Four Things You Can Do Today to Take Your Novel to the Next Level

I mentioned writing in the last editing post, so I am going to share a piece written by Jason Sitzes. All copyright to him of course.

Four Things You Can Do Today to Take Your Novel to the Next Level
Jason S Sitzes

First, let's look at the process of getting a novel written.

Breaking it down: a mainstream novel is made up of about 80,000 to 100,000 words. If you write 250 to 400 words per page double spaced (depending on the size paper you're using) you're looking at 150 to 250 scenes total for your novel. Some write in very small scenes, others in larger scenes, but work with me here. There is a way to whittle a novel down into bites.

If you can write a scene a day, you can finish a novel in a year. Easily. So why does it take many of us years to complete our first book? And looking ahead: once we reach publication we are expected to publish a book a year. Preparation and execution of the first novel was a luxury. Your ensuing novels require a streamlined approach.

Novels would be easy to write if it were only a matter of arranging all those words into a cohesive narrative. But you know it's much more than that -- and it's much harder than you can imagine unless you've done it successfully. I propose there are four elements you can look for right now, today, that can help you through the writing of those 150 or more scenes. And these four things will help you write a better novel the first time or the twentieth time.

Check One
The first check is to make sure you've started your novel in the correct moment and in a compelling fashion. I direct and teach a workshop, Writers Retreat Workshop (WRW), founded by author Gary Provost. Gary used the word 'system' to describe the condition under which your characters live at the moment the story begins. The 'system' is the protagonist's reality -- that is, the status quo; what they expect everything will be when they wake up each morning. The moment that system is broken, when the status quo is shattered -- the moment everything changes -- is the inciting incident. That is the moment your novel begins, when the protagonist is changed, challenged, and confronted with a goal or need in her life.

Check to see when your story begins. Is it a day or so before the system is busted? The moment it's busted? Or shortly after the status quo is changed forever? If you can pinpoint that moment near the beginning of the novel then you've started in a solid place.

Check Two
The second element to examine is the human connection. Publishers want to know what it is about this novel that will matter to readers.

So what if a woman finds a map to a treasure that will set her and her children free from the abuse of her spouse, and along the way to that treasure she falls in love with a swashbuckler, befriends a wallaby named Boxer who teaches her patience and serenity, and her children join her in the outback where she finds the only treasure she ever really needed was freedom? So what? Why do I care? What about her life, her journey, her inner struggle speaks to me? What in her misery speaks to me?

I can't personally relate to abuse, but I can relate to making bad choices, of being unable to stand up for myself, or the inability to take action because of fear. Build your novel upon universal elements and you'll grab more interest from readers.

Check Three
A third check is to see how concise your idea is. Can you tell the concept of your story in 75 words or fewer? If not, you may not know your story. You might have a general idea of your story, "My protagonist wants to find himself." Most characters do want to "find themselves", or find love, find a murderer, stop a criminal. What's original about your approach? Try to whittle the external and internal conflicts for your protagonist into around75 words.

If, after you do that, it's not a story concept you'd pick up at a bookstore, or a movie premise you'd be first in line to see… what aspect of the story is weak? The entire premise? Or does your main character need to want more, and must her failure to satisfy that 'want' come at greater cost?

Does it matter if a character never truly finds herself? Is that really what your story is about? If you can't create a 75 word hook that shows the internal goal, the external goal, the cost of failure and the universal human element that will compel readers, grab a sheet of paper and brainstorm how you can make the premise more compelling.

Check Four
Finally, go through your manuscript and look for anything resembling backstory. Backstory is when you stop the story to tell us something that happened in the character's past. Almost always, backstory stops the narrative cold. We don't move forward. The reader has to stop and go back in time. The longer you keep us in the past, the longer we're away from the story.
It is every writer's belief that their backstory is the exception to the "rule" that backstory doesn't work. But often, it doesn't work. Why? Because readers want to move forward. They want the story to unfold; they want to get closer to the resolution.

Your readers want the novel to become more tense, not to read paragraphs of 'back in time' learning information that you, the author, think they must know when in reality they don't need this information. The rare occasion backstory works is at the moment when the revelation of the past reveals a goldmine of story that moves our understanding to a new level. Understanding moves us forward, information for the sake of informing stops us dead in our tracks. Your story should never stop. Readers should be in constant motion.

Look for areas of backstory in your novel, highlighting paragraphs or pages. Read those sections and make sure the story moves forward through the revelation of the past. If you're only informing us, cut it. You don't need it.

Agents and publishers get hundreds of story ideas thrown at them every week. They listen for something they've never heard before, or an original angle on a familiar story. Work to:

• develop a deeper 'bigger' premise
• discover settings and scenarios that are unexpected or unusual, and
• develop actions characters take that catch us (and you, the author) by surprise.

The more concisely you can present these elements, the more notice you'll get when marketing to agents, and the more readers you'll attract.

© Jason Sitzes 2008

HOW TO SELF-EDIT Part 3 - Looking at the BIG picture

In a way I have started my series of self-editing tips back-to-front but I find it's the small stuff that people tend to look at first and also find the hardest to do.

There's a story about how some famous author [whose name escapes me] would spend all morning putting one word in and then all afternoon taking it out again. When you first look at your own writing you have to be prepared to cut swathes of text out.

Taking a 500-word piece to 250-words [How to Self-Edit Part 2] is a good exercise in seeing what's not needed.

The best way to write is to just write. All the editing stuff happens after, and never ever during, the writing.

And now - Looking at the BIG picture!

Before you go back and re-read your novel, prepare for the task. You'll need 6 different coloured highlighters [more colours if you can get them]; a mind that doesn't acknowledge this is your writing - pretend it's someone else's so you can be hard and ruthless; lots of desk/bench/floor space; at least a day and a large pot of tea.

First - read the pages quickly and without judgement - skim. You're looking for and identifying the scenes. Put a mark at the top right hand corner of each page. Everytime there is a change of scene, change your highlighter colour. You'll run out of colours so the first green scene pages can be all numbered one, first pink scene is two etc [or work out a system that fits with the way you think]. Clip the pages together into their separate scenes.

Second - if you're a panster*, do up a list of all the scenes. Put in a few words to remind you what's happening in each scene. If you're a plotter**, you'll have already done this.

Third - look at the list. Is your first scene really, truly your first scene. Is it strong enough? Is it back story? Does it do anything for the story at all? Don't re-read the scene! Work off the list and your memory.

Why? Because, sure as eggs, you'll find some lovely turn of phrase or really clever metaphor that you'll want to keep. But you don't need to keep the whole scene just for that one phrase or metaphor.

Fourth - if you haven't lost at least 10 scenes you aren't trying hard enough.

Fifth - see if you can add suspense, foreshadow events and keep the reader turning pages by moving the scenes around. If things need to happen in a strictly chronological order skip this step.

Sixth - take the scenes you have left and go through them separately applying Parts 1 & 2 of How to Self-Edit.

Last - After you apply all the changes to your electronic copy print your novel again with each scene on different coloured paper - saves your highlighters. Then do steps 2 to 6 again.


Jennifer

PS: several more 'that's' bit the dust for this one too...
*Pantser = someone who writes by the seat of their pants.
** Plotter = someone who develops a plot and then writes to that.

HOW TO SELF-EDIT Part 2 - Using a cut-throat razor

Find a piece of writing about 500 words long. It can be your own [best] or someone else's [this can be delicious and make you feel superior but it's not as good as your own writing].

Read it. Think about it. Apply Part 1 of 'How to Self-Edit - Get in touch with your Inner Bitch' if applicable.

Do a word count again.

Now reduce what's left to a 300-word piece - without changing the tone or sense of the story. You can do it. This is where you get to be miserably ruthless. Ask someone to help you if you can't do it on your own.

If you've managed that, you've done well.

Now take out the razor, put it to the strop, and cull the piece to 250 words. Make every word sing for its supper, dance for its dinner and justify itself. This is what they mean when they talk about making every word work. If one word can take the place of 2 or 3 - use it. Get rid of every redundant phrase. If you want repitition, something else has to pay for it with its life.

Now re-sharpen and oil your blade. Store carefully. You'll need it again.

Jennifer

HOW TO SELF-EDIT Part 1 - Get in touch with your Inner Bitch

They call it 'Killing off your Darlings'. I call it Justified Homicide.

First, find your word, your pet word. We all have one. Mine is 'that', followed a fair way back by 'should'.

This is the first word you do a 'find' on, the first word you need to cull. You'll find this word is redundant - you can delete it and not have to change another word in the writing.

Your secondary words might mean the work needs to be massaged to get rid of them but it will be stronger and better.

Then you need to hunt down and consider the 'ly' and 'ing' words.

Some of the 'ly' words are noble beasts and worth keeping, most are mangy, weak, over-worked and near death anyway. It'll be a mercy killing.

The 'ing' words mean your work is passive. Passive is not good. It's like someone has taken your hand in their wet, limp one and is trying to convince you that telling you about the roller coaster ride is much better than actually going on it. It's weak, it's wimpy. You need to be hard and ruthless - this is your new mantra.

Deleting both 'ly' and 'ing' words means you have to find stronger verbs. You have to think about your work and eliminate the feeling that you 'might, kind-of-would' like someone to read and enjoy your work. Be hard and ruthless - you want to grab the reader's mind and trap them there. You can't do it with a frog handshake.

Start with this - find your word and murder it. Hunt down the ly and ing. Don't touch anything else until you have done that. Be hard and ruthless. You'll surprise yourself when you discover your word. You won't have even realised you had one.

At least 7 'that's' were sacrificed in writing the above.

Jennifer