discussion
How to Write Confessions of Lurrrrve
once-upon-a-whovian asked:
I need two characters to confess their love for each other, but I can’t figure out how to do that without it being some kind of deus ex machina. How do I make it realistic?
For clarity’s sake, and so as not to assume you’re writing about cis straight characters, let’s label your character “Love 1” and “Love 2”. Cause we progressive like dat.
As with all writing, it depends on the circumstances of your story. First and foremost, the point of view and narrative mode are important—has the whole story only been told in first or third by Love 1? Is the story in the omniscient third, so we know what’s going on in both of their heads? Is the story written in close first, alternating from Love 1 to Love 2 and back?
Let me back up a little bit and tell you why this is important: As with twists, surprises, and anything gratuitous in a story you’re writing, deus ex machina is considered “cheap” and unrealistic because there’s no context. If reading a story is like a relationship—you meet, you warm up to each other, you get involved—deus ex machina, twists, etc. are like learning 6 months in that your significant other was in prison for 5 years right before you met. Basically you’d be like, wtf, where is this coming from.
So what I’m saying is that you need to give this “reveal”—Loves 1 & 2 professing their love to one another—context before it actually happens. In other words, you need to do that lovely thing that we call foreshadowing.
Think about mysteries—the best ones are the ones where you can figure it out yourself before the big reveal, and the most annoying ones are the ones with some big twist at the ending you never could have foreseen. And the best “big love reveals”, of course, are the ones we can see coming and are biting our nails to see happen (I’m looking at you, Jim and Pam!). Kurt Vonnegut famously said, “Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.”
In your specific case, you need to make Love 1 and Love 2’s affections for each other known—or at least plausible to the reader—before Love 1 and Love 2 reveal it to each other. Hence why the narrative mode and point of view are important, because how you’re going to present foreshadowing information will vary based on how your story’s being written.
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aliensabductingaliens:
If you're Dan Brown, you keep your chapters very short and end them at a poorly shoe-horned in cliffhanger so the reader feels obligated to keep reading. It's like Mario levels or Potato chips. "Oh, I'll just have another. It's okay" It's why Cracked puts everything in list form. Short and sweet = keep reading.
This in response to this question from earlier. All responses are tagged framing chapters.
samanthasaurus:
To answer the chapter question: I've always found it instinctual. There are usually times when the action or event you're writing feels like it's concluding, and I usually break the chapter then. Through years of trusting that instinct, I've become pretty good at have a natural way of developing plot in chapter chunks inside my head, just naturally. I guess you should just figure out what the big event was of your chunk of writing, and end it when it feels that's concluded?
This in response to this question from earlier. All responses are tagged framing chapters.
fifteen-seventeen:
think of a chapter as it's own tiny story. When it has an arc, and the arc is over, then you should end it.
This in response to this question from earlier. All responses are tagged framing chapters.
I’m going to open this up to our followers.
Answer wildflowerart’s question.
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vickytorious:
About editing -- get a beta-reader that you trust and will give you good feedback. Give them a paper copy and tell them to take a highlighter to the passages that go slowly, so you know where to trim the fat. To keep continuity, have a sheet of paper for each main character, and as you reread, write down the little factoids about them that you've littered through the novel. It helps to see if you've been inconsistent. :)
This in response to this question from the other day.
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vagrantmuse:
For the nanowrimo editing ask, I'm a huge fan of creating outlines and, essentially, replanning the story right from the beginning. Before you delve too deeply into your work, it's helpful to assess which details you can remember most clearly so you can differentiate between main and side plots and also determine which scenes and characters may be disposable later in the editing process. Breaking it up into smaller acts and creating character profiles will also make things easier.
I’m definitely not usually an outliner (I like to know the beginning and the end, and the fun is getting myself from point A to point B), but I feel like with a longer piece my process should be 1. write a horrendous, all over the place draft 2. back away, reassess, write an outline 3. place the salvageable original content into said outline 4. flesh out the missing pieces. I don’t think I could make an outline before spitting out a first draft because actually writing that draft made me have to confront so many things about the story that I never would have thought to before I actually started writing. It also makes some aspects of the story and plot points come out more organically.
This in response to this question from last night.
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magicbunni:
After I finish a draft, I read it back for sense and cohesion. If stuff is missing, I add, or note, it. I correct grammar and spelling. All chapters and scenes have to work to a goal (main plot or subplot). I usually cut anything gratuitous (not pointing at my goals) now. This early on (my first pass) is a good time to ask myself "Is this boring?" or "Is this character unlikable?" Basically, first pass is a good time to start identifying big problems, noting them, and thinking how to fix them.
This in response to this question from earlier.
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pinstripedjackalope:
On editing longer pieces--I am currently doing the same, and what I've found to be helpful is to make lists. List your major plot shifts, list characters and their traits, list how things are supposed to work, list problems, etc. It's helping me!
This in response to this question from earlier.
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inwhichifeelallthefeels:
So, to that editing question (and there’s a lot of info, so this is coming in 3 or 4 messages, I hope that is all right.) Revising: First, I like to have a printed hard copy. For plot, I go through the novel and make sticky notes with every single major plot point that actually exists in the writing and put them on my wall. Then look at the plot points to see where the gaps and mix ups are and make sticky notes of a different color and throw them up there too, so I know what I have to work with.
I do a lot of the same thing for the characters too, like I’ll have a sheet of paper for each character and I’ll write down traits as I come across them when I read through the novel and make sure there aren’t any that are conflicting or don’t make sense and I’ll mark them if there are. (I keep page numbers where the trait appeared for reference) I usually only do all of this once, but sometimes more. NaNo pieces usually take at least two go throughs. When I actually do the rewriting thing, unless the plot has changed a huge amount, I keep the original file open on half of my computer screen and the document that I’m rewriting into open on the other half. I basically rewrite it page by page. If it still feels off to me, I’ll go through the whole process again, but I’ve only ever had to do that once. Then I start letting other people read it.
This in response to this question from earlier.
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lifeiswritable:
In response to the ask about the revision process with longer manuscripts, I suggest checking out Veronica Roth's tumblr (theartofnotwriting). She has three recent blog post that are incredibly insightful about how she's going about the revision process with her final book in the Divergent trilogy. Good luck! I worry for the day revisions begin with my current manuscript. :)
This in response to this question from earlier.
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proverbial-sunrise:
I've only ever fully edited one of my NaNo novels so I may not have the best advice, but this is what I did: I had the whole thing printed and coilbound and then I read it over with a red pen and made notes and changes. The downside is it costs money, but the upside is mistakes are usually easier to catch on paper and it forces you to start at the beginning. Also, get it printed one-sided so you have the back sides of the pages to make really big changes (which you will need to do, I promise).
This in response to this question from earlier.
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skkeogh:
Find a couple of good beta readers and/or a serious critique group (but be prepared to have a thick skin and an opened mind). It is best if you find readers who read and/or write within your genre.
I personally think I’d like to do a couple of rounds of self edits, until it’s at the point where I’m okay with it but need other eyes. But maybe that’s just me.
This in response to this question from earlier.
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wordsofthequiet:
Regarding editing: I wrote, edited, and self-published my novel and I'm much better at editing for character, plot, etc. than I am for sentence structure (the opposite of most, I think). My first tip is to read through once, twice, or three times taking vigorous notes on the plot and characters. Would someone else understand why something is happening? Why the character is acting that way? Try to pretend you know nothing about it. Have someone else read it, too. For more help, send me an ask
This in response to this question from earlier.
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scr1ptor:
Do you have any advice for revising/rewriting a novel? I’m fixing up my NaNoWriMo novel, but I have no clue where to start. The storyline, the characters, everything needs working on. It’s so overwhelming!
I’m actually having this problem too. I’m the type of writer who usually has to edit more for sentence structure than plot/characters, but obviously that changes when you’re dealing with a piece of writing as long as a NaNo. My story has huge chunks missing, continuity errors, questionable plot aspects that I haven’t finalized yet… all kinds of things that I feel like I need to address first before I even need to think about line editing.
If there are any yeah writers out there who have experienced editing longer form works, I’d love to hear what works for you—if you have a system, or an anecdote you’d be willing to share, or there’s something that really helped you when you were editing something—let us know by sending an ask!
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