It’s Coming… Scrivener for iOS

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iPad Writing Apps, iPhone Writing Apps, Mac Writing Programs, Mac Writing Software, Writing, Writing Apps, Writing Life, Writing Software

Have you heard?

Scrivener is being developed for iOS–really!

I cannot begin to explain how excited this makes me, especially as I am currently writing frantically on a new WIP, with the hopes of being finished with a rough draft by the end of March. (That’s pretty ambitious though, as I’m not a multiple thousand a word day writer.)

Anyway, I got sidetracked.

Scrivener for iOS! It’s almost *almost* here. Can you see it? Can you smell it? Can you taste it? I can. Almost.

Do check out the link below–this is so exciting. It’s currently in alpha testing, with beta testing not far away!

I cannot wait to be able to use Scrivener on my iPhone and iPad! (I just hope it’s here in time for Camp NaNoWriMo in April!)

via The Cellar Door » We Found That New iOS Developer, By The Way… (Me).

Book Review: The Assassin’s Blade

Tags

Book Reviews, Books, reading, Young Adult Books

The Assassin’s Blade

by Sarah J. Maas

genre: young adult

The Throne of Glass series is a hugely popular YA series these days. I think I heard a rumor about a movie? Well, maybe it would make a better movie than a book.

I’ve read Throne of Glass, the first book in the series, but I failed to really get on board with it. Now I can say that I’ve read the backstory for Celaena Sardothien, and I can’t say that I like her any more. In fact, if possible, I like her less and find the story even more boring and unrealistic.

Celaena is a sixteen-year-old highly trained assassin. She had a rough youth, and was apparently orphaned, when the King of Assassins took her on and trained her to be his pet assassin. In the effort to be fair here, I think writing five novellas for Celaena’s backstory which give the fans of the series a glimpse into the life of their beloved protagonist prior to book 1, Throne of Glass, is pretty cool. The ideas behind these novellas were fun and it was meant to be a swashbuckling kind of ride, I think.

For me, it failed utterly and completely.

Celaena is highly unlikable. She’s petulant, spoiled, vapid, selfish, and utterly ridiculous. I have a hard time believing that anyone as volatile as she is could be such a successful assassin, especially at the tender age of sixteen. Some might say I’m overthinking it and that I should just get lost in the world. But I cannot suspend my disbelief.

Likewise, what kind of kingdom allows a known school for assassins to be established in the center of his city? They’re literally less than miles from the castle where the king lives, everyone in town knows of Celaena and how she’s the best assassin around, and we’re expected to believe that a) no one realizes the King of Assassins is, indeed, the king of assassins and b) this girl whom he calls his “niece” is not recognized as an assassin? At the very least she would be suspected of being an assassin in training.

Little details such as those above continuously removed me from the story.

While the story itself is edited well and well told even, the premise was so unbelievable that I have a difficult time appreciating the story for what it is. Coupled with a spiteful little girl as the main character, I had to force my way through the book.

What I do applaud for this book though was the rather imaginative way Maas chose to link these novellas. They take part consecutively, as in when one ends, the next one picks up right away. They really are more of a serial than five separate novellas. While I didn’t mind this, I think the overall story would have been much stronger had the novellas been condensed into one single prequel. (In her defense, I think that they were released individually prior to being packaged in one book like I read.)

Because these novellas were really more serial than anything else, there was some repetition in information. But the thing that dragged the story down more than anything was the absolute selfishness of Celaena. Had the novellas created a significant character arc for her, I might have liked it better. And while I believe a positive character arc was intended, where Celaena was supposed to change for the better, it did not ring true to me. Instead, because she was so incredibly selfish at the beginning, and we ended with her absolutely self-absorbed at the end, it really didn’t matter whatever she might have learned. (I’m being deliberately vague to avoid spoilers in case someone does wish to read it after reading this less than positive review.)

I would only recommend this book to an avid fan of the series. If you read book 1 like I did and were on the fence, don’t bother with the prequel(s), for it likely won’t endear Celaena to you in any fashion. Did it make her more sympathetic? Moderately. Did it make her more likable because of it? Not one bit.

On a related note, the stories dragged for me because of the chunks of Celaena’s inner monologue. In the later novellas, Celaena is experiencing strong emotions, and because of that she consistently delves into pages of conflicted feelings. The only problem was that her conflicted feelings didn’t interest me because I was past the point of feeling anything for her. She had spent far too long being selfish and cruel, and I ultimately didn’t care about her or her feelings anymore. (And they were a little overdramatic too.)

Rating: 1.5/5

What the writer in me learned: creating a likable character is one of the most important things you can do for your book. If you insist on your character being unlikable, then make her captivating or let us love to hate her.

What is Plot? (And how to write a logline)

Tags

Fairy Tales, Logline, Revising, Revising Your Manuscript, Revision, revision tip, Snow White, story structure, Writing, Writing Tips

 

It’s the stuff of nightmares.

Your friend approaches you, says, “So I heard you’re a writer now. What’s your story about?”

What is your story about? You stammer out some reply. “Oh, it’s about this girl who doesn’t get along with her mom.”

“Well, that’s…interesting.”

Yeah. That didn’t really give you any idea about what my story is about, did it?

In a nutshell, plot is what you’d say to someone when they ask “What is your story about?” This could also be considered  your logline.

But how do you figure out what plot is?

Especially when you’re looking at your own WIP, plot isn’t so easy anymore. But it’s vital to your story–even a first draft, although it may suffer from identity crises of multiple varieties, plot shouldn’t be (but often can be) one of them.

So how do you figure out what plot is? Plot seems so straight forward, doesn’t it?

Until you go and try to figure out the plot of your own story. Then there’s a lot of hemming and hawing and indecision and confusion.

Plot. It’s the bane of every writer’s existence, right? Because until you have a plot, you have nothing else.

So in talking revision, it’s important to discuss and understand what plot is. There are many misconceptions about plot, and a lot of literary fiction books are accused of not having a plot at all because of their slow(er) pace.

But plot is not only found in action packed thrillers or YA dystopians. Plot can be a creature slow and gentle, even-tempered without huge outbursts. The climax may be the character realizing their way of life is not worth pursuing.

So what is plot?

In a nutshell, plot is what happens in a story.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

If “nothing” happens, then the book is boring and plotless, right?

Well, hold on. How do you define nothing?

A thriller plot looks a lot different from a literary fiction plot, or even a mystery plot.

But a lot can happen without someone saving the world. A character could discover that her mother lied to her her entire life. The climax could involve her forgiving her mother.

A woman could meet a man and fall in love. The climax is her declaring her love to her chosen mate.

Or a teenage girl could discover that the boy she goes to school with is a vampire, a discovery that threatens her life.

Plots really aren’t that varied, when you get down to it, and there have been a lot of books written declaring a finite number of plots. Check out books like 20 Master Plots and How to Build Them, 9 Master Plots for Bestsellers & Blockbusters, or The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. (There are probably many more books out there on the subject, but these are a good smattering.)

How do you determine the plot of your own story?

This one’s a bit trickier, even though it may seem not to be on the surface.

One of the hardest things for a writer to do with their own work tends to be to boil down their story in a nutshell. But when you have to explain your work to someone else, what do you say?

Chances are, whatever you say is part of your plot.

But to really figure it out, there are a few formulas you can use to describe it. Here is a good one:

In a (SETTING) a (PROTAGONIST) has a (PROBLEM) (caused by an ANTAGONIST) and (faces CONFLICT) as they try to (achieve a GOAL). Source 

A plot is a series of events

Okay, so a plot is what happens in a story. But everything that happens in a story isn’t always plot-related.

Snow White

Let’s take the well known fairy tale of Snow White.

What are the major events in Snow White?

1. The Queen is told she is no longer the most beautiful woman in the land.

2. Queen instructs the Huntsman to kill Snow White, but he fails to do so.

3. Snow White meets the 7 Dwarves.

4. Queen tries to kill Snow White with a corset.

5. Queen tries to kill Snow White with a comb.

6. Queen tries to kill Snow White with an apple.

7. Snow White awoken by the Prince.

8. Snow White marries the Prince, and the Queen attends the wedding.

9. The Queen is made to dance in the red-hot slippers until she dies.

POP QUIZ:

Which numbers do not pertain to plot?

Feel like this is a trick question? Well, maybe.

(Answer: 3 & 8) Basically what happens in Snow White is that the Queen is jealous of her step-daughter and tries to kill her so that the Queen can remain the most beautiful woman in the land.

Everything else is superfluous to the plot. The romance is a subplot, and the dwarves are supporting characters that don’t prevent the Queen’s attempts or rescue Snow White. In other words, the Queen isn’t trying to kill Snow White because she met the Dwarves. No, that ball is already rolling. That’s not to say that their presences aren’t important to the story, but their presence doesn’t exactly interfere with the plot itself. Confused?

Let’s break it down using Story Structure.

Inciting Event: The Queen’s mirror tells her that she is no longer the most beautiful in the land. Instead her step-daughter Snow White has taken that title from her, and she’s a mere child. The Queen is livid and…

Plot Point 1: …orders The Huntsman to kill Snow White, but doesn’t, sending Snow White into hiding.

Pinch Point 1: The Queen finds out that Snow White lives and sets out to kill her with a corset.

Midpoint: The Queen tries to kill Snow White with a comb.

Pinch Point 2: Undeterred from her prior two failures, the Queen returns to try and kill Snow White with an apple.

Turning Point 2: After many years, the Prince arrives and finds Snow White in a glass coffin, unaged from the time of her “death.” Falling instantly in love with her, he buys the coffin and Snow White from the Dwarves and begins to move her, during which a servant stumbles and dislodges the apple from her throat. She’s alive!

Climax: Snow White and the Prince are in love, and they schedule their wedding.

Resolution: The Queen is punished by being forced to dance in red-hot slippers until she dies. Snow White and the Prince live happily ever after.

So the plot is that the Queen tries to kill Snow White. Okay. So number 2, Snow White meeting the 7 Dwarves has nothing to do with the Queen trying to kill SW. None. Take out the Dwarves and Snow White would still be a target.

(That’s not to say that these characters don’t affect plot, per se, but they aren’t absolutely necessary to the plot. As opposed to the Queen, who, if she were removed from the story, there would be no story.) Number 7 is the same. Who cares if Snow White marries the Prince? In terms of plot, that doesn’t matter.

So if we were to write a logline for Snow White, it might read something like this:

In a country far away, a young girl named Snow White is being pursued by her stepmother, who is determined to kill her at all costs.

Or maybe:

Once upon a time, the most beautiful girl in the world tries to hide from her stepmother, who is so jealous of her beauty that she wants her stepdaughter dead.

Note that neither of these follow the logline recommendation exactly, but that’s okay. The question to ask is whether it’s one sentence, and hits all the main points: setting, protagonist, problem, antagonist, conflict, and goal.

Setting: far away/once upon a time

Protagonist: Snow White/a beautiful girl

Problem: stepmother wants her dead

Antagonist: stepmother

Conflict: stepmother is trying to kill Snow White

Goal: Snow White wants to live

Why is plot so important?

Plot is what drives your story. In order to write a solid story, you must have a solid plot.

So during your revisions, revisit your logline. If you haven’t written a logline before, write one now. Streamline your plot. What is your story about? What is the conflict, who is the antagonist? What is the protagonist’s goal?

Here are a couple of sources from K.M. Weiland’s site: story concept, 6 reasons for writing a premise sentence that discuss the importance of knowing your story’s concept. They will help you in figuring out your own story as well.

 

Tell me: do you use loglines in your revision? How do you craft them?

Book Review: The Forgotten Room

Tags

Book Reviews, Books, reading, Recommended Reads

The Forgotten Room

By Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig

Genre: Literary

I have not read any other books by these three women, but if this book is anything like them, I may have to.

The Forgotten Room weaves the love stories of three women together in a nature that is both complex and profoundly simple. While each love story has elements of a Hollywood romance, one of the things I liked about each of these stories was how self aware the characters were. They were not stupid and selfish women (and men) in love, but they had their eyes open even as they fell in love and made decisions based on what they saw in a logical fashion.

So many love stories depend upon the emotion of love to carry the character away into irrational decisions. While I didn’t like every decision made by the characters, I could understand them and how they reached those decisions.

The writing itself is evocative and lyrical in its words and images. There were times I highlighted a sentence simply because of how beautiful it was. While the three time periods and three main characters were easy to get confused, and there were enough characters with uncertain heritage to keep matters unclear, that was part of the mystery of the novel.

But what really made this story special was that not one of the character’s story was a “throwaway.” Each woman had a goal. Each woman wanted something badly–other than just “falling in love.” So while The Forgotten Room is mainly a romance (without explicit sex scenes, thankfully), there is a strong plot for each of the characters other than finding a man to marry. Truly, none of the women are even looking to marry: one is looking to absolve her father, the other is looking to find her father, and the third is drawn in by a miniature portrait.

But rest assured: each story is vital to the others, and they flow so elegantly together that you cannot possibly consider this novel without one of the stories. None reads like backstory or superfluous information.

If you like literary novels filled with secrets and gentle romance, ones that don’t always have a happy ending, but are “happy enough,” I would most certainly recommend this novel to you. It’s lyrical prose and evocative imagery kept me entranced, and the characters were complex without being enigmas.

My rating: 5/5

What the writer in me learned: Sometimes backstory is part of the story. Don’t be afraid to be lyrical or “literary” if that’s what your story calls for. There is an audience for that, and you should embrace what you write well as your writing.

Weekly Writing Tip 4

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Beta Readers, Critiques, Perfection, Revision, revision tip, Weekly Writing Tip, Writer Critiques, Writing, Writing Tips

One of the major things that hold back an author is the pursuit of perfection.

It’s so easy to get trapped into this line of thinking. So easy that I’m not sure I’m completely out of its grasps yet (as a reformed perfectionist writer), but I’ve certainly come a long ways since I began writing.

As a young writer, I was afraid to share anything I’d written with someone unless I’d revised it about eight million times and was confident that it was so strong it would hold up to any criticism. And while the effort I put into revision was not bad, in the past I would hold off on posting any work because it was not perfect. (As a current editor and critiquer, I love it when people have obviously polished their work before putting it out anywhere to be critiqued.)

The truth was: it was never perfect, and it took a long time to be good enough. Not to mention how I told myself that I could always do better, just to soften the blow when critiques came back (which also undermined my efforts mentally).

But one of the dangerous things about perfectionism, is that when your “perfect” scene or story is criticized, and often rightly so, you may not be able to continue working to improve it or part with it later.

Seeking perfection creates an illusion in your head that sets you up for failure:

1. Your work will never be good enough to share with others.

2. When you do share it with others, and they don’t find your work flawless, you suffer a hit to your esteem that makes it difficult to try again. You may just give up.

3. Perfectionists take (much) longer on a project than necessary, by deeming it “not yet ready.”

4. Perfectionism breeds fear of failure and inadequacy in yourself and others.

5. Creates such high standards for yourself that no one else will ever live up to them either, and you will be constantly disappointed by any other book you read or write.

Revision is another form of writing, but it feels more permanent than a first draft.

We revise with the idea of other people reading our work afterward, and when we reach the end of our edits, parting with our novel (or short story) to entrust another with it can be like baring a part of your soul to them.

Don’t seek perfection. Seek the best you can do.

When you’re a perfectionist, it’s like every time you put your best work out there (anytime you put work out there period, because it always has to be your best), and someone says something unkind, or even kindly critical, a little bit of your soul is bruised. Enough bruises and you don’t even want to try anymore. You want to give up.

Well, I’m here, telling you, that you shouldn’t. Because that means you’ve let the bruises turn into a break.

No work of art is perfect. But if it’s good enough, we look past any imperfections we may have found in our love for it.

So focus on writing a story that is as good as you can make it, not perfect. Because no one can make a perfect story.

 

Weekly Wrap-Up

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How to Maximize Your Revisions, how to revise, Make Your Revision More Productive, Outlining, Revising, Revising Your Manuscript, Revision, Weekly Wrap-Up, Writing, Writing is Work, Writing Life, Writing Tips

This week we’ve continued our progression through our How to Revise Your Novel series. I hope you’ve all been learning a lot, and maybe even able to put some of it into practice.

I’ve been having a busy week, full of writing, rewriting, etc., and it’s amazing how life gets in the way, isn’t it? But I don’t want to make excuses for the fact that this week I only had two posts, as opposed to my usual three. That said, here they are!

Monday: Weekly Writing Tip 3

Friday: 7 Reasons Why You Should Outline Your Novel DURING Revision

By the way, a huge thank you to all new visitors and followers. I wouldn’t be blogging without you, and I love to see comments or likes from new people. 🙂 You guys are great and make me feel as though I’m contributing valuable information for you.

I do need to note though that I may be slowing down to one or two posts over the next couple of months due to several things that will be coming up for me. I’ll still be around, but I’m going to try to focus my “spare” time on polishing up my own WIP and submitting to Beta readers for feedback.

Thanks to all of you who read these posts and make this site what it is! 🙂

Kelsie

7 Reasons Why You Should Outline Your Novel DURING Revision

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Editing, editing checklist, editing tip, editing your novel, How to Maximize Your Revisions, how to revise, Outlining, Outlining Checklists, Revising, Revising Your Manuscript, Revision, revision checklist, revision tip, Writing, Writing Tips

Pay attention to timeline issues, character development/arcs, character motivations, scene motivations, pacing, etc.

Today we’re going to talk about how to approach the next revision step: developmental edits. Basically this means addressing the major, structural issues of your WIP before moving on to the minor things.

This step comes after you’ve read your first draft, made some comments or jotted down ideas.

Of course, whether you’ve merely jotted down ideas, or come up with new pacing suggestions, or discovered some character motivations, etc., at this point you should create a new outline.

Even if you’re not an outliner, this is the point where an outline can save you a whole lotta work. Trust me. As a reformed pantser, I have (finally) learned the value of repeated outlines.

I’ve discussed it before, but I’ve revised a previous WIP so many times I think my eyes were bleeding. The sole reason I spent so much time, sweat, blood, etc. on this revision is for the simple reason that I failed to outline my novel–ever. If I ever return to that WIP (it may be permanently shelved at this point), I will not fail to outline it. And pay attention to story structure. And character arcs. And…everything else I’m sharing with you over the course of this revision series.

So even if you’re a die-hard pantser, at some point, an outline is incredibly useful thing to have. This could be just a quick jot down of plot points, done prior to beginning, or else a detailed outline with every scene pre- or post-writing. Choose your method and go for it.

The key is being consistent. In order to remember all the pertinent events that occur in your novel, you should worry more about consistency and details than methods.

And plan on outlining more than once. Whether it’s keeping your outline updated as you write, or if it’s writing your first draft based on a loose outline, or no outline at all, then outlining your first draft and revising with that outline in mind, know that you should be outlining.

Why? Well, I’m glad you asked.

An outline:

1. Prevents you from making minor changes.

   Ignoring a badly written sentence can be one of the hardest things to learn in revision. Yet it’s an important skill to develop. Forgo tweaking your sentences–for now. There will be a time (and a revision) for that later. But right now, you really have to focus on the bigger issues at hand, and an outline forces you to look only at the big moments of your novel and not the sentences that compose it.

2. Forces you to examine the overall structure.

   Even if you “hate” structure and consider it beneath you, it’s hard to deny that all stories are made with a supportive structure underneath. By accepting this, even only at the revision stage, you can save yourself a headache by examining it and seeing whether your story structure needs some help. Here’s a quick post from the archives of my blog discussing story structure in case you need help or a quick reminder.

3. Helps you address pacing issues.

   Examining the larger structure lets you see whether your midpoint is indeed falling halfway through the novel, instead of three-quarters of the way through your novel. It can help you examine whether your plot points are actually as big (or small) as they ought to be.

4. Helps you streamline your plot.

   It’s easy to throw in a lot of subplots (here’s a previous post on subplots) and rabbit trails as you write your first draft. Even if you’ve outlined your first draft, getting sidetracked is kind of allowed, because you’re exploring your characters, plot, and story in a different way. And if you didn’t change your outline accordingly, here’s the chance to do that.

5. Helps you organize your thoughts.

   You will have a multitude of thoughts as you reread your MS. In fact, you’ll have probably half a million ideas and thoughts that may or may not deserve more thought. (Yes, writing is largely a thinking game, and requires multitasking and organization.) What outlining does, especially if you go more in-depth than just the main plot points, is allow you to streamline your thoughts and organize any new ideas in the context of your story’s structure.

6. Identifies the largest, most looming issue(s).

   This kind of makes sense if you think about it, as often times it’s hard to see a structural issue without an outline. An outline forces you to sit down and consider your novel’s structural moments. What is the pivot point? What is the midpoint? And do they fall at the “correct” moments in your novel? An outline will show you whether they do, and perhaps even where to shift some events to make them fall at the right moments and avoid that dreadful, saggy middle.

7. Identifies any plot holes you might have missed.

   Plot holes were discussed last week, if you missed it and aren’t quite sure what they include. But in this context, it’s important to realize that it’s critical to discover any plot holes before your novel is ready for consumption, or before you spend too much time revising in a misguided way.

Outlines are valuable tools, one that many writers don’t utilize to their fullest extent. Looking at the bigger picture of a novel always helps in revision, and should not be ignored. Even if you’re only outlining the main points, it can help you to make your story stronger and leave a more lasting impact upon the reader. What could be better?

Those are my top 7 reasons for outlining during revision. Do you have another? Drop a note in the comments below!  

Weekly Writing Tip 3

Tags

story structure, Writing, Writing Books, writing challenges, Writing is Work, writing tip, Writing Tips

Deconstruct a favorite book.

Books are magical things, aren’t they? As writers, we love to stumble upon a book that we find “magical.” But as authors, we know that there is so much more to a book than first appears.

That’s why “Deconstruct a Favorite Book” is the tip this week, and it’s something that I am guilty of not doing often enough.

Pick up one of your favorite books.

It could be a classic, a mystery, a young adult, a dystopian, anything. But it will be easier if you keep it on the shorter side.

Now read it. And as you read, pay attention to those defining moments every book has: hook, inciting event, pivot points, midpoint, climax, resolution. If you aren’t sure what those are, check out my previous article on it, or for a more in-depth look, K.M.Weiland’s series here.

As an author, you should notice these moments pretty naturally. However, if your favorite book is a book you enjoyed since before you really knew about story structure or before you began writing your own stories, you may not have paid much attention the last time you read it. And it’s less likely that you paid attention to the structure of a favorite book, or a book you’ve only read once and couldn’t put down. (Usually those are the books you read fast and furiously, in one or a few sittings, and you don’t pay much attention to the “behind-the-scenes” structure.)

Good story structure should be nearly invisible, because it naturally supports the overall story. [Tweet this.]

In houses, the underlying structure is only revealed by the walls and trim put over it. In books, the underlying structure is so natural to the story that you don’t pay attention to it individually. It would be like seeing a house and drawing attention to one wall. Unless that wall is pretty spectacular or pretty ugly, you’re not going to give one little wall a whole lot of attention.

But now’s the time to really pull apart that book that you read and couldn’t put down the last time. Maybe it’s Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games, maybe it’s Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Maybe it’s Stephen King’s It.

Whatever it is, dust it off, pick it up, and reread it. Entirely.

And reread it with a pack of sticky notes, and, if you’re into that kind of thing, a highlighter and/or pen or pencil. (Did someone just gasp?)

What are you looking for?

Pay special attention to the 25% mark, the 50% mark and the 75% mark, because those are the spots where big things happen. But also look at those spots halfway between the 25 and 50% marks, and the 50 and 75% marks. Why? Because there are minor spots there too.

But don’t stop at story structure. Look at transitions between scenes, examine characters and dialogue, conflict, scene and sequel, adverbs, adjectives, sentence structure, punctuation.

Once you finish…

After you finish the book, flip back through and see if you forgot something that turned out to be rather important. It could have been a character involved in the twist at the end, a foreshadowing, or a moment where the antagonist did something that hinted at the ending.

Make a short outline of the book. Don’t go scene by scene, but just jot down the main points, the story structure. What it tells you should be expected…almost boring.

All done?

So this isn’t where your study should end. Because the magic of a story doesn’t lie in story structure…does it? (This exercise was partly to prove that to you. Story structure doesn’t limit a book, doesn’t make it less enjoyable, or less unique, but allows you to lose yourself in a story.)

Look at your notes again and think. Focus on what it is about this book that makes you love it. You may worry that a study of this type will ruin your favorite book, and it might–if it’s not what you remember–but examining a book (any book) in this fashion is what will make you a stronger writer.

Tell me: What is your favorite book? Have you deconstructed it? What did you learn?

Weekly Wrap-Up

Tags

How to Maximize Your Revisions, how to revise, Plot, Plot Holes, Plotting, Revising, Revising in Scrivener, Revision, revision tip, Scrivener, Scrivener Tips, Scrivener Tutorial

It’s Sunday again. We’re over halfway through January now, and it’s speeding by amazingly fast for me.

This week we covered the importance of proofreading, tips on how to revise your novel in Scrivener, and then the importance of finding plot holes in your work and how to do it.

 

Monday: Weekly Writing Tip

Wednesday: Scrivener Tutorial #4: 7 Tools to Revise Your Novel in Scrivener

Saturday: What Are Plot Holes & How to Find Them

 

I hope this note finds you ready to embark upon another week of revision!

Any revision task you’re currently struggling with? Drop a comment below and I’ll see if I can discuss it in the coming weeks!

What are Plot Holes & How to Find Them in Your Story

Tags

Editing, editing checklist, editing tip, editing your novel, How to Maximize Your Revisions, how to revise, Make Your Revision More Productive, Revising, Revising Your Manuscript, Revision, revision checklist, revision tip

Plot holes are arguably the most important thing to address first in your novel. Luckily they can be one of the easiest things to prevent, if you pay attention to your book as a reader would.

First, let’s look at what a plot hole can be.

Character inconsistencies:

Are descriptions accurate? Does your character act in accordance with her personality, and interact with others appropriate to her personality? Does she feel like a real person, or too “good” or too “bad”? Is your protagonist consistent in her personality, or does she seem to undergo a change from scene to scene? (This is reaction outside a character’s arc, which should be a gradual change over the course of the novel.) But pay attention to more than just your main character–are your supporting characters consistent and believable too?

Illogical or out-of-order events:

Does your character kiss a boy and then later say they never kissed? Or does she develop a crush on a boy that a girl with her personality should never like? Or does she discuss someone that she said she doesn’t know or never met but after she’s already met him? Pay attention to small details like that, but also larger, illogical events. Is she alone with the killer when she is way too savvy to end up in a one-on-one showdown with a strange man?

Dropped thread (I.e. Subplot):

Does that career subplot that started off strong in Chapter 2 just as suddenly go by the wayside? Best to fix that. Make sure each subplot you begin is adequately tied off. That means romantic, career, personal, family, friend, etc. You don’t want to have a lot of lingering questions, especially if they constitute a subplot. Even if you’re writing a series, you want to be careful with leaving loose ends, because too many and they can antagonize your reader to feeling manipulated to pick up another book just for answers. Too few, and your reader may not care to read on. Balance and moderation.

Setting errors:

Is the protagonist’s room in Chapter 1 painted green, and in Chapter 32 pink? Or do you have your characters start off a scene in one setting and then show up in a new setting half a page later? Or does your character say she’s never been to a place, only to show up in that place later on and know her way around like it’s her own home?

Supporting characters:

Do they each have arcs and resolutions? Do they have distinct personalities, way of speech? Or could one minor character be another and no one would care? Although this many not be a true “plot hole,” it’s well worth paying attention to inconsistencies in your supporting characters and make sure that they, like the main characters, are playing according to their logic, personalities, and rules.

Antagonist:

Is the defeat (or victory) of the antagonist likely? It can be (and arguably should be) a twist and/or surprise without defying rules of logic. In fact, upon inspection, it best be a logical, reasonable defeat–in retrospect–for the reader. If you have the antagonist defeated by something completely out of the blue, the reader may not buy it.

Okay. So now that we know what type of things we’re looking for (basically anything that doesn’t make sense or has been forgotten during the writing of your first draft), what are the steps you have to take in order to catch these plot holes? 

1. Reread your novel as a reader, but with a sticky pad handy.

And try to enjoy it like a reader would. (This is why letting your story rest is so important.) Where are you rushing through to get to the “good” stuff you know’s coming? And where are you slowing down, either to savor or because nothing is happening? What feels unimportant to you?

Note all those things and anything else that feels off to you as a reader. You have a lot of things on your mind with revision–so write it all down and make sure you have some level of organization. You never know when you get distracted and have to put your revisions aside for awhile before you can get to them. So make certain that you have a spot where you write down all your thoughts and observations, and file it somewhere you know will be safe, either a physical notebook or a digital one, etc.

Now once you reach “the end,” make a note on how you feel setting it down. Did it leave you with the emotions you were aiming for? Yes? Good. Consider if you could make the ending even stronger. No? Time to ponder why not.

But let’s back up a bit first. Before we look at your novel as a whole, let’s consider some more tips for what to pay attention to while you’re reading:

2. Focus on the big stuff.

This is a very important step–and it’s vital that you do not get caught up in the sentence changing, fine-tuning process. Instead, remind yourself to focus on the novel as a whole, and the scene as a whole scene, instead of word choice or sentence structure. That can and will be addressed at a later date.

Right now, the only thing that should be on your mind is getting your plot solid. (It’s not even about story structure–yet.)

Is the midpoint or turning point natural for your character? Or is it a forced decision that you, the author, is making for her? Does anything else seem unlikely? Too coincidental?

This used to be incredibly hard for me. The perfectionist in me cringed at every misused word, every rough sentence, every imperfection that I could find as I read the story I’d written.

I used to edit each paragraph and sentence every time I edited my WIP. Finally, after editing one of my WIPs to death, and getting so discouraged and tired of the story, I made the conscious decision to STOP IT. Stop the madness. Seriously.

3. Remove yourself from the ability to change your sentences.

As I said above, I used to be a hardcore, sentence tweaker. I wasted a lot of time on editing paragraphs and pages that I ultimately trashed. Now when I reread a work that is first or second draft stage, I do not fine tune. In fact, I remove myself from the ability to change sentences as I go–this means I put it into an ebook format where I cannot edit as I go. I can make comments (see #1), but I cannot physically rewrite the sentence. (On occasions, perhaps 5 times a book, I permit myself to suggest a “perfect” sentence that comes to mind as I read. But I try to keep that down.)

So how do I remove my ability to edit? I convert my manuscript into .mobi, .epub, or a PDF. I then open my manuscript on my iPhone or iPad and, like I am reading any other book, read it. Using an ebook app instead of printing out my manuscript makes writing comments difficult and annoying. Every time I highlight and have to write a note to myself, it is cumbersome; I have to really weigh the value of doing so. Is it worth the fifteen seconds I need to wait for the highlight to pop up, select the “note” option, then type and retype and fix typos on my iPhone as I read? Sometimes not. So I may leave a highlight (if that), and then move on.

I also ask myself if it’s something I will catch when I reread the book later. Is it a misspelling or an awkward sentence? I’ll catch that when I reread later. Is it a repeated word? Well…maybe. If I’m paying attention, I’ll catch the repetition. But most of the time, I’ll highlight the instances of the repeated words so that I know there’s something amiss.

4. Consider each scene with a critical eye.

Does every scene pull its weight? Does every scene pull double or triple duty? Does it advance plot but also reveal your character and create conflict? Now’s the time to check.

If your attention is wandering during a portion of your book, ask yourself why. Is it lacking action? Is it wandering from the plot? Are your characters too boring? Do you need to pump up the conflict?

But most of all, ask yourself if your story really needs this scene. What happens in it that makes it essential to the book? How, if you removed it, would your plot line suffer?

5. Consider your characters.

Sometimes characters don’t develop in the way we, the author, wants them to. Sometimes we try to force them into a square shaped hole when they are most obstinately not square shaped. No, they’re more like star shaped, especially some of those minor characters who steal the show.

That plain Jane on page 5 may be anything but that; instead she steals the spotlight from your MC. Now in some instances, that’s fine. A scene-stealing minor character can be great fun and provide comic relief or can distract from the plot and theme you wish to impart on your reader.

You may want your minor character to steal a scene and deflect from the MC in a moment when the MC is less than amazing or less than likable. However, you probably don’t want that to continue throughout the book. In most cases, your MC’s character arc should be the one whose arc takes front and center. And if this “minor” character is a sidekick, you run the risk of the reader caring more about the sidekick than the protagonist.

In nearly all cases, you don’t want your sidekick to be a better protagonist than your actual protagonist. So reevaluate your characters as you read, and make sure that the focus is where you want it to be: on the main story.

6. Consider the antagonist.

Yes, the antagonist is a character, and could fall into number 5. But he’s more than a character. He is everything your MC is fighting against.

As you read, keep your antagonist in the back of your mind–always. Is he there, wrecking havoc even when he’s not on the page? Is there a way to make his effects (and presence) felt more?

There is a lot to consider during revisions. That’s why there’s no way you’ll be able to address everything in one revision.

But don’t get discouraged. Multiple revisions are a name of the game, and if you get stuck, have a writing buddy read it for you and help point you in the right direction.

  
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