending with a whimper

One of the things I really hate is getting to the ending of a book and being disappointed. However, getting the right ending is difficult and often books seem to go out with a whimper rather than leaving the reader with a sense of satisfaction. The ending should not be a repeat of what has happened before or a tying up of every possible loose end, neither should it be drawn out.

Let the reader figure out the smaller details for him/herself. The best endings have symmetry to the beginning -- Jenny Crusie is brilliant at this. Most teachers of writing also suggest you shouldn't need an epilogue if the book has ended well.

Having said that, I loved the epilogue in JK Rowling's last Harry Potter book, even though many critics and some of my friends hated it. So, in the end it's a question of writing a story full of satisfying conflict and motivation, knowing some readers will love your epilogue, if you decide to write one, and others will be disappointed.

Mistake #6 Showing Off

Sometimes we simply can't help ourselves. We've done all the research and we want our readers to know how clever we are so we give far too much information. You should tell your reader the minimum her/she needs to know in order to understand the plot, and no more.

To help understand this, think about your favourite books. Most of them allow you to speculate as you're reading so you are trying to work out what's going to happen next, or who the murderer is, or how the hero will overcome the heroine's reason for rejecting him. Don't give all the details or every answer. Leave your readers something to think about!

Mistake #7 Uninteresting Characters

Although I've said in other postings that you need conflict, motivation and an original story, the story won't matter if we don't care about the characters, and this is particularly true of romance. Characters make a story real; the stakes they're fighting for supply the conflict and the motivation. No matter how good the story is, if you don't like the characters, or care about them, the story is going to leave you dissatisfied.

Mistake #8 Dialogue Dumping

Over-explicit dialogue is unnatural and stilted. People don't narrate a story when they speak or dump details and information. Beware of using dialogue as a means of providing information, particularly back-story. Listen to how people speak in real life and watch out that you don't write expository dialogue. Remember you want your characters to be realistic, not mouth-pieces to tell your story.

Mistake #9 Lifeless Action

Lifeless Action sounds like a contradiction in terms; however even action can be boring if it is not well written. The point of action is to show how your characters react and interact with each other, and to move the story forward.

Too much action can be as big a mistake as not enough. Make sure there's variety in your scenes; don't follow one action scene with another and another. Instead vary the pace, the type of scenes and the way the characters interact.

Mistake #10 Revealing Back-story all at Once

Back-story should be revealed slowly, in pieces, and only when necessary. Mark Sullivan (mystery, suspense, thriller writer) suggests you should write down what you think your reader needs to know, then highlight what the reader has to know; and then what they absolutely need to know. Let go of the things you thought were important but don't need to include - those things you find interesting but your reader doesn't ABSOLUTELY NEED TO KNOW.

Etch all ABSOLUTELY NEED TO KNOW information on a sheet of glass in your mind. Smash the piece of glass and watch it shatter. Pick up one shard of glass at a time and slip the ABSOLUTELY NEED TO KNOW shards in the first 100 pages, one piece at a time. Include it in dialogue, share it in a quick interactive way or, in romance, include it in introspection (but don't overdo it!).

You should plan on the first 100, not the first 10 pages, to fit in each sliver of back-story.