Writing Tips

Randomizing Revision

February 23, 2015February 21, 2015Writing Tips

by Leslie Budewitz, @LeslieBudewitz

I take a methodical approach to revision. As I work on the draft, I start a list of “Revision Notes”—facts to check, inconsistencies to iron out, name changes to clean up. When the draft is complete I print it out and punch it into a fat, three-ring binder. I make an outline, adding to the Revision Notes as I go, with some comments organized by chapter and some by topic. (“Jen or Jenn?;” “Deepen Pepper’s doubts about investigating;” “Kristen lecture Pepper about getting involved with Tag twice? Earlier is better.”)

Then I start the read-throughs, which I sometimes call drafts even though I’m working from the same physical copy. Each read-through involves a different layer of the ms. In the plot draft, I fix the holes I’ve identified in the outline and others that jump out at me as I work. In the character draft, I make sure the protagonist drives the action (I write in first person) and that every secondary character pops. In the scene draft, I sharpen the goals, motivation, and conflicts, and make each transition clear, so the reader never wonders about time or place. I look to make sure I’ve kept it cozy, that I’ve never lost track of the dog, and that I’ve given my protagonist all the trouble she can handle—and then some.Continue reading

Twitterific Writing Links

February 22, 2015February 21, 2015Twitterific, Writing Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

5 Reasons To Outline Your Novel – before you write a word: http://ow.ly/J3hMd @writers_write

What Your First 250 is Telling Your Readers: http://ow.ly/J3hMf @ava_jae

5 Ways To Sell More Books On Amazon: http://ow.ly/J3hMg @selfpubreview

How to Send Review Copies of Your Book to Potential Reviewers: http://ow.ly/J3hMh @miralsattar Continue reading

Tension & Pacing in Your Fiction

February 20, 2015February 19, 2015Writing Tips

Guest Post by Jack Smith

Fiction depends on tension. Tension—a felt response to conflict—must be heightened as well as diminished in a literary work. Where this is accomplished depends on the nature of the plot and the character arc. While tension is created by practically every story element, pacing is largely a result of style and narrative technique. The pacing of a work affects the tension but also creates mood and tone. In every fictional work you write, you must decide on both tension and pacing. While much of this may be a matter of intuition and feel, you can also plan out matters of tension and pacing as you write and revise your work. This amounts to a six-stage process.

I. Decide on the nature of the tension in your story or novel. Basically there are three major types of fictional works according to tension.
A. The five-stage plot structure, where tension must be gradually (though not continuously) increased to the story’s crisis and climax, followed by falling action and denouement.
B. The epiphany story where tension gradually builds toward a final, rather sudden, clarifying vision, on the part of the protagonist.
C. The story where tension builds at times, is released, or partly released, but does not build toward a climax at the end—but rather closes with the protagonist’s psychological distillation of several bumps along the way, no one bump necessarily involving more tension than the others.
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