Fiction

Fiction

Industry: Literature

Add a new term

Contributors in Fiction

Become a Contributors

Fiction

Inappropriate mystery

Literature; Fiction

An author will often use mystery as a means of propelling a reader forward: characters speak of things that are opaque to the reader, a character goes offstage to do something important, or a ...

Inappropriate metaphor

Literature; Fiction

A metaphor should serve two purposes: create a tactile image and also convey an emotional or contextual subtext. A metaphor is inappropriate when the subtext is inconsistent with the author's ...

Head fake

Literature; Fiction

A plot action that appears to be significant but is rapidly proved to be a net null, leaving the plot moving in exactly the same direction. Excessive head fakes undermine the reader's engagement ...

Homoism

Literature; Fiction

Similar to ''Nowism,'' the mistake of making aliens behave in inappropriate human ways, use inappropriate humanoid gestures or facial expressions, or generally manifest their emotions in human terms.

Hook

Literature; Fiction

Making the reader engage quickly. In a novel, the reader must usually be hooked in the first chapter; in a short story, by the end of the first page.

Chekhov’s gun

Literature; Fiction

If you put a gun onstage in Act I, Chekhov once wrote, you must use it by Act III. A Chekhov's gun is a fictional element (threat, character, mystery, prize, challenge) introduced early and with ...

A handy device an author introduces, in all innocence, whose existence in this particular fictional universe implies a huge offstage infrastructure that demands so much overhead explanation that it ...