Thanks to Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, I met a new Twitter Buddy the other day ... Nicole Singer.
That day, Alex posted several of Nicole's links. Some of them were round ups of helpful links, and there was one about editing tips entitled My Favourite Editing Exercises. I'm always looking for Editing tips so I clicked over.
Great tips! The one I put to use immediately was Nicole's suggestion to write
Goal:
Conflict:
Stakes:
at the top of each chapter to let you see at a glance what the chapter is all about.
I never print anything out, so I wondered how to do this effectively. I use Scrivener and I realized I've never used the small Synopsis box in the top right hand corner of the screen for much. The box is there for every single scene, so in each one I plunked in the above with a small alteration...
Goal:
Conflict:
Heroine:
Hero:
Stakes:
I used this as I was doing a revising round of my latest story and it really helped me eliminate some extraneous stuff that was bogging down the story. With Scrivener, that synopsis screen is always visible, even as you're scrolling through the screen, so I wasn't able to ignore it!
I'm thinking for the next story I write, I'll use it as a plan for the scene before I write. Who knows? It might even turn me into a plotter! (Don't hold your breath!)
Thanks again, Nicole for the tips, and Alex for the intro!!
How about you? Do you do anything similar with your chapters? What's one of your favourite editing tips?
33 comments:
That's awesome! Wow, I tweeted something of value. Glad you met Nicole and were able to use one of her tips.
That's a good idea. I'm going to write that down and use it for the story I'm editing right now.
Nice template for editing! Happy New Year, Jemi!
I don't really do that for every chapter, but I keep the plot-wide goal, conflict and stakes in mind in order to keep the story moving forward.
Have a wonderful new year! :-)
Scrivener is there to nudge you into plotting. Tell us all about this transition. It will be very interesting. Happy 2016!
It's been a great help! :)
I'm thrilled with how it's helping me focus :)
I'm liking it!
Same to you Elizabeth :)
Same to you, Misha!
My brain tends to veer off in weird and wacky directions without some guidance :)
I love Scrivener! Even with my wing-it brain! Helps that I write romance because I know the basic end goal :)
Ooh, that's a great editing tip of Nicole's. I may have to find a way to utilize this while plotting future webcomics. Thanks for sharing!
Considering some of the flaws in my writing, it might be worth trying out. Thanks for sharing!
You're welcome! It's working well for me so far! :)
I find conflict HARD so it's definitely helping me! :)
Hey Jemi,
How's it goin', eh? Welcome to 2016! :)
What's this? You have a new twitter buddy! Okay, seems like she has some good tips.
One of my favourite editing tips is not edit. Instead, let the dog look at my writing, watch her shake her head as she grabs the peeboard, um, keyboard and kindly edits my feeble attempts at writing. There you go, eh!
Of course, a paw, um, as per usual, I shall twit, um, tweet your pawst, um post. #Arf! #Eh!
Penny's alleged human,
Gary :)
2016! Who would have thought it would come so quickly!!
I need me a Penny! For Pawesome Pediting! :)
That's such a great tip. You can just think about it as you finish and go back to edit each chapter. Thanks so much and Happy New Year!
I'm loving it - keeps the overall goal right in my line of sight! :)
Awesome tip Jemi. Thanks for sharing.
Great idea! I'm getting ready to edit my first draft on my newest mg. Will try this!
Ha, I never thought I'd be a plotter either, but once I tried it, I never went back. Glad it seems to be working for you.
I do something like that. Since my writing is mostly short fiction I put something like that at the beginning of each and when the time comes--it's there to ponder.
It is a good idea to plan it out before writing starts.
Hope it helps you, too! :)
It's working really well for me! :)
I'm hoping it helps! I'm making baby steps into the plotter world, but they're really tiny baby steps! :)
That's a good plan, Teresa! I need to have the goals right up in my face, or I get caught up and forget! :)
Yeah, I wish I was better at that! :)
Sounds like a great tip! I don't do anything like that- except maybe a basic outline before I start writing. Good luck! :)
~Jess
That's always been my style as well - but I'd love to be more of a plotter!
Ah, yes. Those lovers entwined always leave you with a sigh and a smile.
All the best with plotting, Jemi!
Thanks Kelly :)
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