The Place For My Writers Notes

original posting 21 May 2009

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:

"If your novel seems to be dragging, one of the first places to look is at the heart of your lead character. Is he giving up too easily? Are there too many scenes where he's thinking and not doing?" James Scott Bell

Hum. What action is the lead character taking in each and every scene? Are there too many scenes sitting in the kitchen at the table thinking and talking about what to do, where to go, who to see, waiting for Godot? As someone said, bring in a man with a gun and get that scene moving.

Who said leave out the boring parts? Or was it leave out the parts that readers skip? Anyway, that's the principle. Make sure there's action in every scene, and that the lead character is doing things. And even if he's on the ropes, oppressed by all that opposition, bleeding from the rocks you've been throwing up into his tree -- your lead character can't give up. Oh, he can have doubts and fears and uncertainty, but he needs to keep going.

Cue the impossible dream and tighten up that tale, raise those stakes, make the tension sing...

Write!