Editing a Novel

I've signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo, the poorer, less selfish cousin of NaNoWriMo. Instead of luscious luxury hotels, we camp out under the stars and instead of a novel, we write whatever. Although you can write a novel, too. Or anything else your heart desires.

I will continue desultory editing of my 2009 novel draft, Cosmic Control: The Prime Locus Learns Something. The real learning will be by me as I continue investigating ways to edit.  So far, I've discovered two techniques that work for me: breaking the novel into scenes and writing short sentences.

The scene divisions will allow me flexibility in rearranging the plot. The short sentences will (hopefully) point out exactly what is going on in each scene. I can't remember where I got the scene idea. From scriptwriting, possibly.

The short sentence idea came from the book Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg which is a unique book written all in short sentences. It's more like a poem than a non-fiction book. Shorter sentences are clearer and to the point. This should help remove vagueness and focus the action of each scene.

Although camp begins April 1st, I will get going before then. Or continue on from my failed attempt in February. Hoping camp will keep me motivated to move forward.