Problems with pacing can kill your book. Ever get halfway through reading a novel, put it down to do something else, and never pick it up again? That probably had something to do with the pacing. You want to create the must...turn...the...page desire in your readers and render them incapable of closing your book until they finish that last chapter.

It was recently pointed out to me that I had some pacing issues in the first few chapters of TOPAZ. I had some scenes where little happened to move the story forward, or where my heroine was acting passively instead of taking charge, or which had repetitive actions.

As all authors know, it's often difficult to evaluate your writing objectively, but for fixing pacing issues, it's essential. Here is the plan of attack I used. As always, your mileage may vary.

1. I started by reading through the problem chapters and jotting down a list of events, minor and major.
   
2. With the list complete, I highlighted the essential events, the ones that were absolutely necessary to the development of the story.
   
3. Next, I reviewed the list to identify patterns of repetitive actions, or areas where there were few actions. For example, I had two phone conversations in a row. Definite pace killer.
   
4. Then I asked myself some questions. Did the heroine need to meet up with the hero three times, or would one meeting suffice? What would happen if I moved this essential event up half a chapter? What if I changed this four-page-long in-person meeting to a half-page phone conversation?
5. And...the rewriting commenced.

One of the things I've realized I need to watch for during my revision is ensuring that each scene has a point, a hook, something to propel the reader on to the next scene. As a pantser, I don't plan my scenes, so it's far too easy to have scenes that have no point.

Happy writing!

I'm not quite in Revision Hell. It's more like Revision Heck. I'm not loving this stage of creating a novel, but I'm dealing with it. I'm battling my impatience to just have the damn thing done already! and instead focusing on making sure it's the absolute best piece of work that I can make it.

I had the pleasure of attending a workshop by Eve Silver back in September, courtesy of my RWA chapter. She talked about plot and pacing in that workshop, which was invaluable. She also gave us a list of online resources to check out. One of the best so far is Holly Lisle's website.

Holly Lisle has a ton of free resources for authors of all levels, but especially ones just starting out. She has free online workshops, articles, and more. A workshop that stood out for me was the One Pass Revision.

I found the first steps of the process (identifying theme(s), writing a 25-word description of your story, and so on) very helpful. As a pantser, I didn't have these things planned out when I wrote TOPAZ. The story and theme just kind of naturally developed. But formally identifying that theme solidified the purpose of the story in my mind and gives me something to refer to as I revise.

What's my theme? Everyone Can Be A Hero

My story in 25 words or less: A woman who believes she's a useless freak becomes a hero and finds love and acceptance in the process.

Some of the other aspects of the workshop I'm having a little more trouble with, like revising only once. Maybe it takes practice, but I've revisited Chapter 1 a few times now. I'm getting a little sick of it. I've moved on through to Chapter 4, which I completed revising last night. Maybe. I'll need to have a look over it to be sure.

Happy writing!

I know for a lot of writers, the editing and revising phase is the most painful. And then, to twist the knife a bit...just when you think your work is ready to be released into the wild, you have the dreaded proofreading stage. No more, I tell you! No more!

Proofreading doesn't have to be torture. Honest. I worked as a professional proofreader and copy editor for a number of years, and there are some simple tricks I used when reviewing copy over and over again.

1. Read the text backwards. And no, I don't mean sounding out the words in reverse. Instead of reading the first word in a sentence and moving through to the last, read the last one first. This technique allows you to focus on each word instead of skimming over a sentence you've read a thousand times before.

2. Print out the text and review it on hard copy. There's something about proofreading on screen that just doesn't work well.

3. Read the text out loud. Don't rush through it. Really focus on each word and the punctuation. Does anything sound stilted? Jodi Meadows uses a variation on this technique: she has a program on her iMac that reads her text aloud so she can identify problems.

4. For your own convenience, get to know some basic proofreader's marks. It's a lot easier to scribble "#" for a space than "space".

5. If you have a reliable, knowledgeable friend who can proofread for you, by all means ask them to. But notice the keywords reliable and knowledgeable. For a proofreader, you want someone who knows their grammar, punctuation, and spelling rules. You need to be able to trust that if they add a comma, they're fixing a problem and not creating a new one.

Proofreading isn't hard, not really. It just takes time and patience and a willingness to look over your work one...more...time.


TOPAZ status: I've been posting some of the rewritten chapters on my writer's forum to moderate reception. I think the general consensus is that the chapters are better than the previous ones, but there haven't been any screams of adoration for the new versions. I'll have to contain myself. :) Writing continues!

Does anyone else act out the action scenes they write?

Okay, before you roll your eyes and back away slowly, let me explain.

I'm working on Chapter 16 of TOPAZ and there's a fairly intense action sequence where Faith tangles with the guy who kidnapped her best friend. There's one point in particular that I have pictured in my head, but I'm not sure if the movements would be right...so I'm debating if I should enlist my hubby to help me act it out. I just need to find out if Faith would see a movement I want her to be able to see.

So...does anyone else do that? Or am I weird?


TOPAZ status: Chapter 16 is chugging along. I took the original version, written before I made the significant changes to Chapter 15, and I've intensified it. The bad guy is a lot scarier, and I think I'll amp up the tension even more. And I'm debating when I want Jason to show up ('cause you know he will).