Writing Fiction

For you fiction writers out there – what part of writing is the hardest? Is it the research? Description? Dialogue? Is there anything “easy” about writing for you?

I don’t write historicals because of the research involved. Some history is interesting, but I’m not writing a history book and I don’t want to write a history book. However, sometimes I have to research a part of history, because when you write about vampires that were born in the 1600’s, you might want to make sure you got their “lingo” correct. I don’t seem to have any problem with this kind of research (Google is my friend).

I also might have to do research on a city I’ve never been to. With fiction, it doesn’t have to be completely accurate, but I am trying to write about vampires in a real world, so I try my best to make most of it factual. I don’t mind this research, either.

Descriptions are a pain. They take me out of the story. I know I need to give some description so the reader isn’t totally lost – and I have to rely on my first readers to tell me if I haven’t given enough description. But when I’m in the midst of writing my first draft, I’ll put “[ADD DESCRIPTION]” in the area that I know needs some. Adding description (and doing research) is a whole lot easier to do during the edit stage. I’ll have to give J.D. Rhoades credit (from murderati.com) for that idea.

I like dialogue. My first drafts are mostly dialogue. Which is funny, since I’m not a talkative person. I thought that this would be my stumbling block, but it’s not. I always have better conversations in my head than I do for real (and lucky for me, I can write them down).

So how about you? Even if you’re not a writer, what parts of a book do you like the best? The least? Yes, this is a trick to get you to comment on my blog. So sue me!