Manuscript Notes

I just pulled out a rough draft the other day to begin edits. While reading through the first few chapters I noticed notes I had made to myself about things I wanted to change in a future drafts. I was reminded of how I've changed making notes to myself within a manuscript over time. Mainly what popped into mind was another manuscript I was polishing a couple of months ago. I noticed a note to myself at the end of the manuscript.

I was shocked I had missed it so many times through the manuscript. Yet, at the same time I'm not to surprised. When I first began making notes to myself in drafts it was simple. I would put parenthesis around the note and the note itself would be in italics. Not the best method and I quickly found out during the editing process that I tended to miss them occasionally. I needed to devise a new method.

Then I ran across another blog post, one where the writer mentioned how she notates within her manuscripts. I can't remember now exactly what it was, but she would insert a symbol before the note. This got me thinking I wanted to have a way to easily find my notes, but I also didn't want to have to go through the process of inserting a symbol while the juices were flowing. So, I landed on adding an astrik before and after the note. Quick and easy!

This is the type of note I found in this most recent manuscript. I felt a wave of relief as I was going through it, realizing that all I have to do is a search for an * to find all of my notes. No more running across a note in a final draft. If the astrik doesn't come up in a search of the entire document, then I will know all of my notes have been addressed.

How do you make notes to yourself during the drafting and editing stages? 

Making the Cut

I did something recently that made me cringe. I cut a scene I truly loved. It was a scene that I thought was great, but two of my critique partners made comments asking what it's purpose was. I mulled it over, for months.

I mean, I loved that scene. It was fun, my characters let loose, and the setting was beautiful.

How could it not be working?

I decided I was going to keep it. Yet, there was a lingering sliver of doubt zinging around in my head. It wouldn't go away. They were right. There was something amiss with that scene. It didn't work. No conflict. No tension. Nothing building or moving the story forward. It might have been fun and I might have loved it, but it didn't work.

Then came the millions of questions trying to figure out how to revise the scene, to make it fit. Nothing I tried worked. I just couldn't seem to get the scene right.

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So I did something that made me crazy. I deleted the scene.

And something amazing happened. The story didn't fall apart. Surprisingly I think it's stronger without that scene.

I still have that scene on file, saved just in case. But it isn't in the final version.

Have you ever had to cut a scene you loved? 

Messy First Draft vs. Editing While Drafting

When I first began writing I edited as I went. I would edit the heck out of a chapter before moving on to write the next. There was this little voice in my head that told me I had to make each chapter perfect before I could think about the next chapter. I let my inner critic loose before the work was ready to be critiqued.

As a result I stopped writing the same manuscript about three separate times part way through. It was as if I lost the momentum when I stopped to edit. I would get to a point where everything was great up to that point, but I had no idea where to go from there. Even with my trusty outline. I thought outlining was the problem. So I decided that for my next manuscript I was going to fly by the seat of my pants and just write what ever came next. Of course, that didn't work. I began two new projects, both of which I set aside after only six chapters each.

It seemed outlining might not have been my problem after all. Then again, I was still going over each chapter multiple times before moving on. Then I would think what the heck is supposed to come next? I did need that outline in the end, but there was another problem with my drafting process.

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A short time later I learned of NaNoWriMo. This literally was the best thing for my writing. Why? I did not have the time to edit each chapter as I wrote that first draft. But, I kept up the momentum and was surprisingly pleased with that first draft. Regardless of how unbelievably messy it was. The story was there, the plot was tangeable, and I completed it. That was the first manuscript I ever completed. And it was also a newer version of my original manuscript.

Now, it is still sitting on the shelf hardly touched two years later, but it still has that potential that none of the previous versions had. I have learned to outline my plots better and become a better writer. Yet, my rough drafts are always messy. Yet as I sat down recently to edit my last NaNo project I found a really interesting story that does not need nearly as much work as I thought it might. The writing needs to be smoothed out and some of the details need to be worked on, but overall I have a decent draft. Even if it appears rather messy.

And since learning not to edit while I draft I have also learned that it is completely acceptable to have your beta readers / critique partners take a stab at the manuscript before doing too much editing. I now go through each manuscript to fix plot holes first, hand it over to my cps, and then do the major edits.

What are your thoughts on messy first drafts? Do you edit while you draft? Which method works better for you?

My Editing List

A few months ago I showed my "Editing Folder" to a couple members of my critique group. I'm not sure if they thought I was crazy or liked the idea - lol. Anyways, it's literally a manila folder I carry around when I edit/revise. If I have a chapter or pages that I must print out to look at I will toss them in. That, however, is not its main purpose.

I write all kinds of notes to myself on it. What to look for, delete, and so on. I thought I would share those notes with you today and link to where I found most of them. Unfortunately, I didn't write down where I got some of the information from, so I don't have all the links.

I do a search when I have finished editing each chapter. Sometimes I am able to delete a word and fix the issue in one simple step. Other times I must reword the entire sentence. Occasionally I find deleting a sentence here or there makes the piece better.

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Plot: (All from Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass) 

• How could things get worse? 
• When would be the worst moment for them to get worse? 
• Public Stakes! 
• Personal Stakes! 
• Emotional danger
• Choices (a) suffering & (b) sacrifice

Character: (From chriseboch.blogspot.com)

• "Could I develop this character more, to make him or her more complicated?"
• "How could this secondary character to be causing problems for my main character?"
• "If the character is already causing problems, could they be even worse?"

Delete These Words: (These are my overused, implied, or filler words I use often)

that, just, seem, like, really, feel, start, already, felt, very, still, up, down, over, but

Dialogue: 

• Who is speaking? 
• Do they sound convincing? 
• Are they in character? 

Tension: (In each chapter)

• Story tension? 
• Romantic tension? 
• Inner tension?

Words that can be axed!!! (Rachelle Gardner)

about, actually, almost, like, appears, approximately, basically, close to, even, eventually, exactly, finally, just, just then, kind of, nearly, practically, really, seems, simply, somehow, somewhat, sort of, suddenly, truly, utterly, were


Passive Voice: (The Other Side of the Story - Janice Hardy - If you don't follow her, I highly recommend doing so.)

was, saw, heard, felt, knew, watched, decided, noticed, realized, wondered, thought, looked, is, am, are, were, has, have, had, being, been

Telling words: (The Other Side of the Story - Janice Hardy)

time (unless important), to see, to hear, could tell, to watch, to decide, to notice, to realize, to wonder, to think, to look,

Your Turn -> Do you have an editing list?

Originally posted on 11/8/2012 on Adventures in Writer Land. 

Six Conflict Questions To Ask

I'm not a person who likes conflict. Not even the tiniest bit. However, when it comes to my characters I have no choice but to make them face conflict. Why put these characters through something I dislike myself? If I don't, there will be nothing to read, no reason to turn the page and find out what happens in the end.

As I edit my current WIP I am finding there are certain questions I must ask myself. And I ask them for every single chapter. I want to make sure that there is some semblance of conflict in each and every chapter, whether it is external, internal, or romantic. It must be there. It is what fuels the reader on, keeps them on the edge of their seats, and most of all loving the book in the end.

Here are the 6 main conflict questions I ask myself to unlock the best possible plot.

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1) What does my main character want and why?

2) How could my main character suffer emotionally?

3) Could my main character sacrifice something to meet his/her goal?

4) What could my secondary characters do to complicate this goal?

5) Could these complications be even worse?

6) What could distract my main character from his/her goal?

The Child Within

Writing fiction is as much about staying grounded as it is about suspending belief. You are told that you must follow the rules and make things believable. If you write contemporary fiction, you hear it over and over again –is your story plausible? Would a twelve year old girl really do that? Say that? Believe that? Even if you write fantasies, you must build your world, make the rules of its existence clear and follow the rules consistently. In all this rule thinking, rule remembering and rule following, I have a hard time keeping the spirit of my story alive.

Sometimes the spirit of the story is wonky, whimsical –it wants to run free, do the unexpected, stay unpredictable. It’s a story where the MC is a boy who is thrown into a world that we’ve never imagine. Or about a girl who makes you re-think all the stereotypes about rich, spoilt twelve year olds. Thinking about the rules during my revisions smothers my imagination, reigns in my inner child and dissolves that je ne sais quoi feeling that I like my stories to have.

Don’t get me wrong. We need the rules to guide us through our writing so that we make our stories more engaging and memorable. But sometimes I edit too much. I cut too much. I revise too much. End result? My story just doesn’t feel the same way anymore.

How to follow the rules and keep your inner child alive so that your story stays as your story?

1.      For me, distraction always works, be it song lyrics (Taylor Swift helped me with my last round of revisions), old movies (the Barrymore brothers, do I need to say anything more?) or a History channel reality show (Ice Road Truckers!). Distraction helps me get the rules in perspective and makes me focus on what I liked about my story and MC in the first place.

2.      I like to get moving. Cleaning, running errands, doing the grocery, chopping the veggies, and best of all, yoga! There’s something about feeling the burn in your arms and legs that relaxes the brain and helps to re-visualize a scene. I’m sure that’s some scientific reasoning behind this. Whatever it may be, moving helps me to zone in on the most important piece of a scene or chapter and edit out everything else.

3.      Getting out of my comfort zone also helps. Networking with a large group of people, scuba diving, bungee jumping –doing something that makes me nervous helps me forget about the nagging points of my manuscript. So when I return a weekend or a week later, I only remember the important rules and the important parts of the scene. My mind is quieter and the only voice I hear in my head is that of my narrator.

Do you struggle with keeping your inner child alive? Do you have any tricks that you use to stay true to your story?

I No Longer Fear Passive Voice

I cannot count the number of times I have read not to use passive voice in writing. Or how often I have searched for ways to spot it in my own writing. While editing this summer I found myself constantly battling with it. So, of course I went searching for a better way to find it. Up until now my method has been simple. 

I have a list of words to search for as I edit: am, are, been, being, decided, felt, had, has, have, heard, is, knew, looked, noticed, realized, saw, thought, was, watched, were, wondered. 

Yet, no matter how hard I try to fix those pesky sentences they still sneak past me. When I get back critiques inevitably I will find "passive voice" marked somewhere on the document.

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If you are like me you need a back up plan. Luckily, I learned a trick this summer and I'm going to share it with you because I believe in sharing the wealth of knowledge. Unfortunately I only know a trick for MS Word, since I do not own a Mac.

1. With your manuscript, or chapter, open in MS Word open your spelling and grammar check.
2. When the spelling and grammar check window opens click on the options button.
3. A new window will appear. One that will allow you to change your preferences. 
4. In this new window locate the settings button and click it. Yet another window will pop up, but this is the one which works the magic. 
5. Scroll down to the heading Style. There you will find a myriad of choices to choose from. One of those choices is passive sentences. Click it! (I added several others as well.)
6. Click Okay and the window closes, leaving the Options window open. 
7. Click Okay again to get back to the spelling and grammar check window. 
8. Start searching your document for passive voice! 

I hope this helps you as much as it has helped me to fight the evil of passive voice.

If you know how to do this for Mac, please add it in the comments.

~ Heather