So I have been cleaning and I thought I'd share with you what that has meant thus far. When I did the last rewrite I did an index card for each scene. On it I list the basics:
chapter
scene number (this is continuous through the book 1-115 in ACH's case)
page numbers
POV
Location or locations
Who is in the scene
Basic point of the scene
These cards have been handy for referring back to - for example I wanted to know when I introduced a character or another thread of the story.
First line of scene
Last line of scene
This is so I make sure that they all don't open with my heroine sitting drinking coffee or something etc (thank you Anita Burgh for this suggestion)
I am looking very closely at dialogue and dialogue tags...thank you to Nicola Morgan for her timely post on the subject here.
Also, now that the story is truly in place I reread a post by Cath Bore reporting on a workshop she attended with Joe Finder entitled A Sense of Suspense which is helping me makes sure that I keep the mystery going....
I am keeping a time line to make sure that it is chronological (as it is important to the story) and as I have chopped and changed things along the way I have found some real humdingers on the time front...
Finally I'm looking hard at each scene again and asking if it really needs to be there...now that the story is totally in place I feel I can be even harder on those scenes I quite liked but....
The last stage will be listening to the story again...my ears are better at spotting awkward phrases and missing words than my eyes will ever be...What do you do when you 'clean up' a manuscript?
10 comments:
What a terrific process! Scary but brilliant. Not many people have that diligence and courage.
Now if only I could do the same...
Have a great week, love Nina
Liz - congrats because you are so organised! I rewrite most scenes and the book so many times along the way that I try and hoover up typos, inconsistencies and repetitions wuth each pass. But I think there's no substitute for a fresh pair of eyes, it's almost impossible to spot these details in your own work.
Nina - you are one of the most diligent writers I know - your process is amazing....
Phillipa - who do you use as your fresh pair of eyes? I use my ears...although i will be asking for professional help on this one before I ship out...
lx
I think this is a great system. It's reminiscent of what I do at the start to get me organized, but going back and redoing it after the thing is rewritten is a great idea. I think I'll use it this time. Thanks!
A pleasure Sue :-)
lx
I have an online writing partner - we exchange a chapter a week on a private blog - and she's great for picking up inconsistencies as well as giving constructive feedback.
Good luck :o)
Karen - what an excellent system
lx
A great post - always interesting to see how other writers work. Thanks for plugging my blog!
A pleasure cath :-)
lx
Really interesting blog, Liz.
I hone things as I go alone, reading and re-reading before I go on to the next chapter.
Despite that, it's incredible what I miss. That 'fresh pair of eyes' is essential, provided that it's a pair of critically-aware eyes - not one's ma or a best friend - and I would never in the future send anything out that hadn't been subjected to professional scrutiny.
Good luck with 'A Cornish House'.
Liz X
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