It’s good to take a break
every once in a while and review earlier chapters. That’s on my schedule for
this next week. While going through the process I will keep a number of things
in mind.
If my next book is going
to be successful, it has to have a strong foundation, and that means each
chapter, or scene if you want to think of it that way, has to have
purpose. As I review each chapter
I have to ask myself: Does the chapter have a strong first sentence – to pull
the reader in; a strong last sentence – to keep the reader turning pages?
Does the chapter reveal
important information about the characters/plot? If not, why is it there? I
will have to either rewrite or hit the delete key.
Does the chapter move the
plot forward? I believe there is a caveat with this question. Some chapters
have to introduce characters, setting, and possibly provide some back story? Maybe this could be considered moving the plot forward as well as
strengthening the foundation.
I need to make sure my
characters face some challenge and that I don’t get bogged down in every day
minutia.
I believe a book is
produced in layers. The first run-through is about a story line, but doesn’t
necessarily put in details of character and setting description, good dialogue,
appealing to the senses. A good book is about going through the manuscript multiple
times, and each time adding a layer to make the final product delectable.
