What I see a lot of lately, in writer’s groups and submissions, is debut novelists trying to ‘break’ the rules Keep it Simple, Silly (K.I.S.S.) Write the simplest story you can. In other words: to be unique. This is my advice: Simple plot . Use the common ‘three act method’ or a similar simple structure. Simple story arc (man in hole, boy meets girl, etc). The plot still needs to be well developed, but don’t try to pen The Stand or other complex, twisting plots for your first work. Simple language . No long words, no wordy and flowery description. Show us with your first work that you can write well without any tricks. Simple punctuation . Almost zero exclamation points. Use only commas, periods, and question marks. Avoid semicolons, em-dashes and ellipses unless absolutely needed to tell the story. Simple, but not simpleton characters . Give them depth, but make them someone we can either admire, relate to, or both. Too complex or odd, and you will lose us. At the same ...
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