Good evening, writers! Picture this event in your head: You write a great story with a flowing storyline and a solid plot, then suddenly--BAM--your manuscript is read and pulled apart, the beta (or whomever) shedding light to the small plot hole that ruins your story. What you have to do then is go back and retrace your steps to change the plot while still producing the main result. Ever experience that? I have. I'm sure many of you have, too. That's why I'm going to share my advice on retracing your steps to edit your plot. Don't give up or get lost! If you don't go back and change it, you'll never finish it! :[ All that effort, forever wasted. You don't want that, do you? I'll provide some tips, plus some reasons to keep going.
1) Know how the story is going to end. Having a clear idea of how the story will end definitely will help you decide how to advance. If your character has to get from A to B, it helps narrow down the options.
2) Use the experience to your knowledge. The second time around, you know what went wrong and what went right, so not as much experimentation is needed. You have better knowledge of grammar than before (I would hope) and you know which things don't work in certain situations. It will be faster this time around.
3) You already know your characters! You know your characters a lot better since you have spent more time with them. You have their catchphrases and behaviors, plus you know how they would react in certain situations. This will help you think "Hmm, if So-and-So did this, then this would happen." Knowing you characters will help you greatly.
Plus, the best thing is, you're not starting all over. You have the majority of the story in your mind, from the ending to the characters to the setting. Even if it's a major change, you still have most of the learning already done. See? It won't be so hard. You can do it!
P.S. The Quill and Ink Forums (a forum I moderate) is having a Thanksgiving writing contest. Check out the forum for more details. In one contest, we are giving out Chris Baty's [i]No Plot? No Problem! A Low-Stress, High Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in Thirty Days[/i], so check out the blog for more details.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at penelopepaige@rocketmail.com. Time to go sharpen that pencil...
Question: Have you ever hit a plot snag in your novel? Found a plot bunny hiding in the bushes? How did you fix it?
Hey, thanks for the mention. Your points are logged. :)
ReplyDeleteYou've got some great tips here. You're great at the tips thing. Definitely like. :)
I do get stuck on snags and holes, unfortunately. More often than I'd like. Usually I just try to write around it, and if that doesn't work I just plow right through it and make a note on my sidebar to fix it in edits. On the side I'll brainstorm and add notes so I have some reference when I go back for revisions. It works sometimes, sometimes it doesn't. It all depends on the snag, really.
Oh, and I totally ripped off your little Twitter/Facebook share button to put on my blogs. And I put your new post up on the Q&I blog for yeh. Happy Sunday!