“So much snow!” Sally came into the coffee shop stamping her feet. Overnight, the sky had buried our little village in thick frosting. I sat nursing a hot cocoa. “I know. It feels a little overwhelming, thinking of plowing the driveway, the porch, the deck…” “Not unlike doing the macro edit on my novel,” Sally said, unwinding her scarf. “But I think I have the big picture/content edits figured out. What’s next?” Kathy handed her a peppermint mint mocha. Sally sat down, warming her hands on the cup. “Now it’s about looking at every scene to make sure it has enough tension and that you’re building in the emotional layers. I call it: Scene by Scene Editing.” “First, start with the scene structure. Determine if it is an Action or […]
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The Power of A Rewrite
Q: Dear Therapist, I hear that novels are not written they are rewritten. But I edit as I write. Is that considered rewriting?, all I feel I need is a final polish. Why should I spend time with a rewrite? What do I gain? A: I love this topic. To rewrite or not to rewrite… that is the question. Let’s just say up front, everyone has a different writing process. Fast, slow, edit-as-you-go, write and rewrite. Early risers, late nighters. A thousand words a day. Five thousand words a day. Writers come in all shapes and mind-sets. Some writers plot to the minute detail. Others have a loose idea of what they want to do when they sit down to write and let the story come to them day by […]
Read the RestFinding the Truth of Your Character
Watching an interview with Brad Pitt on Inside The Actor’s Studio, an acting student asked, “What are your processes and how have they changed?” Pitt wisely answered, “My processes is always changing.” He talked about the journey of discovery, of finding truth. As an actor, or in our case, writer, grows and changes, they should be able to hone the process of finding a the heart of a character, of discovering the truth. Pitt went on to say, “Find a moment of truth and the character will come.” This is a profound truth for all of us who deal in character. Find the truth of your character and let it breathe, let it come. Let it shine on the page. We talk a lot about processes and tools here at […]
Read the RestConversations: What to do with your WriMo Chapters/How to edit a scene
I found Sally in line for coffee as I entered the coffee shop. She had already dumped her bag onto a chair, had already tugged off her gloves, her wool jacket, and wore her game face. “What’s up? Did you not have a great thanksgiving?” “It was fine. But, I’m 3000 words away from finishing my novel.” “That’s great.” I shed my jacket and motioned to Kathy. She gave me a smile, already on my order. “No so much.” She retrieved her coffee and handed me mine. I nodded my appreciation. “Why?” “Because I only have 46000 words and I’m near the end of my novel.” “And?” “It’ supposed to be an 80,000 word novel! How am I going to come up with 30,000 more words?” “Oh, I see. You […]
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