Working the Novel...Working it.

[Ozymanithrax]

I've written two drafts of a novel, and am working the third now. I've learned things about myself that help me fine tune my own writing method.

The First draft hit 103,000 words.
Second Draft hit 104,000 words. I printed the novel, read it through, marked it up and hit a wall. I found the process of entering changes very difficult. That is the way I wrote many college papers, and a number of short stories, but they are all shorter. But reading back through a long paper document is more difficult than I imagined, especially since I deleted about 20,000 words and added about 21,000 better words.

Draft 3: Because the book drags, I made a decision to change the POV from past third to present third. I'm doing it all on the screen, reading each chapter through and making changes as I read. It is coming out much better. Eventually, before I submit, I will need to print the damn thing and read it through aging, but I am gong to delay that until I think it is 10% right on the screen.

What do you guys think?

[onlyadream]

1. Hey there!

What do you plan on doing with your work?

My writing advice is as follows:
Have someone else read it
When you read it to yourself, read out loud
Always keep moving the plot forward. Take out everything else.
And, above all else, every reader wants to be moved. It's your job to give them a powerful, emotional experience.

Hope that helps!

[sybylla]

2. Editing is always a slog for me

But I look at it as a chance to make the story the best it can be. The story deserves publication but it won't stand a chance without good editing.

The big jobs like changing POV or shifting/adding/removing subplots or adding/removing characters take a lot of work. As I begin the major element revision, I keep notes on the other changes it will cause (maybe a particular scene will require a different approach, or a character will need more development, etc.) You really can't know if a major element revision will work until you try it. If you don't like it, you can always go back to the original. In my experience, though, once I saw it was a better approach, it really gave me the motivation to see that big change through to the end. Sometimes it even spurred brainstorming about other aspects of the story.

One caution when editing on the computer - save very often and back up each version on a flash drive/cd/separate computer - even consider keeping a daily version or at least a complete new version for major changes. You may decide as you're working your POV change that you want to go back to something you added, then took out days before. If you save, save, save and keep various revised versions you might be able to do that.

[McCamy Taylor]

3. I love editing. When I change something awkward to something

that works, I get this warm glow of satisfaction, sort of like scratching a mosquito bite that has been bugging me for hours.

Be careful when changing tenses. There will be more errors than you realize. Get someone else to proofread in case you miss a few "saids" and a few "lookeds". And be sure to do more than just change the verb tenses. Present tense allows for more gut impressions, more description, more of an emotional roller coaster. First person present tense is probably to best way to get your reader inside the head of your main character.

[Keystone Writer]

5. I think I've hit that next level of editing.

Some might say that I'm arriving at my "style." I read things over and it feels like I'm biting into aluminium foil when I come across words like, "would" and "ever." And now I find myself pulling words out if they sound like they came out of a thesaurus. I definitely like a cleaner style of writing. Eragon, for instance, I just can't get into it. Such flowery writing that I find it distracting. Yet, I know it's a good genre.

[HopeHoops]

4. Standard rule: Edit by subtraction.

If a word or phrase isn't necessary, slash it. WRITE without inhibition. Edit later. Three drafts is not a lot. I generally hit at least 50 before I even consider releasing something. No matter how refined you think it is, you'll always find something on a subsequent read - punctuation, logical impossibility, time conundrum, or just that you used the same word twice in the same sentence. I usually edit on screen, but I always do a print copy every once in a while. I print it on regular paper and 3-hole punch it and use bookrings to hold it together. I make notes and edits on the blank side of the previous page and the recycle the pages without notes by turning them over. It works great.

Oh, and if you want a reviewer, PM me.

[Fearless]

6. Just a quick note...

If the novel drags it may be more plot related than POV. I have no means of comparison with your particular novel, yet frequently I'll see a dragging plot more than the wrong POV. One thing I always do when editing is constantly ask myself the question "can I do this easier" or "can I do this better". If the answer is yes to either question, then I go back and rewrite the scene(s) to pick up the pace.

[SheilaT]

7. Maybe you need to step away from it for a bit.

I personally find that putting aside something I've written for a period of time, from several weeks to several months, is highly useful. I can no longer remember exactly what I meant, nor am I quite as emotionally invested in the wonderfulness of my writing. While one thing is on hold, I can work on something else.

[Baitball Blogger]

8. Have you tried the outline/proposal?

It would require recapping the main points and will keep you on track.

Also, the Apple version of Scriveners also has a way to keep all your characters straight.