1. First of all the title and the story should be in sync. You cannot have a title like The Hardest Choice and don't have a difficult choice. (Quite obvious but many don't follow it)
2. Try to keep the title of maximum four words. Personally I turn down those novels which have a long title like, 'I am a model undercover as a school's nerd.' It gives away quite a lot. Be creative in title.
3. Summary should be strong. A good summary can attract many readers while a bad one will not. So have a summary.
Golden rule for the summary is don't give away much. Introduce the theme and leave it where the reader feels curious to know more. Also my advice would be that if your story is a conventional drama then keep a creative summary. Also having an opening line or a dialogue from the book will definitely help make it better.
3. The MC should come at the start, from the first chapter. Also the first chapter should not be started with a dialogue.
4. Out of all the Indian books I read till now, most of them had overused male character names. The most overused name is Raj Singhania. I know that it sounds grand but please avoid it. The overused names are Raj, Arjun, Rehan, Jay, Rahul, Siddharth, Nikhil and Samar on Wattpad. We have so many good names which have an impact. So why don't we use them?
My suggestions for Indian male character names are Ayaan, Aayansh , Armaan, Armanit, Aarav, Reyansh, Viraat, Abhisar, Satvik, Mridul, Aakarsh, Aakarshit, Shouvik, Abhinay, Apul, Kushagra, Sujay, Vikhyat, Samrat, Vihaan, Vivaan and Samarth and the list will go on. Even common names like Karan and Tarun are not hero names.
The good thing is that we do get to see good female names like Ayana, Ayaat, Anukriti, Sia, Meher e.t.c.
Keep the surnames common. Show the creativity in naming the male MC specially. And please refrain from Singhania as a surname.
5. Be consistent in POV. Don't change them frequently. If you are a new writer, try writing in Third Person Limited. It is the easiest way to write.
6. Casting mania
Often I see the people casting unnecessary characters. Please your story is not a multi star cast movie. Casting should be of the main two characters and one or two supporting characters. There's no need of casting in many stories. For example in my story cast is not needed. Avoid having 14 to 15 characters in casting.
7. Grammar and punctuation errors should be rectified as soon as possible. This can be done by rereading the chapter every time before publishing. Grammar and punctuation show how much command do you have over English language.
8. Emotional drag
Over describing of feelings should be avoided. Nobody is interested in three page description of how somebody is feeling. It drags the story unnecessarily and makes it a bore. Unless and until you are writing a Cancer novel, emotional drag should be avoided. Use good words to make impact, not too many words.
9. Good usage of words and vocabulary doesn't hurt. Use good language. I personally don't read Chetan Bhagat because of his easy language. But it should not be too complicated as well that the reader does not get what you are saying. No MOBILE language which means you can't write idks and lols in your novel.
10. Avoid the usage of Hindi or any other language in an English novel. Hinglish is not acceptable.
11. You don't need to add the back story of the supporting characters if it does not have a link to the MC or the story. No one is interested in what is happening in every other person's life except the MC. Also no back story before third chapter.
12. Don't over focus on hero's past. After a time it is irritating.
13. You should know how much description is needed in a One Shot, short story and a novel. There is a huge difference.
14. Try to keep the chapter length to maximum 2K. If it is getting more than 2K, if possible divide it.
15. If you write a long author's note, my advice would be to add it at the end of the chapter so that the reader get to read the chapter first.
16. Unnecessary twists and turns just to create spice should be avoided. Every twist in the story should have a good reason behind it.
17. Until and unless it is a teen fiction, try to have a justification for villain's behaviour. Nobody is born bad, it is circumstances that make him bad. For example we can have that the villain is a psychopath, or he is after hero's wealth.
18. Dialogues should be realistic and not forced.
19. You should have a proper ending for a novel, even if you are planning to have a sequel of the novel.
20. Lastly, don't promote suicide, self harm, domestic violence and rape. I would straight away rate these books as zero if I found someone doing that and also report it.
Hope it helps. Keep writing.
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Reviews And Rants
RandomMany of the Wattpad authors have asked me to give an honest review on their books and so there I am giving the readers the review of books I have read. till now. I will mostly review books which are complete or have more than 10 chapters. If you wan...
