NOVEMBER IS DONE! YOU HAVE A NOVEL!
Now What?
by Natalie Bright
November is done, and what a great month it is for writers: National Novel Writing Month. It’s a thrilling time to be a writer because of the endless opportunities.
Switching Gears
Did you participate this year? I tried, but had to stop mid-way and switch projects because I could not stay focused on the time period at hand. Another character popped into my head and I just had to give her some attention. That’s when the word count flew. I got more done in the last part of the month than I’ve ever thought possible.
Yay for You!
Many of you blogged about or shared your progress on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks for that, and cheers to those of you who stuck with the work at hand. It’s so hard to power through that first draft and you should congratulate yourself. Writing an entire book is an amazing accomplishment.
One post, however, gave me pause for concern. The word count was impressive for this author’s NaNo November 2012, and it was followed by a listed publishing date of ‘December 2012’. My heart hurts for this person.
You want your book out there more than anything in the world. I understand. Don’t do it. Don’t jeopardize your writing career. That first power draft is not ready for publication. You need to make several more passes through your novel, and I’ve found it’s impossible to analyze these key components at the same time. Each aspect must be looked at separately.
You’re Not Done Yet!
Here’s your editing checklist.
Add sensory elements. The rule is you want at least two to three (or more) senses in every scene. Show me what your character hears, tastes, smells, feels, and can see. And then there’s the whole list of internal senses to consider.
Dialogue. Does the dialogue ring true for each character? Are there plot elements or information the reader needs which can be clarified through dialogue?
Helping Verbs. Best advice I’ve ever had is to search and highlight the word ‘was’. As you power through the first draft, it’s easy to type ‘was’ and keep going. Sometimes when you stop to consider a better word, you might loose the image of that scene. Press on, but always replace those helping verbs with active verbs later.
Chapter Hooks. It’s so important to end each chapter with a hook. Give the reader a reason to keep turning those pages. Make a pass through your novel, reading out loud the first sentence and the last sentence of every chapter.
Critique Groups are next. You need an unbiased opinion from a group or a reader who understand story craft. Even though your mother is proud as punch that you’re holding 60,000 words which you typed all by yourself, she might not be the best one to give you a valuable critique.
Leave it alone. You read this right; shove your baby in a drawer. Go back to your life for a few days, weeks, even months, and then come back to that novel with refreshed eyes.
Grammar check. Read your novel out loud. Not just some parts, the whole thing. Awkward sentences and grammatical errors and strange word substitutions compliments of your computer will be revealed during this pass. Typos are a no brainer–don’t have any. Also consider over-used clichés, point of view, shifts in verb tense, word echoes, and varied sentence length. No one ever said this writing business is easy. This is hard work people so get back to it.
Finally, publish away!
It took me forever to realize that our creative brains don’t work in a linear manner –1, 2, 3. I think our subconscious muse is always working on our stories but the images may come in fragments, never in perfect chapter order and sometimes not even on the work in progress. Don’t stress over it. Just make notes of the scene as it comes to you. You can fix everything during the editing process – that’s when the real work begins.
It’s a thrilling time to be a reader. There are so many great stories out there–keep up the good work everybody!
Wordsmith Six 