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| Image courtesy of renjith krishnan / freedigitalphotos.net |
One of the first things I do is perform an x-ray to ensure the skeleton/structure of the story is intact.
I very often write a scene list in the planning stages before ever writing a single word, but I rarely stick to this completely as things change and develop during the drafting stage. So, on this first read through I write up a new scene list, making a note of all the important things that happen in each scene. Once this is complete I can see the bare bones of the story all in one place. I will highlight the scenes where all the basic plot points (inciting incident, turning point, climax etc) take place in a different colour and then I will be able to see at a glance whether the structure is balanced.
For example, if the inciting incident is happening too late then I know I need to either rearrange the scenes in the beginning to bring it forward, or delete them altogether and start later in the story.
I can also tell by looking over this list whether there are any plot holes that need to be addressed, whether the pace needs adjusting, and whether the character arcs are complete. I can also play around with the order of the scenes, without actually changing the manuscript, to see what would work best.
Having the whole novel compressed into a scene list like this also helps you to focus on the plot and character arcs without getting distracted by correcting a bit of dialogue here, a spelling mistake there, or adding some description. It also makes it easier to cut a scene when you aren't looking at all those words you spent hours over.
Once the bones of the story have been straightened out and put in the right place I know the structure works and I can now focus on making the writing itself better.
How about you? What process do you use when you begin the revision stage? Do you perform an x-ray? Please share in the comments section below, I'd love to hear from you.
