How Many Times Do You Revise?

One of the things that I'm learning about revising is that the more times I work through my novel, the more I can enhance the layers and depth in the story.

Sometimes I do this by adding a small detail, such as by a clue to the character's age or family background. Sometimes I rewrite sections of dialogue to bring out more personality in a minor character. As I get near the end, I may even rewrite an entire chapter, making the events in the ending clearer and more dramatic. The scariest part for me is adding entirely new sections, because I always worry that the story will become too long.

It's impossible for me to make everything work in two or three passes through the novel. I think this will be my fourth or fifth time. How many times do you go through your entire novel to revise?

The Secrets Inside My Writing Notebook

My writing notebook is precious to me. Sometimes, it feels like my whole life is inside. But I don't make any particular effort to keep it hidden or secret.  It's lying around the house, on my desk, beside my bed, on the kitchen table. My kids or husband could easily take a peek, but I don't think they do. Well, maybe the kids do, long enough to see that there's nothing much in it about them.

If someone did peek at my latest page, here's what they'd find:

1. Two quotes by Donald Maass from Writing the Breakout Novel:

"Great characters are the key to great fiction."

"The characters in your story will not engross readers unless they are out of the ordinary."

2. A bunch of nearly illegible ideas about applying some of what I've read in Maass's book to the novel I'm revising                               

3. A mysterious phone number (maybe I'll have to call it to see why I wrote it down)

4. A note to myself to back up my book files (I am going to do it today, I promise)

5. And the titles of a couple of new MG books profiled at the Middle Grade Buzz Panel of BEA:
  The Unwanted by Lisa McMann
  Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby

What's in your writing notebook today? Do you keep the contents of your notebook a secret?

T is for Transitions: Avoid Confusing Middle Grade Readers

There are lots of places in a novel where you need to include information about a change in location, a change in time (e.g. it’s now two days later), or a change from one plot event to another. These connecting parts need to blend in or they can interrupt the flow of the story.

If you’re writing MG, transitions can be tricky.

Too much detail. If takes too long to explain how your character got from one place to another, or that it’s now the next day, you risk losing your reader’s interest. Sometimes, it’s best just to quickly tell the reader, rather than drawing out the movement by showing through actions. But at the same time, you don’t want to tell the reader too much. Long drawn out transitions can slow down the pace of the story. Some questions to ask yourself: Does the reader really need to know this? Does it matter to the story?

Too fast. A quick change of scene or time might easily confuse a MG reader. Make sure you have enough information to orient the reader, so they know where the character is in your scene. You can prepare the reader for a change in place or event in the last line of a chapter or paragraph. This allows anticipation of what might be coming next. Some questions to ask: Does the reader know where my character is? What do they need to know for this to make sense?

The key is to strike a balance between giving information while not slowing down or pulling the reader out of the story. Here are a few tips:

Make them natural. The transitions I use mostly fit in logically with what is happening in the story. For example, if your character doesn’t usually notice the way the light falls on the trees, then using that detail to show a transition will seem awkward or stick out to the reader.

Use sensory details. One effective way to signal a change is through a character noticing a different sensation, e.g. a change in light to signal the time of day, an unusual smell when walking into a new place.

Watch for repetition. Words signalling a transition can easily become overused in your story. Some examples:  “Suddenly”, “All at once”, “Then”, “Next”, and “But”.  

For more ideas, check out some of the great articles in the links below. Do you have any tips for how to create effective transitions?

Links:
*If you know of any other resources on this topic, let me know and I'll add the link.

Janice Hardy, author of the MG novel Shifter, blogs about why transitions are important and where your novel needs them, as well as some great tips for making transitions seamless.

In a guest post at Robin Lucas’ blog, Angela Ackerman from The Bookshelf Muse gives us strategies for helping writing flow from scene to scene.

Lydia Sharp gives some pointers on ways to show the passing of time.

Over at Mystery Writing is Murder, Elizabeth Craig and Riley Adams talk about some of the problems with writing transitions.

Allison Valentine Schrier shows us two ways of writing transitions, using examples.

P.C. Wrede, author of the middle grade novel Thirteenth Child, part of the Frontier Magic series, discusses jump-cut and narrative transitions.

Juliette Wade provides a few tips on using transitions to keep the story moving forward.

The Thrill of Anticipation

With my query almost written (two lines to go) and my novel almost polished (one more round), I'm thinking about my next project.

I'm collecting ideas for the plot I sketched out back in March, when I thought I'd soon be finished revising Novel #4.

I'm free-writing thoughts from the perspectives of a couple of the main characters in the "new" book (it's actually a rewrite of Novel #3).

I'm taking another look at the first draft pitch and query I wrote (also back in March) to get thinking about the story again.

I love the part before I begin writing, because the idea of the project is so exciting. Right up until the moment where I start the actual writing, when a few anxieties creep in about whether it's the right place to start. You'd think I'd know by now that where I start doesn't really matter, because it's going to change when I revise.

How much time do you spend thinking about your book before you begin? Does the idea of putting those first words down make you nervous?

How Much "How-to-Write" Reading Do You Do?

The whole process of writing fascinates me, because it's such a challenge to fit all the parts together to make a satisfying whole. In the back of my mind, I think there's a tiny part of me that hopes reading a new book about the craft of writing might contain some "magic" that will elevate my writing to a whole new level.

Of course, reading alone doesn't get me there. The magic happens when you work hard at becoming a better writer, and at making your writing the best it can be.

But I do like to read different perspectives on the process and think about strategies that might help improve my writing. Even though I don't always consciously apply what I've read, I figure it will filter into my writing at some point.

My latest read about the process of writing is Donald Maass's Writing the Breakout Novel. I can't believe I haven't read this before. So this weekend (which is a long weekend up here in Canada), I'm going to be enjoying my writing book as I start to think about my next project.

Do you read many books about the craft of writing? Do you have any recommendations?

S is for Stereotypes: Are Your Characters Really Unique?

When we’re creating characters, one of the things we’re told to watch out for is stereotypes—simple, commonly held perceptions of people, like "smart kids are geeks". A few examples of stereotypes you might come across in MG novels:

The evil step-mother. Why is it always the step-mother who is a monster? It’s been done to death by Disney.

The smart older sister (or friend who’s a girl). You can’t top Hermione, so why not make your female characters stand out for another reason?

Teachers who get on a kid’s case because they haven’t done their homework. Believe it or not, teachers are not always cracking the whip. Is there another way you could show a teacher?

Girls with red hair. As the mother of a redhead, I know this hair colour is definitely not as common in real life as it is in novels.

And the list goes on. What’s so bad about stereotyped characters? They can come across as flat and dull because the reader has already met that type of character in other stories. Relying on a stereotype for a character can leave out interesting quirks, mannerisms, and personality traits that add depth and realism. If a character is too much of a cliché, it might be hard to connect with their problems.

Avoiding character stereotypes can sometimes be a challenge. Here are some ideas that might help:

Brainstorm. In the same way that you might not use the first idea you come across for your plot twist, don't settle for the first personality trait that comes to mind when you're creating a character. You could be choosing a stereotype.

Think about reader expectations. Are you writing about a hero or a princess? What does your reader expect? Change it up by adding an unexpected personality trait or hobby. Instead of the smart older sister, make it an older brother. A brunette. Try to create the opposite of what you’ve been seeing a lot of in your reading.

Use point of view. Remember that characters are seen through the eyes of your point of view character. Maybe your narrator sees the world in stereotypes. If not, the details your narrator notices can help to make your characters seem more real, and less like a stereotype.

Should you always try to get rid of stereotypes? Maybe not. Including a stereotyped character in a MG novel might sometimes be useful.

Short cuts to understanding. If your readers are familiar with “kindly old grandfather” they can make a quick connection between the book and their background knowledge. This can sometimes serve as a “short cut” that eliminates a lot of explanation. Or, it can serve as a starting point for developing a unique character when the story takes the character beyond the stereotype.

Adding humor. Intentional use of a stereotype can be a way to add some fun into your story. The stereotyped character can be exaggerated, giving the reader a chance to poke some fun.

Do you try to avoid stereotypes when creating your characters? If so, how do you make sure your characters are unique?

Links: *As always, let me know if you find a great article on this subject to add for our reference.

At Buried In the SlushPile, read about how seemingly unimportant details can lead to stereotyped characters.

Writing tips for avoiding stereotypes by Matthew Arnold Stern.

Over at The Character Therapist, Jeannie Campbell posts about ways to rejuvenate character stereotypes, for example, The Tomboy.

Janice Hardy discusses how to avoid stereotyping whenwriting characters of a different gender than your own.

Susan Kaye Quinn of Ink Spells writes about moving past stereotypes in kid lit and gives us a look at a teen’s perspective on stereotyping in YA novels.

Blogger and book reviewer Meg talks about stereotyped highschools in YA novels and gives us the real life scoop.

Are boys stereotyped in MG and YA books? Hannah Moskowitz gives us one perspective.

Julia Daines writes with humor about how stereotypes can be useful.

Why Is It So Hard to Write A Query?

When I'm writing my novel, I rarely spend a whole morning on one sentence (a paragraph, maybe). But I often do when I'm writing a query. It's so hard to get it right.

For me, one of the most frustrating parts of writing a query is thinking that I need to pare the whole novel down to its bare bones and sum it up in a few exciting sentences. Guess what? That's not necessarily true. The key is to remember that the purpose of the query is to include enough about the novel to catch an agent's or editor's interest so they want to read more. Agent Kristin Nelson's two quick tips about querying really helped ease my mind.

Writing a query also brings so much pressure. It's like the whole fate of whether I'll ever get my novel published rests on how well I can write these two paragraphs. Which is ridiculous. Of course I know I have to interest an editor or agent in my story to get a chance, but it's really the novel itself that matters. If I've written 48,000 words, surely I can write two pages.

What do you find most challenging about writing a query?

By the way, in case you're struggling too, last week one of my followers Brooke Favero had a great post listing some good resources for writing queries.