goodbye to stick season

Fine snow drives down, piling up in the tree crotches and capping the birdhouses. As I work on Hildegard, I’m re-reading Stein on Writing by Sol Stein. He says triage is the way to revise. Tackle major matters first.

Are the characters alive and well-rounded? Both protagonist and antagonist need to have positive and negatives qualities. Minor characters need at least one special characteristic.

Make sure the conflict is credible. Does the plot need to be strengthened?

Compare the most memorable scene with the least memorable. What makes the first work well? If the least memorable scene can’t be fixed, cut it! Keep testing the next least memorable scenes until the scenes that are left create a strong story.

Are the three most important actions in the book well motivated? Motivation is caused by circumstance or planted ahead of the action. Check all important actions for poor motivation.

Finally, read the first page only. Make sure there is a compelling reason to turn the page.

After the triage work of the writer, the manuscript is ready for general revision. Read through with the eyes of the reader and the editor. Tighten. Transpose. No purple prose!

revision

Community college libraries are wonderful to escape to, especially in the summer. But it's hard when the sky finally looks like this one in Slovakia a few weeks ago! I've been writing at our tech this week. Hardly anyone has been there, though today groups seem to be conferring with professors in the library. It is warmish, but not bad with this cool NE summer!

I feel like I'm working with a scalpel and a trowel! I'm re-visioning the structure of my Hildegard story. Cut, add and lay in mortar to hold it all together! With this new version of Hildegard, flashbacks are needed to fill in back story, and I have to relearn how to do them effectively.

The draft I'm working with is so polished that the new writing seems strained. I have to get over that and just lay down the words. The polishing will come later after I have the new structure.

It's off to Maine now. When the lake gets too distracting, I head for the Colby College library.