Editing and re-"visioning" your work (Laurie Faria Stolarz)

The topic for this month is editing. I actually think the editing – or revision – stage of a work is the most enjoyable. For me, first drafts can often be grueling: the blank page, the uncertainty of what happens next or how to meet your own expectations for plot, characterization, and theme. 

    But, with editing, you’ve already written a first draft (at least, in most cases). You can now go in and ensure that each scene deserves to be there, that your characters’ motivations are clear, and that your pacing is as it should be. You can look at all of your dialogue, asking yourself if it sounds authentic and serves a purpose (pushing the story forward and/or revealing character). You can also make sure that all of your chapters leave the reader with a bit of a cliffhanger, wanting more. 

    I love this stage, even though I have to kill some darlings. I cut, add, tweak, replace, reposition, retell, and cut again. Can it sometimes be painful? Sure. But for me I feel these alterations, so to speak, get me closer to where my work needs to be. Below are some of the exercises/practices I use during both the editing and revision process.

 

Exercises for re-“visioning” your work:

 

1.     Use Save-As or make a new copy of the work you’re going to revise so you’re free to play.

2.     Ask yourself: Is it clear what my main character wants? Why he wants it? And, why? A character can want to save the day, for example. But why does he want to save it? What is the true motivator? Pure goodness or righteousness, maybe. But go deeper. What, personally connects him to this goal?

3.     What does he need to learn to achieve what he wants? Does what he wants change over the course of the story?

4.     If you could ask your piece of writing anything, and it could tell you the truth, what would you. ask it? 

5.     In The Wizard of Oz, we have many questions. What does the notion of home mean? What would life be like where the grass is greener (over the rainbow)? Is the grass really greener elsewhere (over the rainbow)? What does the notion of courage really mean? Where does the notion of family mean? What questions does your piece ask?

6.     Imagine your character is writing a letter to you, the author. What would your character want you to know? 

7.     Take the last line of your piece – or close to it – and use that as your starting line for a newer version of the piece.

8.     Whose story is this? The answer should be the protagonist’s. But sometimes, as you revise, you realize the story belongs to someone else. Choose a different character in your story and write from their point-of-view using either first-person or a close third.

9.   Take a scene and try changing the tense. Does it work? Why or why not?

10.  What is your character’s secret? Does she wear a mask to hide it? 

 

 

Tips for editing:

1.     Check your character’s voice. Does it sound unique to the other characters? And natural? And does it have personality and attitude and convey motivation?

2.     What are those words that you like to overuse? Keep a running list and do global-checks to replace them.

3.     Do all of your subplots have a beginning, middle, and ending? Should any be cut?

4.     Do all of your minor characters have a purpose? Are they all three-dimensional and not simply there to serve the plot? Can any be cut?

5.     Do all of your scenes have a purpose? Can any be cut?

6.     What is the intention for your work? Can you summarize it in a sentence? Does that intention come through in other ways – with other characters, with subplots?

7.      Do you have enough suspense in your work? Regardless of genre, the work should provoke questions, curiosity, making the reader guess what comes next.

8.     Do any of your characters’ names begin with the same letter or sound alike? If so, consider changing them.

9.     Adverbs. Do you use them too often? Could you instead strengthen your verbs? Pretend that adverbs cost money.

10.  And speaking of money, pretend that synonyms for the verb said cost money too. Yes, someone can whisper or mumble or shout their dialogue, but doing so will stop the reader.  It has to really count; otherwise, “said” works perfectly fine and keeps the flow. Better yet, no speech tag. Let the unique dialogue speak for itself.

11.  And, while we’re on the topic of dialogue, you can’t sigh dialogue or laugh it or snort it. Those actions are separate from the character’s words.

12.  More dialogue: action tags. Use them purposefully. Don’t have someone scratching their arm for no reason, just to show who’s speaking. Unless the person has a reason for itching, like the synonym for “said,” it stops the reader.  

13.  Bottom line: every word counts. Every. Single. Word. Nothing in your manuscript should be extraneous, unconscious, or by chance.