Successful Fiction Writing by Phillip Duke Ph.D.

The author of this article has never had a “best seller.” However, at one time he was book review editor for a Chicago newspaper, and after intensively studying writing and publishing for over 60 years, believes he has learned something about it. There is a saying, “those that can’t do, teach.”

Fiction writing is story telling with written, not spoken words. A good story like a good read entertains, and a great story like a great book entertains, and also improves by educating.

The spoken story has a number of advantages over the written story. The spoken word’s emphasis and the sentence word flow are immediately evident in the storyteller’s voice. The written word uses punctuation and rules of grammar to convey in writing what the storyteller does by speaking. That is why correct punctuation, spelling and grammar are important.

Words tell the story, and it is how the words are selected and strung together, that makes or breaks the story. Every word has its meaning, and also its accompanying emotion, or feeling. As the story is read its words create thoughts and feelings in the reader’s mind. The measure of a story’s success lies in this one thing; its ability to transport the reader to its place, time and action. When the reader is made to feel as if he or she is actually there, is in the story and part of it, the story is successful. How is this accomplished?

People have different interests, and the story should be targeted to a particular interest population. The particular interest population determines the story’s theme, and the theme determines both the choice of words that make up the action, and the action itself. The storyteller’s art lies in skillfully combining words and action into a whole so vividly interesting, that the reader becomes very intimately involved.

People are interested in what is personally important to them. The storyteller must know his or her subjects, and play at length on their positive and negative feelings. The action and its accompanying emotional content eventually come to a climax. Sometimes there is a second climax, the anticlimax, to trick the reader into sudden increased emotion, and then the story ends. Everyone likes a happy conclusion.

A few words in closing on this necessarily brief treatment of a complex subject. Always remember, it is primarily emotion that drives interest. Every word has its accompanying feeling, and the choice of words is critical. Punctuation determines the flow, and it should be carefully examined to make sure it always assists the flow. Everything associated with the story must assist with its central theme, including book title, chapter sub titles, and book cover.

Various methods can be used to improve writing, also called polishing. One is to put the work away for awhile, and then read it with “new” eyes, rewriting as helpful. Another is to employ an editor or beta reader, to correct errors or even do major rewrite. Still another is to hear the book and correct accordingly. You can read it aloud yourself, or have someone else read it to you. Or you can read and record it, and then listen to it.

When the work has been polished until it shines like the sun, it is time for publication. Once published, the question arises, is the book “successful?” The commonly applied criterion of written work success is paid sales. However there are many books with lots of paid sales, that are quickly (and gratefully) forgotten. In my opinion there is only one valid criterion of book success, and that is the test of time. When a book continues to be read many years after its author’s death, the book is of enduring value, and so can be said to be successful.

I have attempted to apply the above in my own writing. The decision as to what degree my attempt has succeeded or failed, I leave up to you, my readers. Good reading to you!

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Phillip Duke grew up and went to school in and around Los Angeles, California, where he earned the B.S. in Chemistry from UCLA and the Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology from the USC Medical School. Now retired he writes fiction and non-fiction full-time, and has 15 KDP published ebooks. The subjects of his ebooks include Sherlock Holmes, Heroin addiction, God and Evolution, Star travel (non-fiction), Karma, and more. His most recent print book is Tales Of Evil And Good, a POD iUniverse publication also available as an ebook. You can learn more about Dr. Duke’s books Amazon.com.

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