Tag: manuscript

Writing Tip of the Week: When it Comes to Editing, Re-Visit Every Chapter

Posted on by Ian Dawson

Editing is a necessary and inevitable part of the writing process.  No matter what you’re writing – from a blog post to a novel – taking the time to correct, add, delete, or change things helps make your writing stronger and helps you deliver a polished product.

When you edit, you likely know the key areas you want to focus on to improve the manuscript.  Still, it’s best to read the entire draft and make changes to each chapter along the way.

Let’s talk about it.

There’s Always Something

Even if you love how a chapter is written, there’s always room for small changes that can result in a stronger finished product.  It can be as simple as rewording a sentence for clarity or as involved as delivering greater detail to a character’s appearance.  You may also find grammar or spelling errors you missed in previous drafts that can now be fixed.

Every little bit helps.

Pacing, Pacing, Pacing

Taking the time to re-visit your entire story can help you see where the story lags, where a reader might lose interest, or where even you, as the writer, need clarification.  Checking the story for pacing and ease of reading can ensure you don’t lose a reader at any point during the story. 

What Really Matters

By going through each chapter, you can also ensure that each chapter has a reason to be in the book.  A reason?  Yes, a reason.  Each chapter should provide the reader with information about a character or plot that helps to move the story forward.  Whether it’s the main story, sub-plots, or backstory, all of it needs to assist in propelling the narrative toward its conclusion.

Beginnings and Endings

How does the story begin?  Does it grab you?  Does it make you want to turn to the next page and keep reading?  Go back through your opening chapters to ensure they help transport the reader into the story’s world and keep them there.  You can offer up set-ups and questions in these early chapters that will be paid off and answered later.  

With the final chapters, have you created a satisfying conclusion for your reader that ties up any loose story threads and gives them a complete story?  Is there anything presented throughout the story that hasn’t been resolved?  Reading the entire manuscript ensures all story points are concluded and not left flapping in the wind for readers to ponder what happened.

Final Thoughts

Editing is a lengthy task and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly.  By giving your story the time and editing it deserves, you can help make it a more robust narrative with better pacing, a stronger opening, and a grand finale.  

It’s also great to snag those pesky grammar and spelling errors!

Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next time!

The Self-Aware Writer – Self-Awareness & Feedback

Posted on by Ian Dawson

Last time, we talked about how self-awareness can help you edit your manuscript and get it to the best version possible.  Today, we’ll explore how to use self-awareness when receiving feedback from others on your work.

Let’s get started.

Feedback: Self-Aware, Not Self-Absorbed

Everyone needs feedback on their writing.  It doesn’t matter what it is; if you intend to publish it, you’ll want to take the time to have another person – or other people – read it and get their honest feedback about the work.

Being a self-aware writer is knowing that there are areas of the writing process that are your strengths.  Still, others are weaknesses that you need to improve upon.  Getting feedback from others can help you pinpoint these weak areas so you can improve them before you send the manuscript out to the next reader.

These initial readers should be people you know and trust who will be honest with you about any problems they find.  This is where being a self-aware writer comes in handy.  You want to make it clear to the reader that you want them to be truthful with you about anything they find that needs work.  You can’t make it better if all they do is shower you with false praise.

You’ve given them the manuscript for a reason, and you want to make sure that what you need from them is what you get.  

Feedback: Know What You Want

Two words: BE SPECIFIC.  “Let me know if you like it or not” is not a good way to get strong feedback.  Before you send your manuscript off to anyone, think of aspects you want them to focus on and look for.  This will ensure they stay engaged since you’ve given them a task related to the book.

Some questions you could pose to your reader include:

  • Is the main character’s story arc strong enough?  
  • Does the story keep them engaged?  
  • Is there any place during the story where the energy dies or the pacing slows?  
  • Were there any parts that were confusing or hard to understand?  
  • Did any of the subplots cause you to lose interest?  
  • Was the villain’s motivation strong enough?  
  • Did the conflict keep you invested?

Then, when you meet with them after they’re done, they have clear and specific answers that will help you improve the manuscript going forward.  

Feedback: Know What You Don’t Want

This is where picking the right people to read for you is key.  You should ask people who will actually READ the manuscript and provide you with the feedback you need.  There’s nothing more frustrating than asking someone to read your manuscript only to have them say they haven’t even started it a month after you sent it to them.

You also want to do all you can to get detailed information from your reader.  “It was good,” “I didn’t like it,” or “It wasn’t my type of book” are not helpful feedback statements.  This is why giving your readers clear direction can make a huge difference as you work to make changes and improvements to the next draft.

Next Time…

The feedback was good, and it allowed you to make changes to your manuscript that have made it even stronger than it was before.  You’re feeling confident…maybe even a little cocky about yourself as a writer.  But will that inflated ego hurt you in the long run?

Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next time!

The Self-Aware Writer – Self-Awareness & Editing

Posted on by Ian Dawson

Last time, we discussed the best way to use self-awareness during the drafting process.  Today, we’ll explore the best ways for self-aware writers to edit their work to make it the strongest it can be.

The Self-Aware Editor

This is one area of the writing process where you want your powers of self-awareness at full power.  Once you’ve completed a draft of your manuscript that you feel is the best version, you’ll want to give yourself a little break – maybe a week – and return to it with fresh eyes.

This distancing will help you focus more on the technical task before you: Editing the manuscript.

Editing is a multi-layered activity, so taking your time is important.  Don’t skim through the manuscript.  You’ll want to read each sentence, paragraph, and chapter with an eye for spelling and grammar errors, continuity issues, plot holes, and parts of storylines you cut that you missed.  

One good way to stay focused is to read the manuscript aloud.  This will help you stay in the story and also help you detect any issues with the flow of the writing.  If it’s hard for you to read a sentence out loud or it doesn’t make sense, then it would be difficult for a reader to comprehend.  These are things you’ll want to change.

When you do find yourself losing focus, take a break.  Attempting to edit a novel in one afternoon is definitely not recommended.  You want to ensure you are awake, focused, and uninterrupted.

Consider carving out time and limiting how many pages you edit per session.  If you have a 500-page manuscript, only edit 50 pages daily or less.  The key is to give your mind the energy and focus it needs to weed out any issues that can detract from the reader’s experience.  

Self-Aware, But Too Busy?

The ability to be self-aware enough to know you won’t be able to give the manuscript the attention it needs at this stage is also the sign of a mature writer.  You understand that while editing needs to be done, you can’t give it the time it needs.  

In this case, you can outsource it to an editing company.  These resources offer various services, from basic spelling and grammar editing to more in-depth manuscript edits.  But please be aware: these can cost a lot of money, so shop around.  

But, if you can, find the time to do it yourself, even if it’s a few pages a day.  After all, only you truly know and understand your story, and you’re the best person to make the necessary edits.

Up Next…

You did it.  The edits are done.  You’re tired, and your brain feels like mush, but you have cranked out a solid draft of your story that you are proud of.  The time has come to let another set of eyes read your work.  To give your baby to another who can provide you with feedback on what you’ve written.

Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next time!

Writing Tip of the Week: Scratch Pad Drafting

Posted on by Ian Dawson

Rewriting can seem like a daunting task, one often more of a challenge than the initial first draft of your manuscript.  Now that your ideas are on the page, you can begin crafting and fine-tuning them into a stronger narrative.  Making these changes in a work this is tens- or hundreds of thousands of words can also be overwhelming.

That’s why I recommend what I call Scratch Pad Drafting.

This Old Date

I highly recommend that you keep multiple dated drafts of all your manuscripts.  From the first to the last, having a historical record of your story’s evolution is crucial.  This is also important if something happens and you must go back in time to retrieve something you omitted from subsequent drafts.

Free Your Mind

Cutting and adding paragraphs or chapters in a seemingly completed manuscript can be tricky, especially if you’re writing on the fly.  There will be times – many of them – when you’ll be reading through and find that a section doesn’t work.  

What to do?

Have another document open that you can use to workshop fresh ideas.  This blank canvas allows you to try new things, work out ideas, and punch up dialogue without fear of reformatting or other issues that can crop up when working on the manuscript.  Now you have free reign to play around and work things out until you are satisfied with the new version.  

Then, copy and paste the new material and add it to the manuscript.

Punching Things Up

The Scratch Pad can also be helpful when working out a character or location description.  You can work to create the most descriptive sentence using the least number of words.  Or, you can embellish and weave an intricate tapestry of sights, smells, sounds, and more to describe a person, place, or thing.

This is the best place to try those things out.  You’re not affecting the manuscript while you work, and once you have the best version available, you can add it to the draft you’re working on.

This is also good as a place to punch up dialogue.  You can work out important exchanges, jokes, and other moments to make them more realistic and truer to your characters.  Again, the Scratch Pad is the place to play around and find the best version to serve your story and enhance the reader’s experience.

Final Thoughts

There’s always room to fine-tune and refine your work as you craft your next draft.  Using a separate document to work on new sequences, descriptions, and dialogue gives you an open space to play and create without the burden of affecting the manuscript before the time comes to do so.

Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next time!

You Finished Your Manuscript! Now What? – Part Two: Continuity

Posted on by Ian Dawson

6a. Checking for Continuity

Have you ever watched a movie or TV show and noticed the drinks levels on the table change between shots? Or maybe in one shot, a character is wearing a jacket, but in the next – in the same scene – the jacket vanishes? Or even a cup magically changes colors in a scene?  Or a character’s name changes between seasons?

All of these are issues with CONTINUITY, “the maintenance of continuous action and self-consistent detail in the various scenes of a movie or broadcast.” The Script Supervisor’s role in film and TV is to catch these issues before filming is complete and editing begins. But, as I’m sure you’ve seen on your own, this doesn’t always happen.

Of course, in Hollywood, finger-pointing can take place to explain away these issues.  But when you’re the lone author of a novel, a short story, or other work, the responsibility for continuity within your story lies on you. And even though the above definition cites “movie or broadcast,” continuity is equally essential when editing your novel.

6b. Why Continuity Matters 

As a writer, your job is to keep the reader focused on the story and keep them turning the page. This means the story needs to flow, allowing the reader to effortlessly move through the story and not get pulled out because of something that should have been fixed during the editing process.  

As I mentioned in Part One, read and reread your manuscript, strengthening the story, characters, and dialogue and checking for spelling and grammar errors.  On top of that, it’s important to make sure that character names, descriptions, settings, and other permanent aspects within the story are consistent from start to finish.

I like to write varying drafts of different chapters, and sometimes I combine different versions to create a more exciting version of the sequence I’m writing. In doing so, this can cause continuity issues to crop up that need to be addressed to avoid confusion for the reader.

For example, if I write a version where the detectives show up in a black sedan but leave – thanks to a later version of the same chapter – in a green Prius, the change is jarring and pull the reader out of the story.  

The same is true with clothing. If you write a version where a character enters the room and takes off their coat, and then later in the chapter they take a pack of gum from their coat pocket in another part of the house, they either can transport locations, or there’s an issue that needs to be resolved.

Once you make a choice, stick with it.

6c. Tips to Monitor Continuity

One of the easiest ways to keep basic continuity within the story is to have a basic spreadsheet or written list of all the named characters (first, middle, and last), their ages, and a basic description. If the characters drive, add the make, model, and color of their vehicles. If there are homes, workplaces, or major locations in the story, give brief details on the sheet to ensure paint colors and basics are consistent.

Also, be conscious of all characters’ actions during a chapter. What did they do? Did you have them put something down or pick something up? Did someone exit the room? Did they suddenly reappear, or just vanish from the chapter altogether?

If you’re like me and love to do multiple drafts of chapters and sequences, be aware of these changes, and make sure that what has already been established earlier is crafted into the newer version of the chapter or sequence.

So, now you’ve edited, you’ve polished, and you’ve checked your manuscript for continuity. You’re confident in your story, the characters, and the manuscript as a whole. It’s time to release your child to someone else to read and get feedback from.  But who?  Who is this person, and why should you entrust them with your creative work?

We’ll explore these topics and more next week!

You Finished Your Manuscript! Now What? – Part One

Posted on by Ian Dawson

You did it! You stayed focused, sat down at your laptop or computer, and finished the manuscript of your novel.  This is an exhilarating moment. From Chapter One to The End, you have written a complete story that you’re proud of, and you know readers will love.  

I know from experience that once you get to the end of the manuscript, you can feel a sense of relief. You’re done. It’s over. Now you can go and binge-watch Pawn Stars.  But, this is not the end of your manuscript’s journey. Far from it.  So, let’s explore how best to proceed when getting ready for your manuscript’s adventure.

[Writer’s Note: When saving your manuscript files, always put the title and the revision date as the filename (Example: TheField_06102018). This will help when you start rewrites, and you can keep track of various drafts.]

1.         Take a Month Off!

Now, you can binge-watch those shows you’ve been putting off. You’ve earned it for all your hard work. But there’s a reason behind this month: to give you distance from your material. It’s hard to be objective right out of the gate when you’ve worked so hard and for so long on something as massive as a novel manuscript. During this time, don’t open the file, and don’t retrieve it from a drawer if you’ve printed it out. 

Leave. It. Alone.

This doesn’t mean you can’t THINK about the novel, and this is when your brain will start to work in mysterious ways. You’ll be on a walk, or watching TV, or reading, or in bed at 3AM, and all of a sudden, a new section of dialogue that links two sequences will pop into your head. A better sequencing of events, a better description of a character or location, even the idea that a chapter can be cut will all flow through your mind.

If you think of something during the time away, write it down. Have a legal pad, the notepad app on your phone, or a separate file on your computer available to write down any and all ideas, edits, additions, etc. that come to mind during this month away. You’re still creating, still working on the manuscript, but in a periphery way that allows you to think clearly about changes you might consider once you return to the manuscript.

Like it or not, that great draft you just wrote has a lot of problems, and your brain knows it and during this time will slowly begin to tell you what the issues are and ways to fix the problems. I know this from experience, and it’s 100% true that this phenomenon happens. “What if…” “Maybe I should…” “If I have them go right instead of left…” 

If you think of it, write it down. Even if you look back at it later and go, “That was a dumb idea!” at least you won’t be mad at yourself for not writing it down.

Now that it’s been about a month…

2.         Welcome Back! 

You have your new set of ideas and notes. You have written down notes on revised chapters, character moments, and description. Now is the time to start fleshing those out – again separately from the manuscript – indicating at the top of each new section where it goes in the story (Example: [Dialogue right before the campfire scene]).

Write it all out in any way you feel is best. Then, once you have all the new content written, rearrange the sections in the order they will be added to the manuscript.  Take a day or two away from these, see if anything else pops into your head (inevitably, it will), and then make any revisions you need to these new sections.

3.         Time to Return to Your Manuscript 

It’s been a while. You haven’t seen each other for a long time, but the feelings are still there. You’re a bit nervous – butterflies are fluttering in your stomach – as you begin to read the first chapter…and it’s not as good as you remember.  

Don’t panic.

The good news is that you A) recognize that there’s an issue, and B) you can resolve the problem at this early stage of the editing/rewriting.

As you read, if you find section you don’t like and want to rewrite them, highlight them in BOLD, and keep reading. That way, when you come back to start the rewrite process, you know what areas to focus on. If you are reading a printed version, use a highlighter to indicate where issues are. 

I recommend doing this initial read over a series of days. If your manuscript is 300 pages, read through 30 to 40 pages a day. This is your opportunity to dig deeper into your story and see opportunities to fix issues.  Read too much in one sitting, and you begin to gloss over things, and this exercise requires your full attention. 

While you’re reading, you can now drop the new material into the areas of the story where it belongs, or you can indicate with brackets, ALL CAPS, and in bold where these new sections will go: [ADD NEW CAR CHASE ENDING HERE].  Sometimes, when I’ve noticed a chapter hits a dead end, I’ve added [MORE HERE] to indicate there’s an issue.

Now, you’ve read the whole manuscript. Let it sit for a week, then come back to it again.

4.         Time for a Deep Dive

Only you know your story. What you want to say. How you want to tell the story. Who your characters are. It’s all in your head. And now is the time to really start focusing on these things and making sure the story you want to tell ends up on the page.

This can be a lengthy process but a rewarding one. As you begin the rewriting process, you are wearing two hats: WRITER and READER. Your story should be something you enjoy reading as much as you enjoyed writing it.

During this phase, take your time. Read each chapter closely. Does it convey information about the characters and story? Does the chapter move the story forward? At the end of the chapter, do I feel the need to keep reading?  These are good indicators that your story is working, and it’s essential to take the time to make sure that every piece of the puzzle fits how you want it to.

Make sure to add in the new stuff you wrote during your month off if you still like it. Some you may decide you don’t need, or what you wrote doesn’t work with the new direction you’re taking the chapter. That’s fine. Your goal here is to do what’s best for the story.

As you rewrite, you will feel compelled to rewrite entire sections, revise dialogue, and maybe even cut sections or chapters entirely. Maybe there’s a character who’s just there with no purpose. Time for them to go. 

These are all positive things for your story and your manuscript. You are taking steps to make your story better, have more clarity, and flow smoother.  All good things.

Again, take the time to work things through. This could take a month, three months, six months. Whatever is needed to get the story to be exactly how you want it to be.

If you finish and want to take another pass, take a week off and start again.

5.         Remember, Writing a Novel is a Marathon, Editing is an Exploratory Nature Hike 

Outlines. First Drafts. Second through Sixth Drafts. You’re confident that you’ve got a solid story. That’s great. Now, the real fun begins. 

Editing!

This is the technical part of the process. Yes, you would think that your writing software catches grammar and spelling mistakes 100% of the time, but it doesn’t. It also doesn’t catch when you’ve used the wrong word, put the wrong character name, or left a line in from one draft that now makes no sense in the context of the latest one.

I have two pieces of advice as you begin this process: Pace Yourself, and Avoid Skimming.

Pace Yourself

Take your time to explore and read each chapter thoroughly to catch as many errors as possible. Break the novel down into manageable chunks so you can go into each section with a clear head and focused mind. Find it and fix it. And, trust me, you’ll find stuff.

Avoid Skimming

An easy thing to do, especially if you know your story and novel, but skimming could mean a missed extra word, the wrong tense, incorrect word usage, or other issue goes unfixed. Read. Every. Word. 

During this process, if you do feel something is missing and should be added, do so. Since you are reading the story so closely now, you may find that there’s a story problem or a set-up missing a pay-off that you missed. Fix it now.

I have also started to use the program Grammarly to assist with editing my manuscripts and writing. It’s been a great resource and help, but even it has missed one or two things.  The trick is to implement as many tools as possible to weed out as many errors as possible.

Next week, we’ll delve into the world of Continuity.  See you then!