Tweak the opening or re-write it?

Something's off with my opening. My critique partners gave me great notes, and I've revised and revised and revised, but still, something isn't quite right. I'm having a devil of a time figuring it out.

My main question to myself is this: should I scrap the whole opening, or tweak what I've already written?

Before I got Delete Happy, I decided to crack open the awesome craft books in my library and remind myself what an opening should include and what it should accomplish. With that information, I can then figure out if my opening is worthy of living another day.

I'll repeat some advice from my three favorite books. If you don't own these books, I highly recommend them.

In Plot & Structure, James Scott Bell reminds us of three important points about beginnings:

1. "The first task of your beginning is to hook the reader."
2. "Use great opening lines, action, teasers, attitude, story frames, or prologues (really?) to grab the reader." 
3. "Watch out for dull exposition at the beginning. Act first, explain later. (love that piece of advice)

In Revision & Self-Editing, James Scott Bell suggests we ask ourselves these key questions about the opening:

• "Do I open with some part of the story engine running? Or am I spending too much time warming up?"
• "How do my opening pages conform to Hitchcock's axiom ('A good story is life with the dull parts taken out')
• "What is the story world I'm trying to present? What mood descriptions bring that story world to life for the reader?"
• "What is the tone of my novel going to be? Are the descriptions consistent with that mood?"
• "What happens in Act I that's going to compel the reader to keep reading? What danger to the Lead?"
• "Who is the opposition to the Lead? Is he as strong, or preferably stronger, than the Lead? How do I show this?"
• "Is there enough conflict in the setup to run through the whole book?"

Most of us have read Hooked, by Les Edgerton, which is packed with great advice about openings. In Chapter 5, under "Putting it all together in your own work," he suggests we figure out our protagonist's story-worthy problem, write a compelling scene that will reveal the surface problem and story-worthy problem, and set up the main character's goal.

No pressure, right?

Published author and blogger extraordinaire Janice Hardy helps us with openings in these great posts:

Double Jeopardy: Hooking the Reader's Brains and Heart
In the Beginning: Which Type of Opening Works Best?

There's no shortage of advice on how to create great openings. For instance, when I plugged in "openings" in the Writer's Knowledge Base, a long list of helpful posts popped up. Same thing when I plugged in "beginnings."

The tricky part for me is applying all this information to my existing work in progress. After reading through these reminders, my plan is to marinate on this information for a few days, and then decide what does or doesn't make the cut with my opening.

To tweak or re-write the opening? I still don't have a clue. But at least I have the tools to help me sort it all out.

How about you? Do you struggle with whether to tweak what you've got or ditch the whole opening and start over? How do you decide what stays and what ends up on the cutting room floor? If you've got some helpful advice, I'm all ears!

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Three ways to give your characters True Grit

So I've been thinking a lot about characters lately, and studying ways to strengthen them. I dove back in to Revision and Self-Editing by James Scott Bell, and was reminded of his summary of three characteristics that make great characters, the first one being grit.

He says the first unbreakable rule for major characters in fiction is No Wimps! Characters can start out as wimps, but early on they must develop grit and do something. Grit must be shown in action.

If our story is dragging, Bell suggests looking at the heart of our main character. Is she acting like a wimp? Is she "taking it" without doing anything about it? Courage bonds us with lead characters, so here are some ways Bell suggests we put some fight into the people we've created:

1. "Think up a scene early in your novel where your characters must show inner courage." One example is she could come to someone else's defense by confronting a bully at school. Stiffening her spine early on will foreshadow a greater display of courage later in the book.
2. "Or the above character can back down, setting up the necessity for growth." Maybe she sees a victim being bullied and wants to come to the rescue but backs down out of fear. Or perhaps she's pushed toward bullying herself, in order to fit in. She knows it's wrong but does it anyway.
3. "Play up your character's inner battle at the time of challenge." When our main characters struggle with inner fears it adds depth to our work. As Bell says, "No one except James Bond goes into battle without fear."

If you need help getting to know your characters better, Jody Hedlund's character worksheet is a great place to start.

Do your main characters have grit? Or do they start out wimpy and grow from there? I'd love to hear about them.

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Performing Plot CPR

I recently finished another round of revisions. I had loosely plotted this story, but knew it was bloated and needed plenty of medical intervention. The thought of evaluating every scene overwhelmed me to the point of procrastination.

How can we revive a plot? Each writer has their own unique solutions, but for the sake of this post, imagine yourself wearing scrubs, holding electric paddles, and shouting, "Clear!"

Using combined advice from many sources, including my critique partner, Leslie Rose, and tips from Revision & Self Editing, I created a plot spreadsheet. I know, I know, I usually read spreadsheet and flee. But stay with me. These were my column headers:

• Chapter number
• Scene summary--just a couple of quick lines about the scene
• Setting
• Characters--which main players were involved in the scene?
• Conflict--I've learned each scene should have conflict. If there wasn't any, that gave me the green light to add friction or delete the scene.
• Goal of scene--what was my MC's goal? Again, if there wasn't any, that was a red flag.
• Antagonist/Opposition--in each scene, who or what stood in my MC's way of reaching her goal?
• Outcome--after each conflict, what were the consequences? If there were none, more red flags.
• Day/Time--this helped me make sure I wasn't goofing up on time sequence (unless that's your objective!)
• First line of the chapter
• Last line of the chapter--these two columns helped me judge the quality of my beginning and ending lines.
• Notes/Ideas--eventually this column moved next to my scene summary for easy reference. As I evaluated each scene, this is where I wrote my overall thoughts of the scene, how it could improve, or whether or not it could be deleted.

Does this mean I'm finished with revisions? No way. The book is now with trusted beta readers, and I know there will be heavy editing in the future. But spending time evaluating each scene provided me with clarity and focus.

Have you ever done anything like this, or does a spreadsheet make you run for the hills? What's your secret for administering plot CPR?

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Revision--The Long View

Writing is an easy, quick way to get rich, right? I know, I know, stop laughing.

We've all learned that writing can be a long, arduous process that's not for the faint of heart. It's a profession where dogged determination rises above speed. It involves hard work, constant learning, failure, and the desire to take the long view of our writing careers.

I'm preparing to tackle the daunting task of a big revision. I opened REVISION AND SELF EDITING** by James Scott Bell and instantly felt at ease. He reminds us that most successful people take "the long view." For example, doctors train for years before they're able to practice medicine. It's a long road for them, but in the end, it's worth it. Same with writing. When it comes to revision, Bell advises, "Don't look at the mountaintop. Look at the path in front of you." Here are some of Bell's wise words about revision:

Take the long view and learn to see revision as a friend. Being a smart, disciplined reviser delivers a number of benefits:

• It makes you a better writer. With each revision session you learn more about your craft, and the next time you write you'll write stronger.
• It marks you as a professional. Editors and agents who see your work ethic will be more certain of your ability to produce good books.
• It builds confidence and encourages you to stretch your horizons.
• It is its own reward. When you've put in good, solid revision time, you rest easier at the end of the day.

This is why I heart James Scott Bell. Our favorite books were revised like crazy, and we should expect to do the same. Yes, a major revision takes a lot of time, patience, and hard work, but future readers deserve nothing less from us.

Is revision your favorite or least favorite part of the process? And have you ever tackled a major revision?

**Yes, I'm obsessed with Bell's books. I refer to them over and over again because his writing books have helped me that much. I'm sharing what I'm learning along the way.

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Dialogue--Make it Matter

In REVISION & SELF-EDITING (a must-have in a writer's library, IMHO), James Scott Bell shares this secret: "Dialogue is the fastest way to improve your fiction." He reminds us that dialogue must be intentional, and we need to know why we're writing it. Here are Bell's 8 essentials for good dialogue:

1. It is essential to the story. It must advance the plot, reveal character, and reflect theme.
2. It comes from one character to another character. Fictional dialogue must not be seen as an attempt to dump information.
3. It has conflict or tension. Bell repeats Hitchcock's principle that great dialogue has the dull parts taken out.
4. It sounds just right for the piece. Dialogue should keep readers in the story instead of pulling them out.
5. It sounds just right for each character. Consider vocabulary, favorite words and expressions, regionalisms, dialect, and syntax.
6. It isn't real life speech. Fictional dialogue must have the suggestion of real speech, but every word is purposeful (careful with um and uh).
7. It is compressed. Bells suggests that unless a character has a strong reason to run off at the mouth, strive for crispness in word choice.
8. It is rich with subtext. Bell states that "In great dialogue, what is unsaid is as important as what is spoken out loud."

Bell reminds us that dialogue in fiction is another form of character action, where the people we create try to further their agendas.

Let's talk. What's your opinion of these essentials, and do you have any dialogue tips you can share?

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Cliff, meet my good friend Hanger

I have a love/hate relationship with brilliant chapter ends. I love them when I have a large amount of time to read. I hate them when it's late at night and I can't bring myself to close the book.

As writers, it's safe to assume we all wish to write stories the reader can't put down. But from first draft to printed copy, how do we get there? How do you determine your chapter ends? Do you organize your chapters in such a way that the climax of a scene coincides with an acceptable word count? Do you alternate points of view with each chapter?

In Revision & Self-Editing, James Scott Bell offers these suggestions for page-turning chapter ends:

• a mysterious line of dialogue
• an image that's full of foreboding (like the fog rolling in)
• a secret suddenly revealed
• a major decision or vow
• announcement of a shattering event
• reversal or surprise - new information that turns the story around
• a question left hanging in the air

If the readers says, "Just one more chapter" at 1 a.m., the author has done his job. For more information about chapter ends, check out this post about Chapter Endings & the Hunger Games, and this one...The End is -- Shoot, Too Soon.

Please share: how do you determine a chapter's end or a page turn?

On a side note, I recently discovered an amazing resource for writers (am I the only one who didn't know about this?) It's called Writer's Knowledge Base (now linked on my sidebar). This Google-like search is organized by Elizabeth Craig, and if you're on Twitter, you know how plugged in she is.

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