The Long-Awaited, Miscellaneous Completion

Well, despite the fact that this is my first post for the month of December, I feel as if I am somewhat living up to the promises I made you --- those concerning my posting more often? I promise, nay, I vow that there will be at least one other post this month. It might be to wish you a merry Christmas, but that is a noble pursuit! 

In this post is the completion of the lengthy, arduous series I have posted about revising works of fiction. It is fairly miscellaneous, pertaining to a wide realm of topics, but I needed a substantial enough post. Again, forgive me.  

POINTS OF VIEW:

Good times to switch points of view are when your hero isn’t in the scene, another character is in the hot seat, or you must convey some overwhelmingly important piece of information your hero doesn’t know. You can use these moments to introduce other characters more fully, but your recurring point of view is to help fully introduce you to the main character.

SCENES:

Each scene must serve a purpose. It must advance the plot or develop character, preferably both. Your scene should also show conflict between characters, create suspense, and show how the day-to-day life in your world is different from your reader’s life.

Puppet scenes: a puppet scene is a conversation whose sole purpose is to convey information to the reader. Convey information through character dialogue.

Static conversations: a static conversation contains dialogue without much action or conflict. Move their conversation to a new setting and disperse the information throughout actions.

CHAPTERS

Prologues: if you have a prologue, it should be no longer than a few manuscript pages. If it is, shorten it. Look for information you can cut or relocate within your manuscript. In addition, your prologue should meet one or both of the following guidelines.

1.     A significant span of time separates the prologue from the rest of the story. Usually the prologue is something that happened before the events in the book.

2.     The viewpoint character in the prologue never appears as a viewpoint character in the rest of the book (until perhaps the epilogue)

CHAPTER BREAKS

1.      You don’t want your chapters to be shorter than three manuscript pages; if they are, the reader won’t have time to become immersed in the story before the chapter ends. On the other hand, don’t write chapters that drone on for fifty or more pages.

2.      Segment chapters by content. Segmenting your chapters by content is more important than segmenting them by page count. Chapter breaks don’t just divide the story; they break it down into logical pieces. Each chapter must serve a purpose within the novel.

3.      End with a hook. When a reader puts your book down, he’ll most likely do so at a chapter break. As such, each chapter must end with a hook strong enough to drive him onward to the next chapter.

SCENES

Displaying emotions:

1.     Use emotional honesty. Emotions are complex, and each is a part of an emotional spectrum. Don’t restrict your characters to one emotion at a time or to emotional extremes.

2.     Understand the source of the character’s emotion and communicate it to the reader.

3.     Avoid clichés like

a.     Mad as hell

b.    Green with envy

c.     Love so much it hurts

d.    Hate with a passion

4.     Use concrete details. Not bugs, but locusts and flies. Not flowers, but crocuses, pansies, or marigolds. If your character is drinking soda or wine, name the brand (real or fictitious). If she’s reading a book or listening to a song, name it. Choose details that reflect your character’s emotional state.

5.     Use internal monologue.

6.     Use dialogue.

7.     Show physical response.

8.     Use external setting to mirror your character’s emotions.

9.     Use character action.

10.  Express the emotion in a way that is specific to the character.

11.  Use comparisons.

SCENE ENDINGS

1.      Cliffhanger: get your hero into trouble, then leave your reader hangings.

2.      Revealing internal monologue: displaying internal emotions that would otherwise be unknown.

3.      Emotional dialogue: manipulate the mood with the character’s feelings.

There! Ha! Living up to promises feels… sleepy. I don't know. Maybe that's just me. I have been sleeping really badly lately. Alas. There, my splendidly enduring readers: it is done with. Wish me well on falling asleep properly and on… well, I actually don't need much luck. Ah well. Farewell, readers, for tonight.