Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Writing Hour yesterday morning.
As always, we had tons of fun reading your answers to our questions.
It was especially fun to discuss which actors and actresses should be cast in your stories!
Now let’s answer the questions you had for us this week.
Can a story have too much dialogue? Or too little? Is there an ideal percentage?
It really depends from story to story.
You can have either too much dialogue or not enough. The first option can dilute the plot, the latter can have the same impact on characterisation.
There is no perfect percentage – simply good balanced storytelling.
The best thing to do is read other stories to get a feel of the balance needed.
See previous Fiction Ed, Shirley’s post on dialogue here.
What is the word count range for your Pocket Novels?
We ask for them to be between 37,000 and 38,000 words.
Would you consider a time slip Pocket Novel?
No, we wouldn’t consider a time travel story. However, flashbacks are fine!
See our Pocket Novel submission guidelines for more information.
Would a time slip be accepted for a short story? Perhaps a ghostly one?
No, we don’t accept sci-fi and time travel stories.
Ghostly stories are okay as long as they’re not too scary and have some ambiguity!
If you have a question for the Fiction Team, why not join us for our next Writing Hour on Twitter — 11 a.m. on Tuesday 6 April, 2021.
Or click here to find out if we’ve answered your question previously.
You can also find useful information in Fiction Ed Lucy’s latest update.
See you back here next week for another roundup!
Abigail Phillips Abbie is the newest member of the fiction team at the "Friend." She loves how varied the role is - every day is different and there is always a new story to read. She is keen to work closely with established writers and discover new writers, too.
