RePost: Revising and Editing Part 3

Great advice on editing your novel (more or less) from people who know what they're talking about:

I try to leave out the parts that people skip. ~Elmore Leonard

To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement. To condense the diffused light of a page of thought into the luminous flash of a single sentence, is worthy to rank as a prize composition just by itself...Anybody can have ideas--the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph. ~Mark Twain

The personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there. ~Mark Twain

An author should
... Say what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it
... Use the right word, not its second cousin.
~Mark Twain

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~Anton Chekhov

Substitute “d***” every time you’re inclined to write “very;” your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. ~Mark Twain

Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you’re doomed. ~Ray Bradbury

You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance. ~Ray Bradbury

Vigorous writing is concise. ~William Strunk Jr.


Parts 1 and 2 on Revising and Editing have more practical resources, if you're interested.

Maass-isms

Donald Maas has been tweeting daily Breakout Novel Prompts. You can follow him, but here are my favorites:


Before a new character debuts, give your MC an expectation or fear. Make the reality three times better or worse

What does your MC know about people that no one else does? Create 3 moments when he/she spots that in others.

In the last dialogue passage you wrote double the friction, disagreement, overt hostility or hidden agenda

What principle guides your MC? At what moment is it most tested? When does it fail? Put it into action three times.

Give your MC passionate feelings about something trivial: e.g., cappuccino, bowling, argyle socks. Write his/her rant. Add it.

In your climactic scene, what are 3 details of place that only your MC would notice? Cut more obvious details, replace with these.

During a big dramatic event, what’s one small thing your POV character realizes will never change or never be the same again? Add

What does a sidekick character know about your MC that your MC refuses to see? Force a showdown over it.

How does your POV character change in your current scene? Work backwards. Make that change unlikely, a surprise or impossible.

Choose a middle scene: What does POV character feel most strongly? Evoke that feeling without naming it, through actions alone.

Find any violence in your ms. Delete any shock, fear or horror. Replace with two *conflicting* emotions that are less obvious.

Extra Post: Can't We Relate?

I stumbled on this quote today.

Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him to the public.

--Sir Winston Churchill

And... a contest! We all love to win books, right? :)

Revising and Editing Part 3: Fun Quotes from the Masters

Great advice on editing your novel (more or less) from people who know what they're talking about:

I try to leave out the parts that people skip. ~Elmore Leonard

To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement. To condense the diffused light of a page of thought into the luminous flash of a single sentence, is worthy to rank as a prize composition just by itself...Anybody can have ideas--the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph. ~Mark Twain

The personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there. ~Mark Twain

An author should
... Say what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it
... Use the right word, not its second cousin.
~Mark Twain

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~Anton Chekhov

Substitute “d***” every time you’re inclined to write “very;” your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. ~Mark Twain

Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you’re doomed. ~Ray Bradbury

You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance. ~Ray Bradbury

Vigorous writing is concise. ~William Strunk Jr.


Parts 1 and 2 on Revising and Editing have more practical resources, if you're interested.