I love to read. Or, rather, I used to love to read. As I got older, I got more and more frustrated by the heteronormative nature of mainstream books, and TV, and movies. This isn't really about that, though. It's just the introduction.
Because there is gay fiction out there. But, because there's a greater market for heterosexual fiction, the best writers, the best actors -- really, the best of everything -- they go to mainstream fiction. And we're left with slipshod work from people, some of whom have actual talent, but don't seem to be willing to work at it. And with the ease of self-publishing and vanity presses, it keeps getting worse.
So this is my first set of advice for writers. Whether you are writing straight fiction, gay fiction, trans fiction, science fiction, rom-coms, thrillers, whatever your genre, please consider the people you want to read or watch your work.
1. Proofread - For goodness sake, no one wants to pay $15 for a paperback novel where the words strung between two periods make no sense. Yes, when a book says, "Simon gazed deep Harry's eyes," we readers know that the characters aren't Simon and Deep Harry, but that's not our job. It's your job as a writer to write, "Simon gazed deeply into Harry's eyes."
1a. Know your grammar and spelling - This isn't a Facebook post. You are asking people to shell out their hard-earned money for your work. Know the difference between To, Too, and Two; There, Their, and They're; and all those fun grammar memes. And if you're going to use a word, know how to spell it and know what it means. Don't use "sentient" because you want a fancy word for "smart". That's not what it means. But if you do want to use "sentient," and it applies to the situation, please don't type "scentiant."
1b. The Oxford Comma - Honestly? It really doesn't matter. Read your sentence. If it makes sense, use it. If it doesn't, fix it. "We invited the strippers, JFK and Stalin to the party" doesn't make sense. Neither does "We invited the strippers, JFK, and Stalin," or "We invited the strippers: JFK and Stalin." I DO NOT want to go to that party. You want to have a party? Invite your brother, your cousin, and your friends from work or school. Or invite your brother, your cousins and your friends from work or school. (See how with or without the Oxford Comma, that still makes sense? Of course, in this case, it's better with the comma because the comma separates the phrases, but leaving out the comma doesn't make it nonsense.) For breakfast this morning, I had a sandwich made from a waffle, egg, sausage and cheese. Yes, I do believe you can tell that I didn't have a sandwich made from a waffle, and then have egg, and then have sausage and cheese. I had all of those things in one sandwich. (It was GOOD!)
2. Descriptions - Some readers just read the words on the page and then turn the page when they get to the bottom, and on it goes. Others cast books using actors, other famous people, even people they know personally, to fill the various roles. For their sakes, please describe characters, and describe them early. I've read books where I had no idea whether a character was blond, brunette or red-head. In some cases, I'll just pick someone, and continue on. In others, I'll pick someone and then find out half-way through the book that the person I picked just is not right.
3. Be consistent - I'm currently reading a book, which I won't name, where two characters changed hair colors half way through. And they didn't go to a salon, or open a box of dye, the writer just apparently forgot what color their hair was and wrote a different word. To solve this, I keep a physical description of all of my major characters. But it's not just appearance. You're writing characters. This is a little trickier: a character can get upset with someone who lied to them and still lie themselves. But a character who was a lousy student probably should not suddenly be able to speak fluent French (for example) or know the chemical formula for Riboflavin. And a character who's left-handed shouldn't then sign his name with his right. If character number 2 picks something up, it should still be in character number 2's hand until you write in a change (he puts it down or she gives it to someone else), or there's a change of scene.
4. Names - Even if all of your friends' names start with the same letter, do not name your characters John, Jeff, Jack, Jay, Jim, Josh, and Jenny. Even if it makes sense that a couple would name their kids that way, it's confusing. And I imagine it will be confusing for you as a writer, as well. Please also consider that your reader may not know how to pronounce Schlaingelhiszczuk. I mean, sometimes you have to do it. Rumanian names are Rumanian, but use caution.
Okay, enough for now. These shouldn't even have to be said, not on a blog post, but my reading history tells me otherwise.
I invented all of the examples above, based on similar reading experiences.
