#amwritingromance

Revising a novel can feel like you’re standing at the beginning of an unending, cracked desert and have no idea how to get to the other side. Your mouth goes dry. As does every other impulse.

But in order to get from a crappy first draft to a polished manuscript, you have to go through that desert. Well equipped.

Step 1: Play the Reader

Spend at least two weeks away from your completed first draft. You’ve just written The End so… Get drunk. Take that shower. Feed the cat. And get fresh perspective. Then forget that you’re this fabulous writer orchestrating your story’s destiny.

You heard me. Forget it.

Take a backseat and simply be a reader, settling into your book as if for the first time. And read your entire story from beginning to end.

And when you do this, make time. You want to read, if not all at once, then in big chunks. Don’t take long breaks. This will allow you to keep the entire story in your head in a short amount of time and really give you that broad view of the plot, characters, and overall flow.

Step 2: Take Notes, Notes, Notes

You’ve stepped back from all the details to see what you’ve really created. (Ahhh, my trainwreck.) There were some jewels, but maybe it’s not as good as you thought it was.

Don’t despair. Resist the I’M A TERRIBLE WRITER AND WILL DIE ALONE IN A DARK ALLEY WHILE CATS EAT MY CARCASS feeling. And take a deep breath.

Any story problem can be fixed.Trust me, I’m a professional.

Besides, you wrote a full draft! Most people haven’t even done that. They were binge-netflixing House Hunters instead. (I should really quit that show.)

The good news is: while you were reading, you were mentally gathering first impressions.

And with all the pens at your disposal, or highlighting tool, or commenting tool, now’s the time to jot down these impressions—any big story elements you found problematic. Ideas and areas that strike you as odd or not yet right.

Maybe you have too many unnecessary scenes that can be combined or deleted to tighten the pacing.

Character goals weren’t clearly stated.

The plot is like an unmanned airplane taking a nosedive.

The middle is lagging, dragging, sagging.

Things feels too safe and boring.

Or maybe an idea needs further exploration and time in the story.

The BIG stuff.  

When you take your notes, resist the temptation to go deep into your manuscript and lose your way. Just jot them down, and keep going.

Step 3: Re-imagine, Rewrite, or Search and Destroy

This is where you’ll do the most heavy lifting in your manuscript. Think of it as fixing the holes in your ship before picking out the window treatments.

The good news is:

When you made all of your notes, you were giving yourself a map to follow.

But what might some big issues really look like?

I love examples. Examples save lives.

Maybe you’re noticing your hero, Kevin, lacks integrity throughout his journey. He’s declared to the reader he’s a nice guy. But in the next chapter, he’s impatiently banging his fist on a door to a lawyer’s office, and when a lowly clerk shows him in with a stuttering apology, Kevin thinks “You idiot!” You notice things like this are happening from scene to scene. And Kevin isn’t schizophrenic. (I see this too often in alpha heroes.)

Maybe your heroine Lisa keeps running into all sorts of trouble (late to a meeting, forgets a baby shower gift, gets stuck in traffic) and while there are all these difficulties, you realize there’s not one moment of real conflict driving the story. Then you get to the Saggy Middle of Doom. And somehow the story, broken pieces and all, coasts to the HEA ending.

Maybe there are dumps of info scattered throughout the book. And backstory seems poorly timed, but you don’t know where to put it. Or the info isn’t directly relating to the plot, but you like it. Or there’s too much info and it’s repeating everywhere.

The thing with big issues is: they’re easy to diagnose.

With Kevin, he simply needs to be straightened out, where he makes kinder decisions (kindness through strength), where the telling and showing need to match up better. You can follow his thread from scene to scene and make the necessary adjustments. All of this may affect his character arc too.

With Lisa, poor Lisa, she has no antagonist creating obstacles or pushing against her. OR she doesn’t know what she wants. What’s motivating her? What does she want that the antagonist keeps dangling just out of her reach? You may have to do some rewrites to make sure that conflict is prevalent in every chapter. That she is making it harder for the antagonist and that the antagonist is making it harder for her (like a seesaw).

As with info dumps and fat lumps, we’ve all got them. Paragraphs of backstory maybe aren’t fitting the way you want them to because the info isn’t prompted by a character’s thoughts or actions. It just feels random. Once you supply those prompts and triggers, and clear away repetitions, the story will flow in a natural way.

Ta-da!

Let’s review:

1. Read your manuscript with fresh eyes.

2. Take notes of your first impressions (this is your road map!)

3. Brainstorm new solutions, rewrite, or destroy.

After the big stuff is fixed, you can focus on the emotional cues, adjust the smaller beats, pretty-up the setting, play with words—the FUN stuff.

As for the fat lumps, I’m still convinced wine is the answer.

Many weeks ago I was chatting with another editor, whom I greatly respect, about what’s expected of heroes to meet romance trends and get published.

Regarding an author’s manuscript, she thought it weird for the hero to be a dancer. That it didn’t quite fit with being a manly/attractive enough career.

I didn’t read the manuscript. Maybe she was right for that particular story. But the other part of me wondered, why can’t he be a dancer?

Although not a novel, but a romantic story nonetheless, I have two words:

Dirty Dancing.

The moment Patrick Swayze does his first hip thrust, I want to die a good death.

And have you ever seen a male ballet dancer up close? All that muscled grace…holy hell.

Or a Broadway star giving it his all? See Hugh Jackman on the Internet.

Dancers and performers are talented athletes. They practice, they sweat, they push themselves to incredible physical limits that would make me cry and give up after all the chest wheezing. The wheezing that makes me think this is it, this is how it ends.

Bottom line: I’d celebrate a dancing hero in a romance novel.

All of this got me thinking about what we expect from heroes. We love the high-powered bossman in a slim suit. We love the rugged rancher with calloused hands. We love the undercover operative who leads a mission. We love the prince who commands an army but secretly wishes for a normal life.

High-powered…rugged…leads…commanding. I’m noticing a theme here. These traits are used often for our beloved heroes.

Maybe we’re giving the people what they want.

But are we being unfair to heroes?

In real life, I’ve known men who cry, who feel unsure or shy, who don’t like to lead at all, who get lost in trying to find the right career. And who become hairdressers, assistants, waiters, and fashion designers, whether it’s temporary or they feel passionate doing what they do. These guys are all man.

Yet more often than not, it’s usually side characters and heroines who seem to fill these roles in novels.

Sometimes we create these stereotypes for ourselves, when we don’t have to.

If you write the best hero you can, motivated, sympathetic, and believable (even with traits like commanding or shy) then it shouldn’t matter if he has a “less manly” career—whatever that actually is.

We say all the time that heroines can do or be anything, from CEO to airplane pilot. That means heroes can do or be anything too. Even be a dancer. Yum.

Want to work with me? Head over to my website and say hello!

Maybe you have the meet-cute down, but struggled with the climax(ooh-la-la). Maybe your characters have wit but lack chemistry. Maybe the chemistry is hot, but the plot is lukewarm. Maybe you’re incredibly frustrated with not knowing what to revise.

Or maybe you’re the opposite: You have a solid novel with just a few kinks.

Whatever your writing woes entail, one thing is certain: Your book deserves a professional editor to give you quality feedback on the meat of your story, to unearth the excellentandeh about your novel, and recommend fresh and creative ideas for fixing problems.

Enter: The Developmental Report

Affordable developmental editing packaged into a lengthy letter. This report gives you amazing feedback about your story and the freedom to revise on your own. Painlessly.

Because when your story is bulletproof and quality, it gets you farther than the marketing blitz in an overcrowded industry.

Despite the dying cries of publishing companies and retailers, the market is saturated with new books every year—especially by the romance genre. In 2014, romance generated 1.44 billion dollars and is the highest selling genre worldwide. (Second highest is mystery, which made HALF that amount.)

That means you’re competing in an already fertile playground where intelligent, discerning readers have an abundance of traditionally published and self-published romances to choose from.

If your book isn’t standing out, then it’s dragging with the herd.

The single most important factor readers use when deciding to buy a romance novel is: the story.

And that’s what The Developmental Report is all about.

• Develop characters that make readers care.
• Perfectly time your plot and turning points.
• Move your plot forward with every single scene.
• Bring your fictional world to life with setting and sensory details.
• Pace your story, not too rushed or lagged, but just right.
• Give readers a satisfying ending they’ll never forget.

You can make sure your book is true to your vision and working for you.

This is the perfect opportunity to get me and my experience without a long editing process (which, as you may know, can cost thousands of dollars, and take months of your time).

I’ll share your goals, celebrate your strengths, and encourage your efforts. Because sometimes it’s nice to have a little extra support. Sometimes your life partner and friends are tired of hearing about your problem-child book. Sometimes it’s better to have a caring human expert on your side than to go it alone.

And sometimes…it’s just good sense to cover your butt before you publish.

Don’t miss a chance to get The Developmental Report for your manuscript.