Other tips from How to Write Stories that Sell, by Edward S. Fox…

Mr Fox said to describe a scene through a character’s eyes. This dramatises the setting.

He writes: Don’t forget that the reader wants to identify himself with the protagonist; he wants to live the story with the protagonist.

He gives an e.g.:

Jimmy looked over the fence at the grandstands. Workmen were decorating it with flags and bunting, and concessionaires were setting up their booths in preparation for the opening of the rodeo tomorrow…

He said the same procedure is followed with thought reaction as with setting.

He writes: Lead off with the protagonist performing some action, then go into his thoughts. The thoughts are then his. Take away the action sentence and the thoughts are told, or narrated, by the author. For example: Bill sank onto the orange crate and didn’t answer right away. He’d known there would be opposition, plenty of it, but he still didn’t quite know how to meet it…

He said to use a theme for direction and to unify a story. He said: Theme is the statement of a basic truth. “Kindness brings its own rewards.” “Honesty is the best policy.” “God helps those who help themselves.” He said theme should be implied, never stated in your story, never preached. He said to write out the theme in one sentence before starting the story. That this would clarify in your mind what you are trying to say, and you would be able to steer the story to a satisfying conclusion.

 Check out How to Write Stories that Sell by Edward S. Fox for many other good tips.