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Your series has been awesome! And you're right, I think this is the most important, and probably the hardest. Someone somewhere is going to be disappointed that the story didn't live up to their expectations (and sometimes that someone is a reader, and sometimes it is the author), and I think that's part of what makes working with words so frustrating sometimes. Readers come with

Angela, you really hit a chord with me with the words Disappointment and Experience. As a reader, disappointment will keep me from returning to an author. And as a writer, your insight into the experience of a story is an eye-opener. You are so right. That is what the best stories are.

And here my thought was that Not Writing was the worst sin of all. Everything else can be fixed in edits. But, without words, you have nothing to fix. <br /><br />I like the series. Thank you!

Totally agree. I always try to spend time working out what the reader&#39;s expectations of a story will be, and then how I can fulfil them and surprise too. I&#39;ve just discovered your site and am going to be happily exploring your content!

This has been a great series, Angela. Today&#39;s advice is so true - the key to a good reading experience. Is it terrible that I found one of the &quot;classic American novels&quot; to be one of my most disappointing reads? I HATE the way The Grapes of Wrath ends with no closure or feeling of being finished at all.

Thanks so much for the seven deadly sins! They have really helped me think about my writing and evaluate where I make these mistakes!

Thanks everyone for being patient and wading through my long posts on the seven sins! There was so much to cover once I got going, lol! I&#39;m glad they helped you as they did me. <br /><br />Liana, LOL definitely NOT writing is a grave sin!

Hi! So seeing as you&#39;re very awesome, I gave you an award! http://dorksideoftheforce.blogspot.com/2010/02/another-award-and-were-platypus.html

Angela, such a great series. Thank you for all the help that you provide writers.<br /><br />I have read books by authors who in the past wrote great reads, only to find they had gotten lazy or whatever and disappointed. I do NOT want to be like that. Thank you Angela! (^_^)

Totally, totally agree. I hate feeling disappointed when I&#39;ve finished a book (or NOT finished it if the disappointment comes early). We have too many choices to make when it comes to book-buying and I won&#39;t bother with an author who&#39;s left me cold.<br /><br />(My word verification is nodose!)

Awesome series of posts! You gave a lot of really fantastic advice and this is definitely a great resource for any writer. Thank you so much!

I apologize--I know this is a long post, but there are so many things to cover with information. I wanted to do it justice!

Great post! It&#39;s a lot to keep track of but all very important stuff.

Wonderful post! A great reminder for experienced writers and a fantastic lesson for beginners.<br /><br />God Bless,<br />Susan<br />Author of upcoming Princess and the Pee

Do not apologize for trying to educate us. Excellent job!

Such a fabulous post! Not too much info at all - it&#39;s all helpful information! This 7 deadly sins series has been wonderful! I&#39;ll be checking back to them as reference for what not to do - Thank you :o)

I really struggle with NS--some people say, &quot;Skip the boring stuff,&quot; while others say, &quot;What, are you crazy? You can&#39;t have large passages of unaccountable time!&quot; <br /><br />You are absolutely right about &quot;telling&quot; resulting from writers not trusting ourselves to get the important info across. But, imho, why telling really fails (other than b/c it&#39;s boring)

very thorough and informative!

Another excellent post! I am guilty of the emotional explanation going on and on...and on. I need to work on that a little bit.

Wow! This was incredibly timely for me. I actually came over to check out the emotion thesaurus because I realized I had a scene that was telling rather than showing. Thanks for the reminder to keep things brief and tight at the same time.

I appreciate this info, thanks a bunch!<br />Blessings,<br />Karen

Angela, never apologize. Your posts are always welcomed and used. I actually am guilty of info dumping. So I am copy and pasting this post. Is that okay Angela? <br /><br />And also, I missed the contest. Waaaa, my entire family got the stomach flu. I was the only one that escaped it. But I was so busy with the sick, I didn&#39;t make it for the contest. Great post as usual. I am NEVER

Awesome information! This comes at a great time for us as we&#39;re just about to jump back in with #2!

My early drafts are full of showing and then telling. It took two betas and an agent pointing it out before I finally understood what they meant. I guess I just didn&#39;t trust myself enough as a storyteller!

I&#39;m guilty of so many of those. Thanks for the reminder!

I just love dialogue examples that show too much. They crack me up.<br />They&#39;re one of my favorite things to talk about in writing workshops.

I struggle with pacing the most. Often when I write a first draft, I either race through the story, or get involved with every tiny minutiae of their days, with thoughts and feelings while my characters have tea. Tea is DEADLY.<br /><br />Great post. It&#39;s a lot to think about.

Yeow! This is one comprehensive post. Thanks, I&#39;m taking notes...

Great post! I think those deadly sins are something almost every writer goes through!

This blog is amazing! I&#39;ve added it to my favorites. Thank you for all the time you&#39;ve spent helping us to become better writers!

Never apologize - your posts are worth their weight in gold! Thanks for another great lesson. I know I am guilty of the &quot;too much thinking&quot; problem. :-)

Regarding sin #7, I wrote an article on using backstory correctly some while ago that you and your readers might also find helpful:<br /><br />http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog/show/25

Thanks for the great reminders, Angela! The Showing and Telling one especially hits home for me as I work on revising.

This post is VERY timely for me too as TMI is my biggest sin, bar none. I&#39;m in the midst of a major rewrite right now and keep finding overwritten passages with obviously labored explanations that weigh the story down. I&#39;ll come back to this.

Thanks everyone for the great comments! I&#39;m glad that this series has been helpful--I think we all have similar writing pitfalls to watch out for. <br /><br /><br />Happy writing!<br /><br />Angela

Great post! I won&#39;t name the book, as I don&#39;t like to cast aspersions, but I did read one not too long ago that was like reading a very bad version of The Secret Garden. The main character was just too sweet for words. She seemed to flit through the story without a care or any kind of emotional upheaval despite the fact she&#39;d been orphaned and sent to an aged uncle far away from

Your series on the seven deadly sins is excellent, Momzilla. Looking forward to seeing what other problems I am standing on the verge of. <br /><br />Twisted

You hit the nail on the head with this post. I&#39;ll put a book down and won&#39;t finish it when I see these problems in characterization. I need to sink into the novel, and that means connecting with realistic characters.

This is a timely post. I have started to write a short story and one of the goals I set for it is to be a character driven story portraying the personalities of the two characters in the plot. Your words of guidance will help me... thanks

First things firsts:<br /><br />Great blog you got here. Found myself opening multiple tabs so I could read all the posts on the first page. Defiantly a must read blog for writers. <br /><br />Second, all good points, especially when talking about too little or too much drama/emotion. <br /><br />Will keep those in mind.

Yes! Especially the accountability one - even when I&#39;m rooting for a character and love the character, I get really annoyed when they&#39;re allowed to &quot;get away&quot; with things. Even Dexter had to face the music.

Wow! Great post. This Seven Deadly Sins of Novel Writing series - is really brilliant! You&#39;re my next Monday Featured Blog, I&#39;d love others to read this. Great stuff here, as always :o)

&quot;NEVER make the sole focus on what a character has or doesn&#39;t have. Instead emphasize what they DO with what they have.&quot; I love this! ;)<br /><br />P.S. You&#39;ve been tagged :)

Great stuff! Thanks:)

<i>9.9 times out of 10, a character cliche crutch means the writer needs to delve deeper to really understand who their character is.</i><br /><br />You are brilliant, you know that? This was a beautiful post. Thank you for making me put on my thinking cap. :D

Bish, thanks. I don&#39;t like to be nagative about books either, but at the same time an example was important and this book is well known enough for people to relate to it. Plus too at the end of the day it&#39;s wildly successful, so its not like pointing out a single flaw will affect that. :-)<br /><br />James, thank you so much. I think we all need to keep these things in mind--I&#39;m

I love these new posts, Angela! I&#39;m all over them!

Excellent post (and reminders)!

What also happens sometimes is that the characters act unmotivated, like the dumb girl in a horror-movie going inside that dark room where the killer hides.

Very informative post!<br /><br />An example of counterfeit, to me, would be the author saying one thing and the character saying another. For instance, if the author (through other characters) comments on how intelligent the heroine is, but the heroine then does something very foolish. The showing is always going to speak louder than the telling.

<i>Even if there is an unbalanced set of circumstances to contend with, NEVER make the sole focus on what a character has or doesn&#39;t have. Instead emphasize what they DO with what they have. A boy can live a perfect, privileged life and still make bad choices. Or a girl can have the odds stacked against her and still succeed through perseverance and the support of those around her. Humanize

Hey this is Silver1 from CC. Great to see you! I can&#39;t agree with your list more. It&#39;s perfect!

&quot;CHARACTERS ARE NOT OUR CHILDREN. Never hesitate to throw them in the path of the bus.&quot; <br /><br />I think this might be my new favorite quote on writing. :-) In my own writing I&#39;ve found that sometimes the stakes for the world/society can be high but the personal stakes for the main character might not be as pressing. I&#39;ve been really trying to find a balance between the

Is it bad that I automatically think which character I can kill off while I write a novel? For some reason at least one must die in each book...

Great idea! So clever. My kids love your photo here with the mouse! I look forward to reading the next 6 sins.

So true.. <br /><br />I love this part of the process.. Sometimes I throw too much in their way.

Great post! I&#39;m having a hard time creating the right stakes in my rewrite, and I know that&#39;s exactly what it needs. <br /><br />This is going to be a great series. : )

Great post, Angela - looking forward to the rest.<br /><br />Your children/bus point reminded me of something John Irving said.<br /><br />Can&#39;t remember the precise words, but it was something like: &quot;I don&#39;t search for characters when I write a novel, I search for victims.&quot;

Excellent post! I look forward to reading about the other deadly sins.

&quot;CHARACTERS ARE NOT OUR CHILDREN. Never hesitate to throw them in the path of a bus.&quot;<br /><br />That&#39;s so very true! I struggle to raise the stakes sometimes in my own writing, but I am pushing at it! Thank you for such an awesome post. :)

Lots to think about, thank you! I like the &quot;Characters are not our children.&quot; I&#39;ll remember that one! Blessings:)

Angela, this is most excellent. Can&#39;t wait for the next post.<br />It is also timely, because I&#39;m facing a moment of truth for the main character of a new novel I&#39;m writing, and I think I have make her do something that will have a disasterous fallout. I didn&#39;t want to do that, but I think it will vastly increase the stakes.<br />Thanks for making me face it, too.

It sounds like I&#39;m not the only one who absolutely loved this post. As hard as it may be for us, this is critical advice. <br /><br />I think J. K. Rowling has already mastered the best part, though. &quot;CHARACTERS ARE NOT OUR CHILDREN. Never hesitate to throw them in the path of a bus.&quot; Oh, so that&#39;s why Dumbledore had to die! and Hedwig and Lupin and Tonks and...Dobby! *

I also really love the pic!<br /><br />I too, look forward to the other six sins I&#39;m sure to have committed.<br /><br />must make protag suffer, must make protag suffer....

Love the pic!<br /><br />Can&#39;t wait to find out about the other six sins I&#39;m sure to have committed.<br /><br />must make protag suffer, must make protag suffer....

Great post! I struggle but then when I do, I know it means it&#39;s the right thing to do. <br />Kill off the characters. Right?

I read &quot;path of the bus&quot; as &quot;the bath of pus.&quot; Please don&#39;t make me throw my characters into one of those.

Sins capture our interest ... great topic and great post. I look forward to reading them all ... because I&#39;m sure to commit them all. I confess I am too nice to my characters on the first pass.

Great post! Can&#39;t wait to read the other 6!<br />You&#39;ve really covered Sin #1 very well. I don&#39;t really have anything to add :o)<br /><br />I never have any problem pushing mine in front of the proverbial bus, however, I do connect more with the male characters in my novel, so the girls get the brunt of the conflict thrust upon them. They are the MC&#39;s after all :o)<br /><br />

Awesome post! I had to &quot;kill&quot; off a character because of letting him do to much for the main character plus he was stealing the spotlight. He is so darn cute though so I think he will be coming back but I had to get him out of the way for awhile. :)

Am I evil because I love to torture characters?<br /><br />My problem is revealing what exactly the stakes are. My characters are running around, trying not to get killed, but they have no idea why. <br /><br />*has mini light bulb switch on* Aha! (Don&#39;t you just love that word?) I just remembered a lost plot thread. Yes, Precioussss, we will weave it in better during rewrites. Yessss.

This post was an excellent reminder of what to look out for. Sometimes I get a little too complacent and then wondere why something&#39;s not working. And I love the photo!!!!

This is a great, great post. I&#39;m bookmarking it so I can come back to it and remind myself to throw that child under the bus.

Thanks again for your writing Rx. Now in part two of my novel, I need to sharpen my ax. I tend to have characters wage mental wars not physical ones. Too many ploughshares can make a book flatline! Again, thanks.

I personally get a kick out of thinking up all the horrible things that I can do to my characters. Sometimes, I have to stop myself...heeeehaaaa...whaahhaa (sinister laughter).

Fear of crossing into that dangerous territory of melodrama sometimes makes me back off turning up the heat for my characters. I hope you&#39;ll discuss motivation and how that relates to stakes in an upcoming post. It&#39;s a struggle to get it right, so all tips are most urgently sought!

Holy smokes--I guess this post was a hot topic with writers!<br /><br />Anna--I really like your comment about personal stakes VS world stakes. I think this is a key of high stakes--they MUST be personal.<br /><br />Yuna, I think its from hanging with Merc. LOL<br /><br />Terry, Thanks! I thought this was the perfect pic to show stakes and consequences!<br /><br />Keri, I&#39;m like you--

Wow<br /><br />I&#39;m so glad I came across this post and like everyone else I love the children and bus quote. <br />I once heard an author say something similar about violence in a story. It has to really hurt, there&#39;s no use writing in half measures. Look forward to the other six deadly sins.<br /><br />Ray

Angela, thanks for telling it like it is. :-D I am enlightened by the post and already scrutinizing my work, chasing after all the low stakes I can find. I&#39;m smiling at the idea of going over the top the other way around.<br /><br />My question is: can stakes ever be too high?<br /><br />I look forward to learning about the other sins! (Never thought I would write that one day, lol)

Great advice, Angela. Looking forward to the rest.

Ray, I like that--it&#39;s so true.<br /><br />Natalie, yes I think stakes can be too high. The two situations that come to mind would be insurmountable stakes that leave the character with no realistic options, and no hope. There&#39;s no where for the story to go, because the stakes paralyze all action.<br /><br />The second would be when the stakes are too high to be real or tangible to the

Gayle, thanks so much!