26 Terms
Contributors in Fiction
Fiction
Empathic universe
Literature; Fiction
A common feature of melodramatic or romantic writing, it occurs when the author customises the environment to match the protagonist's moods. Lightning flashes as a Gothic horror opens; fog descends ...
Fat writing
Literature; Fiction
A plethora of unnecessary and grandiose verbiage — too many words. A woman "saw me abandon my waggon and shovel for greener pastures and intersected me" could become a woman "across the street ...
Emotional disturbance
Literature; Fiction
The internal corollary to the out-of-whack event, it represents a character whose inner state is fundamentally unstable and who must do something assertive to restore equilibrium. Often the ...
Eyeball kick
Literature; Fiction
A perfect, telling detail that creates an instant and powerful visual image.
Honourable near miss
Literature; Fiction
Description of a work which aims at a worthwhile objective but fails to achieve it.
Here-to-there mistake
Literature; Fiction
Over-describing interim stages because of a mistaken belief that the reader will not infer them. A writer whose character's eyes are closed, for example, wants to describe something visually and ...
Imitative fallacy
Literature; Fiction
The common trap of trying to make the narrative imitate the personality of the protagonist. When the novel is concerned with an unlikable or inaccessible protagonist, the narrative is also unlikable ...
