“To write simply is as difficult as to be good.”
Somerset Maugham
Micro-revision // First Steps
After the macro revision and after deconstructing your premise, themes, etc put your manuscript away. Let it cool down. As written so brilliantly by Kathy Crowley in Beyond The Margins, what happens in the drawer is a bit of magic. Refrigerate your book between each revision. Fresh eyes are a writer’s best, if most cynical, friend. When you are madly in love with your product is the time to resist. Resist sending it out to agents, resist giving it to everyone in your family (no matter how hard they beg) and resist reading and re-reading your over-loved words until you’ve memorized it.
You need to look at your book with eyes as critical as the ones judging how your ex’s have fared.
A Checklist for technical concerns:
Issues & Questions to ask yourself after every draft.
1) Showing or telling? How much narrative summary do you have? Does enough happen in scene? Is your prose as active as possible? Do you have he was angry or he shattered the window?
“Don’t say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.” Mark Twain
2) Characterization? Avoid thumbnails sketches and let characters unfold before the reader. Don’t define everything the moment they come on stage, start with a bit of looks, and let character’s personality unfold before reader. Watch out for ‘looking in the mirror’ descriptions. Have your characters
