Cheryl Klein is the Executive Editor at Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic).The point of revision is re-visioning, helping it to become the book it wants to be.
Revision in three parts
1. Vision: the big picture, what is your story. Know what the core of it is.
2. Examination: Look at what the book actually is.
3. Action: Get to work.
Cheryl has oodles of advice and techniques to share for revision, reminding the room that if you try them all, you are likely procrastinating. It makes sense then that her first piece of advice is: Know how you work best.
Write the spine of the story in one sentence. This will be useful in elevator pitches and family picnics.
Some important and useful questions when thinking about character:
What is your character's joy?
What is your character's pain?
What does character want?
What would your character do to get it?
Change the font of your book before you read it. The change will make it feel less familiar.
Use a spreadsheet to track information in a manuscript.
Write a synopsis of your book from another character's point-of-view.
Know that you don't have to solve all the problems in your book at once.
I didn't sign up for this workshop but heard great things about it. I love the idea of a synop from another character's POV...
ReplyDelete(sorry, no website yet so I hope my FB page will work as the URL!)