For those of you who are
about to be selected for Pitch Wars – and
for those of you who are not – I see REVISIONS in your future!
Revising is something
all writers do, whether it's your first book or your hundredth. "How do I
make my book better?" can be a maddening question and there aren't always
easy answers. However, there are
common things that you can look for as you approach the next draft of your
novel. I'm in the process of developing a workshop to help writers identify issues
that many of us encounter, and these fall under two headings – Strengthening
the Story, and Perfecting the Writing.
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| From Sept. 2017: ready with the red pencil |
The biggest "big picture" concerns are bigger than what I'm
going to address here, things like plot, character arcs, a story-worthy
problem, a concept with zing, etc. You
can read about those in any number of craft books. Rather, I want to address
the sort of details that you can train yourself to become aware of. Many of
these, if left unresolved, will earn you a plethora of "bubble
comments" from critique partners, beta readers, or even editors.
STRENGTHENING
THE STORY:
1)
Not enough tension.
Tension is necessary in all genres. Tension keeps the reader on edge and
involved. To achieve tension in your writing you need to make sure that various
things, on various levels, are unresolved. New questions need to be continually
introduced: "What's going to happen if________?", "Why did she
react like that?", "Oooh, what's that little teaser referring
to?" Tension also exists when characters disagree with each other. In short, tension is a byproduct of
conflict, and you want to have multiple layers of active conflict present
throughout your novel. Regardless of what type of story you write, tension can
increase the likelihood that your readers keep turning the page.
2)
Have you left all the good stuff in your head? You know where your scene is taking
place and what it looks like. Do your readers know? You see how your characters
react to situations, and know the backstory that makes them act that way. Have
you let the readers in on that? There's an element to this that's about
description (places, people, objects, weather, etc.) – which needn't be long to
be effective – but a bigger element is about world and character building. If
you want readers to SEE and KNOW what you see and know, you need to show them.
3)
Write "in scene" whenever possible. Sometimes a bit of summary is useful,
but don't use it to avoid writing difficult or otherwise more interesting
"in scene" chapters. Where summary tends to be passive, writing
"in scene" is active. Where summary is telling, writing "in scene" is showing.
PERFECTING
THE WRITING:
1)
Consider dialogue:
- Where is it too explanatory?
- Are there exchanges that could be a little shorter? (i.e.
conversation that doesn't
contribute to the story or characters)
- Are there exchanges that could be a little longer?
(People can be kind of roundabout
in conversations; the novelist needs to find a good balance.)
- Are there certain words that only a certain character
uses?
- Look for places where you can replace "she
said" with more meaningful action or internalization:
a) "I don't know," she said. Vs:
b) "I don't know." Mary scratched her nose,
determined not to look Wade in the eye. He probably already knew
she was lying, but she'd made a promise to her sister.
2)
Consider individual words:
- Look for stronger verbs
- Look for more accurate/expressive words of all kinds
- Look for overused words, both common and
"weird" (In Word, use "Find")
- Look for words that are repeated too close together (in
the same sentence or
paragraph)
3)
Check punctuation. Watch
for overuse/underuse of commas, semi-colons, colons, and em dashes. Use
exclamation points rarely!
4)
Make sure every sentence reads JUST as you want it: **
- If it's awkward – or when in doubt – FIX it!
- Find yourself yawning while reading your own book? Tighten
in places that feel like they're
dragging.
- Keep an eye on she/her (and he/his) in places with multiple people = make sure it's clear who the "she"
and "her" are referring to.
** Note: this can be
easier to assess when you have "fresh eyes." Try to take some time
off between drafts – weeks, or even months!
It might take some
practice, but over time you can become conscious of these kinds of nuances and
really take your work to the next level.
Happy writing… and
revising!
