On February 13, 2013, Requien wrote, I was wondering if you have any advice on self-editing. This past NaNoWriMo, I cheated a little and finished my previous manuscript. After deleting my midnight-German rants that ended up just being word count boosts, the novel is hovering around 92-94k words. There are several passages that need expansion, and some details must be added in. <\/i>
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\nHowever, I’m not really sure where to start: do I add in the passages and lace it up, or edit the strange, awkward layers first? As an extended note, I have three different perspectives from the third person omniscient- would this be considered acceptable in a writing community, or strange?<\/i><\/p>\n
First off, congratulations on finishing your NaNoWriMo novel, whichever year it belongs to! This is a big accomplishment. Kudos to you!<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the last question. I don\u2019t know of any monolithic writing community that rules on acceptability. Writers worth their salt know that each book is unique; each book demands its own treatment and requires of the writer whatever approach is best for the story.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve said this before on the blog: the primary writing objective is clarity, unless we’re writing experimental fiction. I don\u2019t mean instant clarity. We can blow smoke in the reader\u2019s eyes now and then. We can write an ending that\u2019s open to interpretation. But the reader should finish a book believing that it was coherent, that he understood what he read. (Careful attention to grammar and punctuation will help this along.) If three different perspectives are needed to tell the story clearly or interestingly, then that\u2019s the right way to go.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a little confused, though, about three third-person omniscient perspectives. Omniscient<\/i> means all-knowing. When we write in third-person omniscient, we can dip into the thoughts of any character. The god of the story is narrating, and I\u2019m not sure how there can be three of them. However, as I\u2019m writing this, I\u2019m thinking, maybe… Sounds fascinating.<\/p>\n
We can certainly have three non-omniscient third-person perspectives. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings<\/i> trilogy adopts this approach throughout. By turns we see events unfold through the eyes of Samwise, Frodo, Pippin, Aragorn, even Gandalf, and I\u2019m sure I\u2019ve left out a few. I\u2019m alternating third-person perspectives in Stolen Magic<\/i>, and I’ve done so before in my Princess Tales.<\/i><\/p>\n
Requien\u2019s question comes at a good time. I\u2019m more or less close to finishing the second<\/i> complete first<\/i> draft of Stolen Magic<\/i>, and I\u2019m thinking about how to approach revising. But before I talk about me, let me say that people revise differently, and you may find your own method as you go along. Some begin with a plot edit; then maybe a character edit; a dialogue edit; a setting edit; and, finally, a word choice, grammar, and punctuation edit. There\u2019s no right way.<\/p>\n
Usually I just start at the beginning and work my way through, fixing everything at once. And then I do it again. And again. But I\u2019m going to go about the process a little differently this time. I have edits from my editor on the middle section, which I haven\u2019t addressed, because I wanted to get to the end first. So I plan to start with her notes.<\/p>\n
(If she had objected to anything structural, anything that would have called for a complete overhaul, I would have stopped my forward momentum, and addressed her issues.)<\/p>\n
Then, I have notes and line edits from my critique buddy, the terrific middle-grade and young adult writer Karen Romano Young, biding their time in a pile in my office. My second step will be to review her big-picture notes and then address her line edits as I page through the manuscript, making my own changes and those of hers that seem to fit. (I don\u2019t do everything that either my editor or Karen wants, although I take their comments very seriously; most of all, I need to please myself.)<\/p>\n
So, Requien and anyone else who\u2019s reached this point, it may be helpful to show your rough first draft to someone you trust, preferably another writer, who will know how ungainly a first draft can be. That person\u2019s comments may help direct your revisions.<\/p>\n
But even before that, I\u2019d expand whatever needs expanding and add the required details, so that your reader gets the full story.<\/p>\n
If you feel the manuscript is too much of a mess and allowing other eyes to see it will reduce you to a trembling, anxious jellyfish, I\u2019d suggest listing the issues you see as major and keeping the list visible as you revise. For example, Requien\u2019s list might start with \u201cstrange, awkward layers\u201d and continue on to other major problem areas.<\/p>\n
Then, when you get your manuscript into more acceptable shape, consider letting some trusted other take a look.<\/p>\n
One thing I always always always do when I revise is delete. To me, good writing is succinct. As my book goes on a diet, it gets tighter, clearer, and more pleasurable to read. A great resource to help you toward concision is Stunk and White\u2019s The Elements of Style<\/i>, a short book that packs a potent punch. And when I say \u201cdelete\u201d I don\u2019t necessarily mean whole chapters, although sometimes I do cut that much, but more often I\u2019m snipping within sentences, excising a word here, a word there, that doesn\u2019t add anything to meaning or rhythm.<\/p>\n
Here are three prompts:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Take a page of a current story or an old one. Cut fifty words, more or less.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Take a page of the same story or a different one. Find a spot that you can develop more or in a new direction. Turn your one page into three.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Your main character acquires a magic revising wand – you decide how. Excited, she applies it to her story, and the result is a masterpiece. As she\u2019s rereading it and marveling, her dad calls her to dinner. She brings the wand with her to show everyone. After she\u2019s shown it, dinner progresses. Her brother says something annoying. Her mother reminds her she has homework due without even asking her if she\u2019s already finished it, which she has. Her dad tells a truly dumb joke. Believing that the wand revises only the written word, and to express her irritation, she waves it at her family. Everything changes. Tell the story. You can take this beyond the family and explore the effects of the wand on the family dog, people at the supermarket, the supermarket itself, the local park – wherever you want her to wave it.<\/p>\n
Have fun, and save what you write!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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