There’s nothing worse than getting halfway through a novel and realising you haven’t got the foggiest idea what’s going on.

Sometimes it happens because you’re not really interested in the story, but more often than not, it is because the author has tried too hard to be clever, rather than clear.

As novelists, we have a lot of information to communicate. We often need to transfer a whole world and all its inhabitants into the minds of our readers. If we want to do that without bamboozling our readers, we need to keep our language crystal clear.

Here’s a few of my top tips for doing just that.

Use Active Voice

Active voice places emphasis on who is carrying out an action, rather than on the object of the action. This results in punchier and clearer sentences.

For example, ‘Bob really screwed up these figures’ is a lot more direct than the passive voice, ‘These figures were really screwed up by Bob.’

(Though in real life, passive voice is a great tool when you need to point out someone’s mistakes without sounding too accusatory 😉).

Know When to Show and When to Tell

You know the old adage that writers should show and not tell. In general, I would say that’s good advice, but I think the pros know when to show and when to tell. In both cases, it’s about what makes your meaning as clear and direct as possible.

For instance, which of these is clearer?

Okay, that example was a bit silly but you see my point. Sometimes stating a simple fact directly is the simplest approach. On the other hand, using the senses and figurative language to show, rather than tell, will generally engage your reader more. It is also essential when describing something the author might not be familiar with, such as a time machine.

Use Simple Words

Word choice is an art. Of course it is important to use language rich in meaning, but if you will obscure that meaning if you use words only people with PhDs can understand.

If a simple word will do, use it.

Keep It Brief

Long sentences are hard to follow. Keep those clauses and parentheses to a minimum for maximum clarity.

Keep Adverbs to a Minimum

There is a school of thought that says you should avoid adverbs (and to a lesser extent, adjectives) altogether.

I don’t agree. Sometimes they’re necessary, but they are like fat and sugar for your novel. Feed it too many and it will soon become bloated. Instead, use strong verbs wherever possible (e.g. instead of ‘looked carefully,’ you could have ‘scrutinised’) and only use adverbs when nothing else will do.