Top ten lessons I learned about writing good fiction

Guest post by author Judith Marshall

Judith Marshall is a third generation native Californian, born in St. Helena and raised in Concord. After leaving a successful career in corporate America as a human resources executive, her lifelong dream of writing fiction was realized with the completion of Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever, winner of the Jack London Prize awarded by the California Writers Club and recently optioned for the big screen.

She is currently working on her second novel, Staying Afloat, the story of a devoted stay-at-home wife and mother who morphs into a sex-starved adulteress. She lives in Northern California with her husband. For more information, go to http://www.judithmarshall.net/

Top Ten things to remember when writing fiction

• Always begin with your protagonist – readers need to know who to root for
• Start with action – lock in your readers upfront
• Be visual in your approach – let readers “see” your story (this helped get my novel optioned for the big screen!)
• Limit your descriptive words – make each one count
• Don’t forget the senses – smell, touch, sight, etc.
• Write only scenes that either enrich character, provide necessary information, or move the plot forward; or better yet, do all three
• Rely on dialogue - readers rarely skip dialogue
• Have your character do something while thinking – driving a car, washing dishes, combing a child’s hair
• Use similes for style
• When in doubt, leave it out!

Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever, a first novel by Judith Marshall, is a winner of the Jack London Prize awarded by the California Writers Club and recently optioned for the big screen.

available at Amazon.com

Set in a small town in Northern California, in the spring of 2000 when the dot-com boom was at its peak, the story centers around Elizabeth Reilly-Hayden, a successful executive in her late fifties and a divorced mother of two. Emotionally armored and living alone, she wants only to maintain the status quo: her long-term significant other, her job and her trusted friends— five feisty women who first met in high school. Yet in a matter of days, the three anchors that have kept her moored are ripped away. The group of lifelong pals gathers at Lake Tahoe to attend to the funeral arrangements of their beloved friend, and tries to unravel the mystery of her death. Through their shared tragedy, Liz learns how disappointment and grief can bloom into healing and hope.___




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