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.

Cool Writing Prompt

I met April Michelle Davis, founder of Editorial Inspirations, years ago at an agency mixer. She had just relocated to the Richmond area and was eagerly searching for writers. I've followed her over the years, through her newsletter, enjoying the steady growth of her business. This month's writing prompt is pretty cool.

WRITING PROMPT OF THE MONTH
A knock at the door catches you off guard. Upon answering it, you’re greeted by a man who says he’s from the future—and he can prove it. More important, he says he has information that will save your life. Write this scene.

Besides a monthly prompt, her newsletter includes crunchy tidbits for writers and indexers. I wish I still lived in the Richmond area so I could catch her presentations.

Story Basics in Graph, Table, and Diagram

Here's a clean copy of Kurt Vonnegut's graph of character arcs from the shape of stories video.

Kurt Vonnegut's diagram illustrated by Elaine Greywalker

In the video, he mentions that the names of the plot arcs are just reminders; not limitations. For example: Boy Gets Girl is your basic romantic comedy no matter who gets whom.

The "Cinderella" plot line (which Kurt says will make you a million dollars) could be fitted to the character arc of Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games trilogy—with modifications. The first book is classic Cinderella. Over the entire trilogy, it's a bit different. Primarily, Katniss goes below her beginning level, unlike Cinderella. Secondarily, she ends in the mid-level between Good and Ill Fortune. An interesting exercise would be to graph her arc across the trilogy on Kurt's chart.

Here's Aristotle's version, which is rather more conceptual.

Aristotle's Table of Plots

A good exercise would be to make character arc graphs for these concepts. 

By the way, the central line is "moderate complexity" in case you were wondering. I know I was.

While reading Story by Robert McKee, I made this triangular diagram which is a modification of Mr. McKee's from page 45 of the book.

My version of Rober McKee's plot triangle.

The three corners are indicators of plot types and not quantity of plots. Mr. McKee doesn't write much about the non-narrative plot area. It's still a big undiscovered sea. And, yes, another good exercise would be to make character arc graphs from this triangle.

Getting a Professional Critique of My First Novel

Dear Elaine,
Thanks so much for your submission. This note is to confirm that we have received your file along with contact and project information. ...
Thank you  for your confidence in The Editorial Department.  We look forward to working with you.

At long, long, long last I have finally edited the first ten pages of my 2006 NaNoWriMo novel (Cosmic Control: Bronwen's First Age) to a point where I'm willing to have someone critique them professionally. I have tense issues, as in "which tense do I use here?" I tend to edit rather intuitively depending on how the writing feels as I read it. I did not read the pages aloud. Probably should have done that. Everyone recommends that and I'm sure it's good advice.

I have edited way more than the first ten pages. I'm about a third of the way through my, oh, I don't know, probably fifth pass. Still missing a major plot point which is emerging slowly.

I chose The Editorial Department because I liked their book "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers." I liked the clarity of the goals and suggestions and the lovely attitude they have toward stumbling writers. I'm looking forward to their report, no matter what they tell me.

Next up, finishing my 2009 NaNoWriMo novel draft, which is part two of the planned trilogy of Cosmic Control. Much of it is in my head. The rest is all scribbling and bibbling.