SUBLIMINAL MONDAY: Recipe for a Great Story

I got my editorial letter and line edits from AA on Draft #3. Have I mentioned she's brilliant? [No less than a million times.] Well, here's why. According to her letter, the things I need to pay special attention to heading into Draft #4 are:

1) Tension - More!

2) Believability - Keep it real - bring reader into mc's thoughts.

3) Dialogue - Less dialogue, more narrative.

4) Active Voice - Stay in the moment. Passive voice is a turn-off.

Hmm, sounds like a recipe for a great story!

TENSION
It's the drive that keeps the readers turning the pages. What are the conflicts? How will they be resolved? Will they be resolved? What are other challenges facing the main characters? Romance. Angst. Jealousy. Conflict. TENSION. [His rippled muscles made her feel safe, even as his ex gave her the evil eye.]

BELIEVABILITY
This is a biggie in any form of writing, and especially in fantasy and paranormal. Do the rules make sense? Are they clear? Consistent? Are the characters acting in ways that are in line with their powers and backgrounds? ARE THE CHARACTERS AND THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES BELIEVABLE? [Vampires wear only blue clothes, crawl on all fours and survive on chips and salsa, right? If that's how it is in your story, MAKE US BELIEVE IT!]

DIALOGUE
Do your characters speak like they should? Is the dialogue age-appropriate? Do they have a southern twang? Do you have too much or too little dialogue in your story? Does the dialogue reveal plot points or character traits/flaws? Is the dialogue consistent with how the characters would truly speak? DOES YOUR DIALOGUE SERVE A DISTINCT PURPOSE AND MOVE YOUR STORY FORWARD? [If not, put your fingers in the shape of an "L" and raise them to your forehead.]

ACTIVE VOICE
Are your characters using passive rather than active voices? Do you use words such as "was" "had" "were" "been" too much? Put your characters in the present. USE ACTIVE VOICE TO MAKE THEM COME ALIVE. [I AM drinking a sweet, chocolate shake and WILL continue doing so all the days of my life!]

I finished reading, "hush, hush" by Becca Fitzpatrick last night and loved it. [Go buy it. NOW!] Afterward, I read through AA's edits in my ms and realized something: my book may be a whole lot more powerful in 1st person POV. [Just shoot me now. I'll buy the bullets.] It's currently in 3rd person POV, so that's a whole lot of work. I also remembered something AA said to me a while back, "You might want to try writing the book over now that you know the story, and see what happens." [Yeah, right, and maybe I'll join the Tea Party and campaign for Sarah Palin in 2012.]

So, guess what I'm doing? Rewriting my book in 1st person POV. Apparently, my mom is right, I'm a glutton for punishment. [She also thinks I'm "all that," but every parent is slightly delusional.] I promise to keep you posted on this exciting [tedious, heart-wrenching, nutso] endeavor. It may be nothing more than an exercise [in futility], but I'm giving it a whirl. Wish me luck! [Good luck, crazy person.]

So, tell me, have you changed your manuscript's POV or rewritten an entire ms? If so, how did it go? Do you have trouble with tension, believability, dialogue, or active voice? What are things you do to overcome these potential pitfalls?

Rewriting: Ain't it a Blast?

Ah, rewriting. Ain't it a blast? I'm not talking revisions here, I'm talking rewriting as in writing something from nothing. Kind of like a first draft only different. Since I've already written the whole brilliant masterpiece, it's not like I don't know the outcome. HOWEVER, I'm writing AS IF I don't know what's coming.

(If you're confused, you might compare this to when you and your honey dress up in a nurse and doctor's outfit. You've got a fairly good idea where you're headed, so to speak, but you may not be exactly sure how you'll get there. And that's more than half the fun. Do you get it now? Yeah, I thought you might.)

Anyhoo, I've had four requests for partials and was advised there's "too much back story." (Can you believe that? Sheesh. Some people's kids.) Since I've already chopped a good deal of my first three chapters out, I figured I'd try a new and, dare I say, revolutionary approach. I wiped the first three chapters off the map and started anew. Blank page, new Microsoft Word document, fresh as daisies clean. I wasn't entirely sure where the first three chaps would take me, but I was willing to throw my writing boots back on and walk down that illusive road to find out.

Remember my last post on Michelangelo and how he carved David? This is a quiz class, please pay attention. You'll be graded accordingly. Time's up! Hand in your papers. Hmmm. Wow, I'm impressed! You all get "A's." Except for you, Jason. You clearly weren't paying attention. I'm so disappointed. You're going to have to stay after class today. I've got a certain doctor's outfit I was hoping you'd try on... Where was I? Oh, yes. To recap: Mikey said carving David was easy because he simply got rid of everything that wasn't David. That Michelangelo - what a kidder! Following in Mikey's illustrious footsteps, I set out to dismiss everything that isn't Sparks Fly Sometimes, and I'm praying to Buddha, Allah, and Jesus, et al that I got it right this time.

This insane-yet-earth-shattering rewriting idea was spurred on by words of wisdom from a formidable and very hip agent, as well as a kickass-soon-to-be-agented writer hailing from the great state of Ohio. (As in, "four dead in...") Of course, I didn't rewrite entirely from scratch, since I knew how the story ends, middles, and sort of begins. However, I was writing from a different vantage point, eliminating pesky minor characters, and developing the divas and rock stars with the style, flair and elan they deserve.

The good news is, I did it! I'm done! And...I love it! Eureka! The view from the top of Mt. Everest is pretty damn gorgeous, although it's as cold as Sarah Palin in an ice storm in the middle of the Russian tundra (which , by the way, she can see from her house.)

I'll be sending these new and improved sample pages out to yet another (crazy? desperate? BRILLIANT!) agent who has requested my partial submission. We'll soon see if all my hard work pays off.

Wish me luck! ;-)