The traditional three- and five-act structure is great for writers who outline. For those who don’t, not so much which is why it’s not a huge problem if you look at this item on the checklist and can’t really check it off: ☐ Key events or turning points form a …
Tag: Edit Like A Pro
Choose your novel’s structure
We’ve completed the Plot segment of the Elements of Fiction Editing Checklist, and now we move on to Structure. Traditionally, writing instructors have advocated a structure for novels modeled after that used in theater, which is why this item is on the checklist: ☐ Key events or turning points form …
Don’t rush the ending of your novel
I’ve spent a lot longer on this matter of the satisfying ending than any other point on the Elements of Fiction Editing Checklist. That’s because it’s so critical. A bad ending can ruin an otherwise great book. But I’m nearly done with endings, and next time we’ll move on to …
The end of your novel is about characters
Lots of stuff is going on at the end of your novel. There’s action and revelation and emotional upheaval. But it all must be presented in terms of what’s happening to the people. Ideally, your characters will be proactive. There’s probably a whole other blog post in that. Characters who …
Understand the difference between a twist and a trick
Your novel’s ending must be inevitable, but preferably not predictable. Yeah, that’s easier said than done. This is hard to plan for as you’re writing. Editing is the place to make it happen. Because once you’ve written the ending, it’s much easier to go back and layer in the plants …
Avoid late character introductions
There’s a lot that goes into crafting a satisfying ending to a novel. So I’ll take a little longer covering this point than some of the others. One problem I sometimes see, even in published books, is a new character suddenly introduced near the end for no apparent reason. Any …
Craft a satisfying ending
Writing books seem to give less attention to endings than they do to other elements of fiction. Yet a satisfying ending is a necessity. An unsatisfying ending will produce negative reviews, eliminate word-of-mouth referrals, and ruin your chances of getting repeat readers. Nobody reads a mystery to get to the …
Don’t leave readers hanging off a cliff
Writers of series books have gotten into an ugly habit lately. They leave readers hanging, either by giving them a cliffhanger or just arbitrarily picking a stopping point for one book. You can tell by some of the one- and two-star reviews on Amazon that readers are sick of this …
Answer story questions before you get to the end
When we first started talking about plot, I mentioned the “story problem” or “major dramatic question.” A good story will raise multiple questions. They don’t all need to be—in fact, shouldn’t be—answered at once, but they do need to be answered for the ending to be satisfying. We’ll talk more …
Use a light hand with your novel’s theme
There’s a fine line between giving your novel a theme, delivering a message, and just being didactic. I’ll never tell you these things have no place in your book, because many great books have them. But when you do them, you must first of all embed them in an engaging …