Find Your Own Revision Strategy - Part 2

In Part 1, we discussed the process of finding your own strategy of revising your novel. In Part 2, we'll continue that process to help you discover your own approach to making your story great.

Bringing Dialogue to Life - When you revise be sure your dialogue includes not only your character's actual words, but glimpses of body language. Read your dialogue out loud, as if you're an actor on stage. You can even have a friend read the other parts. Acting out scenes in your story can give you a better sense of how your characters sound. Are they realistic?

The Double-Jointed Character - Walk through your scenes to make sure they're physically possible and realistic. Be sure your characters haven't traveled east only to have readers realize they've driven over a cliff, or if your hero swings a sword in his right hand, can he really grab a necklace from a pillar with the other? You must pay attention to details. Mistakes will cause your credibility to evaporate and lose your readers.

Listening to Your Inner Voice - As you continue to revise, you'll become more aware of the series of events that take place in your story. Your first draft doesn't give you the large picture. As you read each scene, pay attention to your own reactions. Is it dragging along? Don't be afraid to cut scenes out of your story. If a scene has too long of a description, you may need to remove the unnecessary sections so you can advance the plot, enrich the setting, and deepen the characterization.

Whining About Your Characters - Sometimes we writers complain about our characters as if they're troublesome. It may be fun to imagine our characters as real people, which is what you strive to do as you create them, but you must remember you have the final say over what they do. If it looks as though your character is following along with the main plot, then it may be your creative brain saying you've created a three-dimensional character that would not, as a real person, do what your plot demands. If this is the case, you may need to change the plot. Don't panic. You can introduce a new character whose behavior will plausibly force  your main character into the course of action they would not take otherwise. Use your imagination and find some person or circumstance to alter events in your story, so your main character is compelled to react appropriately.

Avoid the Cliche Character - You know​ what I'm talking about, the abusive husband, the overbearing boss, the scheming girlfriend, the bully. If you're not careful, they may end up in your story in place of real characters. As you work through your first revision, pay attention to your secondary characters. Is each one a unique person? Does each one have a hint of backstory? Are their actions believable? Could you meet this person on the street? A few individual traits can turn a cardboard character into someone your readers will love.

Deserted Island in the Middle - At some point, your plot will seem boring. This can just be writer fatigue. Many times, working on a new project for a few days, or weeks, will bring fresh life to your story. Just take a break! Sometimes you just run out of dramatic plot elements before you get to the climax. A way to help you through this is to start asking yourself, what if? What if a new character shows up with a connection to one of the main characters? What if something unexpected happens? Now your characters have to deal with the new situation.

Chapter Too Short? - You realize that one of your chapters is too short. It has great scenes and a great dramatic arc, but it's only five pages, and most of your chapters are 15 pages long. Now what? Determine if your chapter is moving briskly along, or is it slow and comatose? If it feels as though it's zipping along, perhaps you can add a complication. Your characters can have a brief encounter with something or someone unexpected that could reveal something important. If it just isn't possible to expand this short chapter, you may be able to take this chapter fragment into the next chapter. Trim unnecessary scenes and incorporate your short chapter into the subsequent one. A chapter that runs longer than usual is less noticeable to a reader than one that runs short.

Stay tuned next week for Part 3, and remember...Keep on Writing!
source: Long Ridge Writers Group