New article from ManuscriptRX
Apr. 21st, 2009 07:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ostarellaFrom www.ManuscriptRx.com
Revision at the Macro-level (the Bird's-eye View)
Last month we talked about revision at the scene level; you learned how to interrogate each scene of your novel with four vital questions (if you missed that newsletter, you can check it out here: http://manuscriptrx.com/newsletter_archive.html).
This month I'd like you to pull back from peering in at your individual scenes and look at the arc of your story. Let's start with the accepted five-stage structure that drives most novels (as discussed in Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon):
1) A character has a problem.
2) Complications arise and conflict intensifies.
3) Crises culminate in a climax.
4) The problem is resolved.
5) The hero or heroine learns something about self or life.
Your story needs each of these elements to have a true arc. You might assume it does, but assuming can only get you so far in the competitive fiction market. I've worked with writers who were positive their story had a solid climax when in reality there was only a little poof on the page.
Because we hold our stories in our minds in the brightest, sharpest way possible, we often forget that putting those ideas into words (which are faulty at best) necessarily loses something in translation. Our readers can't tap directly into our ideas. So it pays to identify each of these story elements in your novel, and, if any are missing or barely-there, to fill them in or ramp them way up.
Let's discuss each element in greater detail so that you'll be equipped with the tools you need when you tackle the vital task of revision.
1) A character has a problem.
The key here: the problem must be big enough. Many of the manuscripts I see have the main character facing a so-called 'crisis' that is too easily overcome. Your reader won't be compelled by a so-so situation, since it won't involve a character wrestling with something major, with a dilemma in the truest sense of the word. Because the character's main problem (set up early on) will be the frame around which the story arc is constructed, it must pack a punch.
Conversely, the problem should not be so unrealistic and so huge that the reader knows the character will never be able to solve it (i.e., global warming or world hunger). If your reader knows from the outset the character has no way of tackling the issue, s/he won't stick around to see how things get ironed out. (Having a too-big crisis for the main character is less common than having a weak problem.)
And although your character will face sub-problems while dealing with the central problem, you don't want to pile on so many issues that the main story goal becomes fuzzy or retreats into the background. There should be one clear story goal that the character and the reader don't lose sight of.
2) Complications arise and conflict intensifies.
Okay, so you like your main character. You should! You'll probably spend as much time with that character as you do with friends/family (especially if you count all the time you're thinking about him/her). And how do you treat the people you love? With respect, right? You try to protect them wherever you can. You try to make them happy. This is laudable in real life, dear writer, but you're making art here. Which means you have to put the gloves on and get tough with your character.
You've heard the advice about putting your protagonist in a tree and throwing rocks at him/her? It's completely true. If you have no tension/conflict in your novel, you have no story. You have no reason for readers to stay with you. And tension can only come at the main character's expense. Yes, this means hurting your main character before you can heal him/her.
Another mistake I witness writers making (especially while they're still getting the hang of this rock-throwing thing) is half-heartedly tossing in a complication early on, feeling relief that it's over with (after all, conflict is no fun--certainly not in real life, but often even writing about it brings up unpleasant emotions), and failing to create further complications or ramping up the intensity of complications-in-progress. When you write a novel, you make a promise to the reader that things will get much, much worse for the protagonist before they get better. So before you let your main guy/gal down from that tree, you must heap on emotional and external struggles. You must add intensity to the conflicts and never let them just trickle off. Don't gyp your reader by quietly abandoning a tension thread.
3) Crises culminate in a climax.
The climax is your protagonist's darkest hour, the point when it's apparent that things can't get any worse. The reader wonders if the main character will even be able to make it through. Because climaxes are tough to write (and they may be impossible to write in the first draft), writers often try to cheat by omitting them. Your audience won't forgive you if you try this shortcut! The climax is the most appealing cupcake you've been dangling in front of your reader. Don't pull it away after they've waded through 200 pages. (No one appreciates a cupcake mirage.)
Because the climax is the heartbeat of your story arc, let's spend more time on it. Here are some climax must-haves:
a) Your climax must include loads of tension (think about it: if all the scenes that lead up to the climax need to be fraught with tension, it makes sense that the most super-charged scene be heavy with it...the most tension, actually).
b) It must feel appropriately dramatic. Don't gloss over your climax by presenting a vague, general, blah scene. This is the place where emotions should run high--your characters' as well as your readers'.
c) It must be strategically-positioned. Don't have it occur too early in the novel--your readers will lose interest in the rest of the book if the climax comes too early. Rule of thumb: the climax shouldn't unfold any earlier than 2/3 of the way through the book, even later for children's novels.
d) It must be surprising. Avoid pat, clichéd, or predictable climaxes. Prevent the reader from saying, "Duh, I knew that would happen. Why did I stick with this book for so long?"
e) It must make sense. Never include new significant information at that late stage of the novel. If you happen to discover a new idea gem while you're revising, something that would enrich the story, go back and weave it in throughout the book. The climax is the place where all the rising tension culminates, not the place where you pull something entirely new and unfamiliar out of the hat belonging to the magician you just introduced.
4) The problem is resolved.
It's best that the main character have some hand in the resolution (if it's a novel for kids, that's absolutely vital). Don't rely on a deus ex machina to swoop down and tidy everything up. And don't introduce new problems or goals here (unless the novel is one of a series; even then, though, you want to make sure the novel can stand alone and its threads satisfactorily resolved). This stage is also known as the falling action, the place where the protagonist's journey finally runs downhill.
5) The hero or heroine learns something about self or life.
This change can be more subtle in a novel for adults, but some change must become apparent, even if it's only a change in thinking. It might be that the protagonist faced some critical decision throughout the book and then at the end decided not to take action. That is action of sorts, and that would require him/her learning something about him/herself. This is often too subtle a change for novels for children or teens, though, where the change should be more obvious.
Don't expect the draft of your novel to have all these story elements in place and humming along perfectly...yet. The first draft is a place to explore, to let your creative right brain stretch and play and discover without your editorial left brain tipping over the brimming pail of ideas. After the first iteration of your story is safely on paper and after you've left it alone for at least a month (more, if you can), drag that manuscript out and check it for these story stages and to determine where you'll need to do more work.
Revision at the Macro-level (the Bird's-eye View)
Last month we talked about revision at the scene level; you learned how to interrogate each scene of your novel with four vital questions (if you missed that newsletter, you can check it out here: http://manuscriptrx.com/newsletter_archive.html).
This month I'd like you to pull back from peering in at your individual scenes and look at the arc of your story. Let's start with the accepted five-stage structure that drives most novels (as discussed in Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon):
1) A character has a problem.
2) Complications arise and conflict intensifies.
3) Crises culminate in a climax.
4) The problem is resolved.
5) The hero or heroine learns something about self or life.
Your story needs each of these elements to have a true arc. You might assume it does, but assuming can only get you so far in the competitive fiction market. I've worked with writers who were positive their story had a solid climax when in reality there was only a little poof on the page.
Because we hold our stories in our minds in the brightest, sharpest way possible, we often forget that putting those ideas into words (which are faulty at best) necessarily loses something in translation. Our readers can't tap directly into our ideas. So it pays to identify each of these story elements in your novel, and, if any are missing or barely-there, to fill them in or ramp them way up.
Let's discuss each element in greater detail so that you'll be equipped with the tools you need when you tackle the vital task of revision.
1) A character has a problem.
The key here: the problem must be big enough. Many of the manuscripts I see have the main character facing a so-called 'crisis' that is too easily overcome. Your reader won't be compelled by a so-so situation, since it won't involve a character wrestling with something major, with a dilemma in the truest sense of the word. Because the character's main problem (set up early on) will be the frame around which the story arc is constructed, it must pack a punch.
Conversely, the problem should not be so unrealistic and so huge that the reader knows the character will never be able to solve it (i.e., global warming or world hunger). If your reader knows from the outset the character has no way of tackling the issue, s/he won't stick around to see how things get ironed out. (Having a too-big crisis for the main character is less common than having a weak problem.)
And although your character will face sub-problems while dealing with the central problem, you don't want to pile on so many issues that the main story goal becomes fuzzy or retreats into the background. There should be one clear story goal that the character and the reader don't lose sight of.
2) Complications arise and conflict intensifies.
Okay, so you like your main character. You should! You'll probably spend as much time with that character as you do with friends/family (especially if you count all the time you're thinking about him/her). And how do you treat the people you love? With respect, right? You try to protect them wherever you can. You try to make them happy. This is laudable in real life, dear writer, but you're making art here. Which means you have to put the gloves on and get tough with your character.
You've heard the advice about putting your protagonist in a tree and throwing rocks at him/her? It's completely true. If you have no tension/conflict in your novel, you have no story. You have no reason for readers to stay with you. And tension can only come at the main character's expense. Yes, this means hurting your main character before you can heal him/her.
Another mistake I witness writers making (especially while they're still getting the hang of this rock-throwing thing) is half-heartedly tossing in a complication early on, feeling relief that it's over with (after all, conflict is no fun--certainly not in real life, but often even writing about it brings up unpleasant emotions), and failing to create further complications or ramping up the intensity of complications-in-progress. When you write a novel, you make a promise to the reader that things will get much, much worse for the protagonist before they get better. So before you let your main guy/gal down from that tree, you must heap on emotional and external struggles. You must add intensity to the conflicts and never let them just trickle off. Don't gyp your reader by quietly abandoning a tension thread.
3) Crises culminate in a climax.
The climax is your protagonist's darkest hour, the point when it's apparent that things can't get any worse. The reader wonders if the main character will even be able to make it through. Because climaxes are tough to write (and they may be impossible to write in the first draft), writers often try to cheat by omitting them. Your audience won't forgive you if you try this shortcut! The climax is the most appealing cupcake you've been dangling in front of your reader. Don't pull it away after they've waded through 200 pages. (No one appreciates a cupcake mirage.)
Because the climax is the heartbeat of your story arc, let's spend more time on it. Here are some climax must-haves:
a) Your climax must include loads of tension (think about it: if all the scenes that lead up to the climax need to be fraught with tension, it makes sense that the most super-charged scene be heavy with it...the most tension, actually).
b) It must feel appropriately dramatic. Don't gloss over your climax by presenting a vague, general, blah scene. This is the place where emotions should run high--your characters' as well as your readers'.
c) It must be strategically-positioned. Don't have it occur too early in the novel--your readers will lose interest in the rest of the book if the climax comes too early. Rule of thumb: the climax shouldn't unfold any earlier than 2/3 of the way through the book, even later for children's novels.
d) It must be surprising. Avoid pat, clichéd, or predictable climaxes. Prevent the reader from saying, "Duh, I knew that would happen. Why did I stick with this book for so long?"
e) It must make sense. Never include new significant information at that late stage of the novel. If you happen to discover a new idea gem while you're revising, something that would enrich the story, go back and weave it in throughout the book. The climax is the place where all the rising tension culminates, not the place where you pull something entirely new and unfamiliar out of the hat belonging to the magician you just introduced.
4) The problem is resolved.
It's best that the main character have some hand in the resolution (if it's a novel for kids, that's absolutely vital). Don't rely on a deus ex machina to swoop down and tidy everything up. And don't introduce new problems or goals here (unless the novel is one of a series; even then, though, you want to make sure the novel can stand alone and its threads satisfactorily resolved). This stage is also known as the falling action, the place where the protagonist's journey finally runs downhill.
5) The hero or heroine learns something about self or life.
This change can be more subtle in a novel for adults, but some change must become apparent, even if it's only a change in thinking. It might be that the protagonist faced some critical decision throughout the book and then at the end decided not to take action. That is action of sorts, and that would require him/her learning something about him/herself. This is often too subtle a change for novels for children or teens, though, where the change should be more obvious.
Don't expect the draft of your novel to have all these story elements in place and humming along perfectly...yet. The first draft is a place to explore, to let your creative right brain stretch and play and discover without your editorial left brain tipping over the brimming pail of ideas. After the first iteration of your story is safely on paper and after you've left it alone for at least a month (more, if you can), drag that manuscript out and check it for these story stages and to determine where you'll need to do more work.
