Writing Instruction -- What fiction writers of all skill levels should do to go from good to great!

by Denise Miller Holmes

I’ve already talked about striving for excellence and continuing to improve your skills. This is the way to success.

But, many fiction writers do not know the areas of fiction writing that will keep them on the road to improvement. As far as the actual writing goes, there are these lovely things called “The Elements of Fiction.”

If you search for these elements online, you’ll find that every pundit has a different number of elements (some say three, some say six, etc.). But I’ve settled on twelve elements after some research. I believe these twelve are necessary tools to further your improvement in fiction writing.

So, here are the famous Twelve Elements of Fiction, as I have labeled them.
1.     Structure
2.     Character
3.     Plot
4.     Description
5.     Viewpoint
6.     Setting
7.     Scene
8.     Voice
9.     Dialogue
10.   Action
11.   Style
12.   Theme

The idea is to keep studying these elements and practice, practice, practice. You will be amazed at how good your fiction gets when you do this. 

Also, I suggest reading the Elements of Fiction Writing series by Writer’s Digest. But this series should not be your only source. There are many good books that will take you even further down the improvement road.