Join me each Friday as I continue to journal about the process of writing a new book. During November and NaNoWriMo I wrote the first draft. Now it’s time to revise and rework. I’ll share my tips and the process I go through on the way (hopefully!) to making a sale.
Week 12 Recap
Goal: Begin Rewrites
Progress: Slow
Welcome back! Hope you had a wonderful holiday and New Year. It’s been two weeks and though I had great visions of accomplishing lots of work, truth is I didn’t do a whole lot. So–it’s time to dive back in. Before I do, I want to take a quick minute to talk about something hugely important.
Finishing.
As you might have guessed, I’m a big believer in goals. I set one for myself each week on this blog and it helps give me a focus (and also a reason to reward myself.) 
But the true goal of all of this is to reach that point in your story where you can type The End. If that’s been a struggle for you in the past, don’t be too hard on yourself. It is for many writers.
The most DIFFICULT thing in writing is also the most IMPORTANT thing: To finish your book.
So, I want to start 2013 by challenging you to finish your book—this year. Because you can. Because it’s possible. Because it’s such a sense of accomplishment and you’ll feel wonderful when it happens. Because it will give you the confidence to know that you can do it. Because it’s absolutely necessary if you ever want to sell your book.
OK…so, back to our revisions. How is it going? Have you made progress? I’m through the first 10 chapters of my book, still very rough. Some days I hit scenes and feel like I’ve got something. Other days…not so much. But I make myself do the best with the troublesome scenes and then I move on. A couple things to keep top of mind during this process. Some of this I’ve said before, but it’s worth repeating.
For each scene ask yourself these questions:
1. What does my character want? Say it out loud. Is it compelling? Is there someone/something in the way? (If not, then how can you fix that?)
2. What does the antagonist want? (Repeat above. FYI: Villains are not bad people; they are people who have needs and wants just like anyone else. They just happen to be in contrast to your protagonist. Give them motivations and a reason for acting as they do.)
3. Can the problem be resolved with a conversation? (If yes, it’s not enough of a conflict.)
4. Did this scene move my story forward? A friend of mine just told me about a writing exercise you can try. Write down the first and last sentence of every chapter. Do you see movement or change? This would probably also be a great way to know if you’re ending chapters with cliffhangers. OK, I’m going to try it. Here’s my first 3 chapters:
FIRST: Mitch hit the bell on the counter and waited as the noise pinged through the rental car office.
LAST: Just across the side street stood the Department of Motor Vehicles and an acre of cars sitting there. Jackpot.
FIRST: The car door opened and the examiner slid in to the passenger seat.
LAST: It was a police car and the siren blared as the lights flashed blue and red.
FIRST: Mitch swung in the seat, careful to keep his head low and his face hidden by the clipboard.
LAST: A moment later, his face exploded in pain.
Hmmm…does that seem helpful? Honestly, I’m not sure. Let me know what you think.
So, that’s all for this week. Next week, I’m going to continue on with my scene revisions. Oh–and here’s a reminder for me to tell you what happened when I shared the first few chapters with my agent yesterday. (Gulp.)
Have a great one!
Amy, this is a beautiful post! So much great and wise and useful stuff here.
I actually found that first sentence/last sentence thing really interesting, especially because, for me, it all came down to the last word in your first example: “Jackpot.” That word totally hooked me and said,”Heck yes, things are changing.” And changing in a way that really grabs me. Holy cats, girl, those are some pretty dramatic last sentences you have there!
Okay, here’s something you just skimmed over and I think it’s important: how do you reward yourself for meeting your writing goals? I mean, often, I will just skip that, even though I say I’m going to do it. For instance, if I meet a goal that I said I was going to reward myself for, usually my brain kicks up something like, “Well, that goal must have been too small. You SHOULD have done more!” So tell me about the ways you reward yourself…
Thanks for the comments Nate. I think the first/last sentence thing is probably best as a way to determine if you have cliffhangers. So maybe it would just be cool to go through a type out your last sentences? Let me know if you decide to try it and it helps you.
As far as rewards go, I know what you mean about downplaying goals when you reach them. I do that too!! (Not good.) For me, reward can be almost anything. For instance, if I’m supposed to be reading my book club book, I might reward myself by a bubble bath and a romance I’ve been wanting to read. Sometimes a reward means I get that apple fritter from Bashas. Or–I’ve been known to buy myself a fancy pen or a cool writing pad from Levenger. The best sort of reward (which I NEVER do) would be to stop and pat myself on the back and acknowledge that I just did something good. (Hey–maybe I just stumbled onto my New Years Resolution.)
Okay, so I can at least start keeping my promises to myself, and give myself a nice treat. For instance, I can implement the”ice cream reward”… no wait… that would mean a long time between bowls of luscious, coffee-flavored ice cream… hmmm, okay I promise that I will reward myself in some way for meeting challenging writing goals that I set for myself: for instance, RALPH is now officially ready to send out to editors! That deserves a reward!! Maybe a movie?
LOL Nate! And congratulations about RALPH! That deserves a huge reward. Not just a movie…maybe a movie theater. Buy the whole thing including the popcorn machines. We’re talking BIG here. (Yay!!)
Did the first and last line of the chapter exercise help? If not, are there any other exercises we could try that will help us with cliffhangers and what not?
Thank you!
Hi Victoria,
The first/last line did help for cliffhangers. If you try it, and you don’t have cliffhangers, then think about what is changing or about to change for your main character. If you can, end a chapter at that moment of change. Some authors even break up a chapter in the middle of it, just to create more cliffhangers. It’s a good question though — I have to research other ideas for cliffhangers and if I come across some good tips, I’ll share them!!
Thanks Amy, when we meet in person at the writing events I can never think of any good question. When I do come up with questions they usually get answered by others so I don’t have the chance to ask people like you. When our club was starting to ask you questions this one just jumped back into my head from an earlier time.
Thanks again,
Victoria
Are there any tips that could help us with writing our novel?
Hi Lee Ann. My best advice is to make sure you start with a main character who has a BIG problem. Lots of writers get stuck because they don’t have enough conflict. If your character has to overcome a big challenge, then that gives you a lot to write about and you always know where you reach the end–you solve the problem! Good luck–let me know if you have specific questions and I’ll try to help.
Thanks for your advice! It’s true, my stories don’t have conflicts, its just smooth
That happens to all of us Lee Ann! Conflict in real life is bad, but in books it’s GREAT!
Ok I’ll try your tips thanks again!
Good luck!!
Which is more rewarding:Finishing or publishing your books?
Kalena,
That’s such a hard question to answer! It’s really really wonderful to publish my books–and that’s my goal. But in a way it’s more rewarding to finish a book because that’s what I can control. Once the book goes out to a publisher, it’s out of my hands. But it’s all up to me whether or not I finish. That’s why it feels so great when I do.
Are there any tips on how to create beats to break up long chunks that you can give me? Thank you!
Abby,
Thanks for the question! A lot of times I use action to break up long chunks. I like to give my characters props–kind of like actors would have in stage play. For example, I have Tatum use her clarinet reed or I have that scene where Lori is making a necklace. Then, I can break up the scene with bits of action while they fiddle with (or use) their props. Does that make sense? If I’ve misunderstood your question, let me know and I’ll try again.
How did you get the ideas in your novel (etc. characters, plots, and settings)? Does it get easier to come up with ideas as you get older?
P.S. contribute to our Dairy Fund! Just kidding…
Hi Jamie and Abbey,
(LOL on the dairy fund comment!)
For ideas, I like to go back to my diary and remember the things that were really important to me. Like when my best friend met her first boyfriend. (That was awful at the time!) When I first wrote the book, there was no band competition. I added that later to create more conflict (and I remember how scared I was to try for Regional Honor band!) For settings, I usually imagine places I know — a house like one I’ve lived in, and the bandroom is the way I remember my high school band room.
Ideas can come from anywhere though. A few years ago, I took my kids to get their hearts tested for a school fundraiser. While we were there, I got the idea of a school athlete who discovers she has a heart problem. If she competes, she could die. That seemed like a really BIG problem. I just finished that book and I really like it! But not all ideas work out that well. So, no, I wouldn’t say it gets easier but I do get better at figuring out which ideas will work and which ones won’t.
Thanks for the questions!
Hi, Amy:
Thanks for taking the time to answer my students’ questions! We’re excited about your next book and enjoy reading your blog!
Karen