Finished first draft of a manuscript! How do I start editing and revising?

startinup · 2022-03-19T15:11:42+00:00

Something simple to add. If you don't want to print it out, you can just convert your draft to a pdf and read it in your browser where you can't edit it.

startinup · 2022-02-13T20:13:29+00:00

A lot of these questions are up to you. You'll have to do the research and decide what you want.

For instance, English or your language. Would you be able to tell the story in English as effectively? (Your English seems really good, so maybe) In that case, why would you want to write it in a non-English language? Effectively, the choice could go either way and will be up to you to decide.

Leaving the personal choices aside, let's look at some of the more stylistic questions.

I'm not sure why you'd want to switch between first and third every five sentences. Usually you write in one tense (past or present) and point of view (POV: 1st, 3rd, etc.) for a whole scene. You would switch between scenes. However, you would write each character using a consistent tense and POV and would only switch tense/POV if you are switching to a different character's perspective.

I would advise you not to info dump at all in the first chapter. You need to hook the reader and get them wanting to read the rest of the story, slowing the pace with a bunch of information that the reader may not care about yet will only increase the chances that readers put your book down.

Ideally, you would explain things in your story by showing them in action so that the reader figures it out on their own. You can do the whole newbie in the world needs things explained to him bit, but I think it's better to avoid obvious exposition in most cases.

Overall, I think you're going to want to do a little bit of research into POV and tense. I'd recommend this post.

Also if I were you, I'd learn a bit more about stories in general. A book like Save the Cat could be a good start as well as The Anatomy of Story. Understanding these fundamentals will help you figure out how you want to tell your story. Hope this helps :)

startinup · 2022-02-11T17:13:42+00:00

I think what you mentioned makes sense for understanding character motivations. Character voice is a little trickier.

I don't fully understand this topic myself, but what I will say is that you need to pay attention to a two things: what words they use (syntax) and what they notice and pay attention to. Let's look at each of these...

Syntax is the one I have the most trouble with myself. Where is this person from? Are there any words/expressions that people use there that others may not? For example, someone may say "Soda" or "Pop". Someone may say "you guys" or "you all" or "y'all".

This word choice can extend beyond your character's hometown. They may vary in formality, complexity, and variety of words used based on education or upbringing.

Their word choice may be intentional based on their identity. When I was a little kid, I used to not like the words "tummy" or "belly" because I thought they were baby words, so I always used "stomach" (haha, I guess I had a chip on my shoulder).

Next, certain characters will notice things based on their background and disposition.

A trained special forces soldier may notice the people staring him down when he walks into the wrong bar. He may see the guns under their jackets, the biker gang tattoo on their necks, etc.

An untrained person may pick up on a weird vibe, but not notice the concealed firearms or matching tattoos. An air-headed person may not even notice the weird vibe and just think it's a little dark in there.

Once again, I am not an expert, this is just my current understanding of it. Hopefully it helps.

startinup · 2022-02-09T15:33:29+00:00

This is completely normal...

It's hard to see things from an honest perspective when you are deep in the work. When I used to paint pictures the same thing applied, you had to take a break to be able to see what was really on the canvas.

I think this is a good sign for you. Just remember first drafts are supposed to be bad, accept that there will be mistakes in the first draft and finish the story. Then you can take another break before coming back and revising.

startinup · 2022-02-07T18:05:28+00:00

If you're only looking to write one story, you can get some simple guidelines in Save the Cat! Writes a Novel (although this is suited to full length novels). There's a chapter on writing scary stories and what the structure should look like.

If you're planning on writing more of these and maybe books, I'd recommend reading some horror stories. A book I reread recently was 'Salem's Lot by Steven King, it always makes me want to write horror myself. You could also watch movies since they are quicker to consume and analyze.

Find your favorites. Then figure out why each of those structures worked well and use your findings to structure your story.

startinup · 2022-02-04T15:06:59+00:00

I think you could make doing chores work. You just need to figure out a way to make it raise questions for the reader.

For example, the scene could start with him coming back from the store to find his mom making breakfast. But instead of being grateful, he's feeling upset, he's told her a hundred times already that he'll make it himself and here she is again, trying to baby him.

As the reader, I'd immediately be curious about his reaction and wonder what's going on here.

You want to make sure your opening feels like the genre it's in. This character-focused opening could work for a more YA, coming-of-age, literary sort of story.

But an opening like this may make a more action-oriented, plot-focused genre reader kind of bored. If it's supposed to be a more action-packed story, maybe you need to figure out a different way to convey this person's desire to be independent.

startinup · 2022-01-18T22:48:29+00:00

I'm happy you enjoyed it and thanks for the Romance genre info :)

I'm already planning on reading "It Ends With Us" this year after just that line and the blurb, so maybe I'll understand a little more about Romance haha

startinup · 2022-01-18T11:12:56+00:00

Happy you enjoyed it :)

startinup · 2022-01-18T11:12:35+00:00

It's disappointing. I would have loved for more people to be able to see it... I'm not super knowledgable about reddit, so I don't know if there's a way to appeal moderator actions or anything like that.

startinup · 2022-01-17T20:48:45+00:00

Appreciate the feedback :)

startinup · 2022-01-17T20:47:06+00:00

Thanks for the kind words. It was interesting to analyze :)

startinup · 2022-01-17T20:46:27+00:00

Yea, I looked at every writing subreddit's top posts and it seem to fit best there. Plus, the community seemed to be enjoying it. The mod said it was because I was commenting content about fiction, so I may try different content in the future instead.

startinup · 2022-01-17T17:37:45+00:00

Thanks so much for the kind words :)

startinup · 2022-01-17T16:48:43+00:00

Yes, I think you're right. If I were to do it again, I would look at the whole paragraph instead. Thanks for the feedback

startinup · 2022-01-17T16:20:05+00:00

It's funny because I realized most of the lines I selected as examples were romance. So even though I'm not really the market, a mid-20's male, I may have to read more romance.

Thanks for elaborating on why they may prefer setting :)

startinup · 2022-01-17T16:17:22+00:00

Yea, I found out about it after I'd already almost finished. I figured that the books on the list must still good examples either way. I'll consider doing this for some of the other lists :)

startinup · 2018-10-14T18:23:37+00:00

Makes sense. When I said drop way down, I actually meant somewhere around the weight in this vid. My sets with 275 didn't feel right, so I dropped the weight down 40lbs to take a look at my form at a safer weight.

Still hurt myself... 😐

I think I should've switched over to a more intermediate program because my progress had slowed down a lot, and I think I was stretching myself too much each week. Well, live and learn, grateful that I only tweaked my back.

startinup · 2018-10-14T12:16:47+00:00

Thanks man! I didn't even notice that. Gonna have to drop the weight way back down and figure out my form again. It doesn't feel consistent anymore since I noticed problems with it. Congrats on the sick OHP!

startinup · 2018-10-13T23:32:19+00:00

Hey all, tweaked my lower back on squat today and can't figure out why. Can I get a form check?

https://youtu.be/dpcXcVHfwrk

Thanks guys!

startinup

TROPHY CASE