The "Oomph" Factor
Have you given your tale enough “oomph”? There should be no “boring bits” with information drip-fed in. You need to alter the pace a bit as too much excitement is exactly that - too much - but too little and there is no story. The “troughs” in between should give your reader information they’ll need to take your tale forward and a chance to get their breath back as it were, but not for too long. Do play cat and mouse. There should be a sense of something “coming”.
The Way Characters Speak
Do your characters speak in an appropriate way for how you’ve portrayed them? L’Evallier I’ve deliberated portrayed as never using contractions, not even when stressed whereas the Queen sometimes will, partly to try to keep her “common touch” up and running.
Visualizing Your World
Can people visualize your world? We don’t need an atlas or an in-depth history but enough details to see what you see when you write, enough to make it seem as if it could be real.
Traits
Your characters may be the weirdest aliens imaginable or have intellect we humans can only dream of but they should still have traits we can identify with. After all I think it’s a fairly safe bet to suggest the Daleks are a tad on the aggressive side but it’s how our hero overcomes that aggression that drives the Doctor Who stories. No aggression = no Dalek. No character trait = no character worth writing about.
Striving
What are your characters striving for? What can they use to help them achieve their wishes? If everyone can do magic, then that’s no story but if everyone can do magic but there are those who can do a lot more then you get a tale, if only based on the inevitable resentment of those who don’t have so much.
Have you given your tale enough “oomph”? There should be no “boring bits” with information drip-fed in. You need to alter the pace a bit as too much excitement is exactly that - too much - but too little and there is no story. The “troughs” in between should give your reader information they’ll need to take your tale forward and a chance to get their breath back as it were, but not for too long. Do play cat and mouse. There should be a sense of something “coming”.
The Way Characters Speak
Do your characters speak in an appropriate way for how you’ve portrayed them? L’Evallier I’ve deliberated portrayed as never using contractions, not even when stressed whereas the Queen sometimes will, partly to try to keep her “common touch” up and running.
Visualizing Your World
Can people visualize your world? We don’t need an atlas or an in-depth history but enough details to see what you see when you write, enough to make it seem as if it could be real.
Traits
Your characters may be the weirdest aliens imaginable or have intellect we humans can only dream of but they should still have traits we can identify with. After all I think it’s a fairly safe bet to suggest the Daleks are a tad on the aggressive side but it’s how our hero overcomes that aggression that drives the Doctor Who stories. No aggression = no Dalek. No character trait = no character worth writing about.
Striving
What are your characters striving for? What can they use to help them achieve their wishes? If everyone can do magic, then that’s no story but if everyone can do magic but there are those who can do a lot more then you get a tale, if only based on the inevitable resentment of those who don’t have so much.
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