Thursdays are my How to Revise Your Novel lesson reviews, but since this is Writing Technique week, I decided to skip around a little. The last few lessons of this course (minus the very last one) are all about "cosmetic surgery". This is after you've cut and pasted the crap out of your manuscript and you're doing little things to improve the overall flow and readability. Stuff that makes your book look nice. :)
Holly says you need to open every scene and close every scene so that the reader CANNOT put your book down. I'm struggling with this. Especially with beginning each and every scene with a hook. I like to shock my reader a little further into the scene with a big twist. Right when they least expect it ;)
I'm pretty good about ending a scene on a hook, though. That I can do, especially if it's the end of a chapter. Anyway, something to think about.
Another tip I've heard a million times over: Read your book aloud. It takes forever. You look like and idiot. And you catch problems with work usage, flow, and voice. I haven't tried this yet, but I will. I think it's just what my book needs. I learn more by hearing anyway, so the problems in my book should ring in my ears a little better than if I just read through it.
And another thing I have a problem with is telling my readers what to feel. Not in an obvious way, but more like: Rachel banged her fists down in anger.
Um.... duh. If she's banging her fists down, the reader can probably pick up on the fact that she's angry without me spelling it out.
Little things like that can make a huge difference.
Hope this helps!
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