Editing Your Novel: Recent Episodes
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Need a writing buddy? A critique partner? A beta reader? Here’s your stop!
Writers need feedback. And friends! But sometimes it can be difficult to find someone willing to read your work who is also a good fit for you and your writing.
There are many different forums and groups online designed to help writers link up with each other for beta reading and helpful feedback. You can find some of those groups listed in this post. You can also reach out right here in the Wordplayer community!
Once or twice a year, I post a “writing buddy linkup,” which opens the comments to anyone looking for a critique partner or accountability partner. It is always massively popular, and I always hear from writers who have successfully found writing partners. I’ve even heard from people who connected in the first link-up I hosted years ago who have become lifelong friends!
If you want to join the fun, keep reading.
Need a Writing Buddy? Here’s HowJust leave a comment! Tell us:
- Your genre
- A short summary of your current story
- Your level of experience (i.e., how many years you have been writing)
- What you’re looking for in a writing buddy
- Your email address (I recommend formatting it as follows to avoid spam: kmweiland [at] kmweiland [dot] com)
You can subscribe to the comments to read additional entries as they come in (however, be aware there could be hundreds of comments!). If you see someone you think would be a great match for you, drop them a line!
The writing life works best when we’re able to reach out and offer a helping hand to one another. Jump in, meet someone new, and start taking your writing to the next level!
Wordplayers, tell me your opinion! What are you looking for in a writing buddy? Tell us in the comments!The post Find a Writing Buddy (2025 Edition!) appeared first on Helping Writers Become Authors.
Note From KMW: I’m often asked to create more resources about self-editing your fiction. The thing about good editing is that really it’s just good writing. All the same principles apply. The only difference is whether you’re better at applying those principles (plot, character arc, theme, engaging narrative, dialogue, etc.) off the cuff in the first draft—or (like most of us) after a bit of time and perspective in the second draft.
So really, the answer to “How do I edit my story?” is “Learn good storytelling principles and figure out where your story isn’t fulfilling them.
But, of course, editing tends to feel a little more overwhelming than that. At the end of writing a first draft, most of us tend to either feel a general sense of “this is good!” or the unease of “something‘s wrong.” Either way, where do you start that all-important second draft?
Today, I’m pleased to share with you a guest post from Ali Luke of the popular writing site Aliventures. In it, she guides you through the foundational elements of moving through the big-picture edits of the second draft into the more minute and specific concerns of the third draft.
When you think about “writing a novel”, chances are you’re picturing the drafting part of the process: getting words down onto a blank page. While that’s a huge (and exciting!) part of the writing process, there’s a lot more that goes into a complete novel. For many writers, self-editing your fiction takes as long as—or longer—than producing the first rough draft.
Self-editing your fiction is when you go back through your own writing, making changes to improve it.
This is your chance to truly see your story come together. Perhaps it felt like your first draft didn’t quite live up to your vision for the story. As you edit, you’ll see that story come together and fully take shape.
It can be tricky to know how best to approach the self-editing process. So here’s a straightforward, systematic eight-step process you can use to work through your novel.
First Draft to Second Draft: 4 Steps of RewritingIt’s tempting to start editing by opening up your first draft and looking for little, obvious things—like typos and grammatical errors. But while those will need fixing eventually, you want to focus on the bigger picture first. You don’t want to perfect a scene … only to find it later makes sense to cut it altogether.
Here are four big steps to follow as you work through rewriting your first draft.
Step 1: Take Some Time Off … Then Re-Read the Whole ThingTake a break between finishing Draft One and starting Draft Two. There’s no magic formula for how long a break to take, but I like to have at least a couple of weeks off, ideally a month. That way, when you come back to your work, you’ll be able to see it with fresh eyes.
After your break, sit down and read through your whole first draft, making brief notes or annotations if that’s helpful. You don’t have to do this in a single session, but I find it helps to keep it to no more than a few days. That way, you can get an accurate sense of the current state of your story.
Step 2: Get Your Story’s Timeline Firmly Nailed DownOnce you’ve done an initial quick read-through, you’ll want to work through your manuscript more closely. My first step is usually to fix the mess that I’ve made of my timeline!
When you’re drafting, you might not have a clear sense of when something is happening in your story’s timeline. If you’ve got a linear narrative, it might clearly take place between Event A and Event C, but are those a week or a month apart? And if you’ve got dual timelines going on, it’s even more important to keep everything straight.
I like to create a timeline spreadsheet where I track each chapter or scene; the point of view character; and the day, date, and time the chapter or scene takes place. This helps me figure out if I need to make changes.
Step 3: Look at the Balance of Action, Dialogue, and DescriptionDoes your first draft feel like it’s a little out of balance? That could be because you’re leaning too heavily on one element of story—while having too light a touch with others.
Personally, I struggle with writing descriptions, so that’s what I generally need to add in. I’ll have plenty of dialogue and some moments of action, but my characters can come across as talking heads in a featureless room.
The “right” balance of these elements will depend in part on your genre and your personal writing style. Some genres are naturally action-packed (think thrillers and adventure stories). Others may lean more heavily on description and world-building (like fantasy and science-fiction novels).
Step 4. Check Whether Your Pacing is Too Fast, Too Slow (Or Both!)In your first draft, it can be really tricky to get the pacing right. You might spend several days writing a 3,000 word chapter, which takes perhaps 10 minutes to read. Action that seemed painstakingly slow as you wrote it may now seem to whip by too fast.
Or you might have the opposite problem. When you drafted your chapter, perhaps with some long breaks in the process, it wasn’t obvious to you that you’d spent 50% of it describing your character’s thoughts. As you re-read, it’s painfully slow.
The rewriting stage is a great chance to refine your pacing, slowing up, speeding down, and tweaking as needed.
Second Draft to Third Draft: 4 Steps for Detailed EditingOnce you’ve addressed the big-picture issues and you’ve got a solid second draft, it’s time to move on to more detailed self-editing, line by line.
Tip: Not quite at that stage yet? You can go back to Step 1 and do a full pass through your novel again.
There are loads of things you can look out for during detailed editing (I cover a total of 20 in my short ebook Editing Essentials). Here, I’ve chosen the four that can make the biggest difference to how your work is perceived.
Step 1: Master Dialogue Formatting and PunctuationI don’t think any writer finds formatting and punctuating dialogue an exciting task, but getting this right is so important.
Dialogue has some unique rules and conventions, and if you break these, you’ll either confuse readers (who may not know which character is speaking) or look a bit amateur.
Punctuation in general can be tricky for fiction writers, but when it comes to dialogue, there are some unique rules, like:
- Always start a new line for a new speaker.
- Use a comma before a dialogue tag. (“I agree,” John said.)
- Use a period before an action beat. (“I agree.” John set his book down.)
If you’re not 100% sure you’re setting out your dialogue correctly, take a look through the Author Learning Center’s 8 Essential Rules for Punctuating Dialogue.
Step 2: Watch Out for Unintentional RepetitionRepetition is a powerful (and pleasing) tool, but unintentional repetition will jar readers out of your story.
Here are a couple of examples of unintentional repetition, with the repeated words highlighted:
“I’m just glad we made it back,” Joanna said, sharply, and turned her back on Tom.
This looks like the author hasn’t noticed “back” was used twice. Even though the word means different things each time, it’s will stick out awkwardly to the reader.
Tom sighed. “You don’t have to be like that.”
“Like what?”
“You know exactly what.” He sighed.
Tom repeats the same action twice (sighing). While most examples aren’t quite this close together, it’s easy to accidentally write a character who defaults to a particular action or dialogue phrase.
Step 3: Cut Down Wordy SentencesWhen you’re busy drafting or rewriting a big chunk of your novel, it’s perfectly normal for your sentences to come out a little convoluted. Perhaps you’ve packed an awful lot into a single sentence, or you were going for a particular tone that didn’t quite work.
As you make detailed edits, watch out for overly long sentences. If they feel wordy or overladen, see if you can trim them down. Is every word essential? Could you split a complicated sentence into two or three shorter ones?
Step 4: Avoid Outlandish Alternatives to “Said”Another mistake that tends to make writers seem inexperienced is reaching for the thesaurus to come up with alternatives to the (perfectly good) dialogue tag “said.”
If you’ve noticed a character opine, aver, proclaim, utter, or exclaim, you’ll know these “said-bookisms” can be distracting. Instead of focusing on the dialogue itself, you start wondering what outlandish tag the author is going to reach for next.
To avoid using “said” an excessive number of times, use dialogue beats some of the time instead. You can also let some lines of dialogue stand alone, as long as it’s clear who’s speaking.
Editing your manuscript can feel daunting, but by approaching it systematically, you’ll get to see your story truly come together. Whether you’re self-publishing or seeking a traditional publishing deal, it’s crucial to get your story into the best shape you can before it goes out to your editor or beta readers.
Wordplayers, tell me your opinions! Have you got a great tip for self-editing your fiction? Or is there a particular aspect of editing you struggle with? Tell me in the comments!The post How to Get Better at Self-Editing Your Fiction: 8 Vital Steps to Follow appeared first on Helping Writers Become Authors.
Need a writing buddy? A critique partner? A beta reader? Here’s your stop!
Writers need feedback. And friends! But sometimes it can be difficult to find someone who is willing to read your work and who is also a good fit for you and your writing.
There are many different forums and groups online designed to help writers link up with each other for beta reading and helpful feedback. You can find some of those groups listed in this post. You can also reach out right here in the Wordplayer community.
Once or twice a year, I post a “writing buddy linkup,” which opens the comments to anyone looking for a critique partner or accountability partner. It is always massively popular, and I have heard from a number of writers who have had success in finding writing partners. I’ve even heard from people who connected in the first link-up I hosted years ago who have become lifelong friends!
If you want to join the fun, keep reading.
LAST DAY for 25% Off My Entire StoreBut… first! This is just a reminder, in case you missed it, that every book, course, and recording in my store (including my brand new Shadow Archetypes course) is 25% off for Memorial Weekend. That means that today (Monday, May 27th) is the last day. The discount is already applied storewide. If you’re in need of a little writing inspiration or guidance, check it out!
Need a Writing Buddy? Here’s HowJust leave a comment! Tell us:
- Your genre
- A short summary of your current story
- Your level of experience (i.e., how many years you have been writing)
- What you’re looking for in a writing buddy
- Your email address (I recommend formatting it as follows to avoid spam: kmweiland [at] kmweiland [dot] com)
You can subscribe to the comments so you can read additional entries as they come in (however, be aware there could be hundreds of comments!). If you see someone you think would be a great match for you, drop them a line!
The writing life works best when we’re able to reach out and offer a helping hand to one another. Jump in, meet someone new, and start taking your writing to the next level!
Wordplayers, tell me your opinion! What are you looking for in a writing buddy? Tell us in the comments!The post Find a Writing Buddy (Latest Edition!) appeared first on Helping Writers Become Authors.
“Where can I find a beta reader or critique partner?” Without doubt, that’s the second most frequent question I receive from writers, right after where do I find a good editor?. This can be a tough question to answer for the simple reason that a beta reader or critique partner isn’t someone you simply vet and hire, like you would a freelance editor. Rather, this is a relationship you build, just as you would build any important friendship.
7 Things to Look for in a Beta ReaderThere are several keys to finding the right beta reader (and it is important to find the right one). You want someone who:
1. Enjoys your genre.
2. Understands your intentions for your stories.
3. Likes your stories (in general).
4. Isn’t afraid to tell you what isn’t working.
5. Is an experienced reader and/or writer (both bring important insights to the table).
6. Is reliable and trustworthy.
7. You like—and who likes you in return.
In short, when you’re looking for beta readers, what you’re really looking for is “your kind of people.”
How to Find a Great Beta ReaderWhere do you look for these peeps? Local writing groups sometimes offer possibilities. But the Internet is by far your biggest beta reader resource.
Honestly, my best advice is to simply go where writers go (Twitter, Facebook, writing blogs, writing forums) and start making connections. When you find someone who you feel would be a good fit, offer to trade critiques. Eventually, the right person or people will rise to the top (and when they do, make sure you treat them right).
Still, that’s not the kind of answer most writers want. It is, after all, kinda vague—and there’s a lot of time and a little bit of luck involved. A few years ago, I decided to take this whole game up a notch by conducting an informal poll on Facebook and Twitter:
Is there an online community you would recommend for finding beta readers and soliciting critiques? #WQOTD
— K.M. Weiland (@KMWeiland)
That was eight years ago, and although the list created from everyone’s suggestions has served us well, it felt like time to give it a refresh.
How You Can HelpFollowing is a list of the original suggestions I collated, both from the poll on social media and from the comments left on the original blog post over the years. But there’s room for more!
If you have a favorite resource for finding beta readers, please leave a link in the comments. I will update the post next week. You can check back then for an even more thorough resource.
Top Recommended Beta Reader and Critique Groups for WritersFirst of all, let me just shout out the Writing Buddy Link-Up I run here on Helping Writers Become Authors once or twice a year. The comments section fills up fast, and the most recent post has 400+ comments from people seeking and offering critiques. I will be sharing another link-up in May for those interested.
You can also check out the following links to find a beta reader who suits your needs.
10 Minute Novelists (Facebook Group)
Absolute Write
Christian Writers
Critique Circle
Critters Workshop (for Speculative Authors)
Fantasy-Writers.org
KidLit 411
Lit Reactor
Online Writing Workshop (for speculative writers)
Scribophile
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Podcast (runs a beta reader match-up every few months for small admin fee)
Spire Beta Matching (costs $10)
Women’s Fiction Writer’s Association
Writing.com
Now What Do You Do?You’ll need to do some research (aka, poking around) to discover which site is the right fit for you. Remember, finding a good beta reader is often as much about being a good beta reader yourself as anything else. Be prepared to give generously, use wisdom in selecting appropriate groups and partners, and take advantage of this resource to help you polish your writing to the next level.
Wordplayers, tell me your opinion! Do you have beta readers? If so, where did you find them? Tell me in the comments!The post 12 Places to Find a Beta Reader (Updated) appeared first on Helping Writers Become Authors.
Need a writing buddy? A critique partner? A beta reader? Here’s your stop!
Earlier this year, I posted a “writing buddy linkup,” which opened the comments to anyone looking for a critique partner or accountability partner for their writing. The post was wildly popular and continued to receive entries throughout the year. At last count, it had over 500 submissions.
That many comments can be difficult to wade through, and I’m sure quite a few submissions got lost in the process. So I’m opening it up again! Feel free to post again if you weren’t able to find the right connection last time.
Need a Writing Buddy? Here’s HowJust leave a comment! Tell us:
- Your genre
- A short summary of your current story
- Your level of experience (i.e., how many years you have been writing)
- What you’re looking for in a writing buddy
- Your email address (I recommend formatting it as follows to avoid risk of spam: kmweiland [at] kmweiland [dot] com)
You can subscribe to the comments so you can read additional entries as they come in (however, be aware there could be a lot of comments!). If you see someone you think would be a great match for you, drop them a line!
The writing life works best when we’re able to reach out and offer a helping hand to one another. Jump in, meet someone new, and start taking your writing to the next level!
Wordplayers, tell me your opinion! What are you looking for in a writing buddy? Tell us in the comments!The post Find a Writing Buddy! (New Edition) appeared first on Helping Writers Become Authors.
If you’re here because you feel your story isn’t working, you’re not alone. Most writers feel that way about most of the stories they write. The good news is you can probably salvage your current story by troubleshooting a few key areas. One way to learn how to accomplish this is to learn what didn’t work in certain stories.
Today, I’m offering myself up as a guinea pig. A few years ago, I wrote a post I called “Lessons From a Lost Novel,” in which I talked about a story that hadn’t worked out for me and what I was later able to realize were its stumbling blocks. Today, it’s time for Round 2. If you’re a regular reader, you know I recently moved on from a novel I struggled with for years before admitting it. just. didn’t. work. Today, I want to analyze some of the missteps I made early on in writing this story and what the advantage of time now tells me I could have done to avoid all its problems. Almost all these mistakes could happen in any type of novel. My hope is that, with the benefit of my experiences with this story, you may be able to catch some of these problems much earlier on in your own manuscripts.
Dreamlander (Amazon affiliate link)
First, a little background. The story I was working on was intended to transform my already published standalone portal fantasy Dreamlander into a trilogy. This story is about a man from our world who is the only person in his generation with the ability to “wake up” in his dreams—in a fantasy-esque world parallel to our own. Without spoiling the ending too much, I will say that I tied off the loose ends in a way that made a sequel difficult. But then one night, while daydreaming at a campfire, I came up with an idea that would allow my hero to return to his lost love in the land of dreams for another apocalyptic adventure.
Right away, however, I was already in deeper water than I would usually be when plotting a new story, since I had to somehow create a resonant full trilogy out of a story that not only was intended to be a standalone but that had really tied off its own loose ends. Still, I was excited to return to the characters, and I swam ahead. I plotted, outlined, and wrote the entirety of what would be the second book in the trilogy. I called it Dreambreaker. So far, pretty good. But then it came time to write Book 3 and finish off the trilogy. I dove in—only to realize I had written myself into an unsolvable tangle. Whoops.
Before long (due also in part to larger life circumstances), I had major writer’s block. After struggling along with the story for several years, I ended up taking a conscious sabbatical of nearly two more years before finally returning to take another look at my outline for Book 3. Happily, enough time had passed for me to see (and admit) to the six major reasons the story wasn’t working. Not so happily, this led to the subsequent realization that, in order to create a solid conclusion for my trilogy, I would have to completely rewrite the already completed second book. I decided that was more than I wanted to commit to at the time and put the book back on the shelf so I could pursue a new idea.
6 Tips to Look at When Your Story Isn’t WorkingToday, I want to share with you the six big pitfalls I fell into when writing Dreambreaker and its sequel. None of them are surprising; all of them are obvious. But all of them are also surprisingly easy for even experienced writers to overlook. Whether or not you currently feel your story isn’t working, double-check you’ve ticked all of these important boxes in writing a cohesive story that works.
- Know the EndingThe Problem: Specifics are important. It’s one thing to know your story’s general ending and another to know the specifics of how your characters will get there, how their motivations will influence their final actions, and how the theme will prove out.
Outlining Your Novel (Amazon affiliate link)
As an avid outliner, I always know how my stories will end before I start writing. But because this particular story was split into two books, I didn’t follow my own game plan as I usually would have. I did not outline Book 3 before writing Book 2. My outline for Book 2 worked out just fine. But by the time I sat down to outline Book 3, I realized what I had set up in Book 2 would not properly create the necessary payoff by the end of Book 3. I worked for months trying to get around this, but my attempts to explain my characters’ motivations and the mechanics of the magical finale became more and more convoluted as I tried to make sure plot, character, and theme all pulled together to create a cohesive whole.
The Fix: Had I outlined my series all the way to the end, I could have avoided this trouble altogether. I could have made sure Book 2 properly built into Book 3 before I spent so much time and effort writing it.
I realize timing on this one will vary from writer to writer. Some writers prefer to discover their ending in the writing. Personally, however, I have always liked to figure out my endings early on when outlining, for the very reason that I when I start writing the first draft, I can make sure everything builds sensibly toward that all-important Climax.
Regardless of whether you prefer outlining or discovery writing, as soon as you do know your ending, you will need to look back over the book-long build-up to that point and ensure it all makes sense. It’s far too easy to accidentally create a build-up and pay-off that are not two parts of a cohesive whole, but rather two separate entities altogether.
A Full Post I’ve Written About This:
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Most Common Writing Mistakes: Irrelevant Book Endings
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Keep the Plot Simple, So You Can Focus on Character InteractionsThe Problem: I deliberately decided I wanted to write a Very Complex Novel. As my father would put it, I got too big for my britches. I wanted to magnify everything from the first book, going wide and deep with the history, culture, politics, and geography of my fantasy world. I drew complicated family trees for my royal characters, created twisty conspiracy theories that trailed centuries into my backstory, and crafted the plot around a complicated magical mystery the characters would have to unravel.
It had its good bits to be sure, and I thoroughly enjoyed concocting it all. But I kept tripping over the troubling sense that my story was getting away from me. The word count was geysering (even for me), and I knew I was spending an inordinate amount of time explaining all these complexities.
Secrets of Story by Matt Bird (affiliate link)
When reading Matt Bird’s The Secrets of Story, I cringed at his pointed question:
Is the concept simple enough to spend more time on character than plot?
For that matter, could I even reasonably describe my complicated plot in a simple concept? I tried and tried and tried, but the answer was always, “Uh, no.”
The Fix: Bird went on to encapsulate (in appropriately simple language) what I was reminded of the hard way:
…a good plot should be simple enough that both the characters and the audience understand it just by looking at it.
And:
[Characters need] to talk about something other than the plot at least once per scene.
Here’s how it’s supposed to work: the backstory and world lore in stories such as Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones may be elaborately and deliciously complex, but they never take away from the simplicity of the plot and therefore never (or rarely) get in the way of the development of the characters and their relationships. So if, like me, you are tempted by complexity, stop and ask yourself these two questions:
1. When you add a new element (such as a character’s family tree), is the plot reliant on it? (Sometimes that’s fine; other times, it’s a sign you’ve unnecessarily complicated your plot concept.)
2. If not, does the explanation of it distract from the plot itself unnecessarily?
Full Posts I’ve Written About This:
- Is Your Story Too Complicated? Here Are 9 Signs
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7 Tips for How to Add Complexity to Your Story
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Know Your Antagonist’s MotivationThe Problem: One of the secrets to creating a tight plot is understanding your antagonist’s role. Antagonists have always been hard for me. I just… don’t care enough about them. I always struggle to integrate them into the plot and theme in a way that lifts them above mere plot devices. The trouble is I like epic, world-ending stakes, and the kind of antagonists who drive those stakes are usually unavailable for the more interesting relational-level scenes that humanize both them and the protagonist.
In this story, I created a shadowy group of “elites,” who were secretly pulling all the strings behind the scenes. Intrinsic to the problem that this is probably the single most difficult type of antagonist for me to personally understand, I struggled to come up with solid reasons why anyone would be motivated to create the kind of world-ending events I wanted for my story. After all, these dudes have to live in my story world too—so why would they want to blow it up?
Cue more over-complicated attempts at explanation and rationalization. My antagonists and their motivations just kept getting more and more far-fetched. Even I didn’t believe in them.
The Fix: When I went back to my story after my long break, I knew the only way to fix it would be to change the role of the antagonists. Not only did their current iteration make no sense, but their defeat in the Climax had no thematic resonance. So I completely ripped them out of the story and replaced them with a single character who wasn’t unbelievably all-powerful, who had much more primal and relatable motivations, and who was already a player in the first book—and therefore carried much more weight and resonance in the sequels.
Structuring Your Novel (Amazon affiliate link)
Unfortunately, this alone was enough to make me realize I would have to pretty much entirely rewrite the finished second book (something I wasn’t currently willing to do). This is because a solid antagonistic force will never just be tacked on to the overall plot. Even if that character isn’t present in most of the scenes, his or her influence must be integral to every structural beat of the story.
The easiest way to double-check your antagonist’s cohesion within the story is to examine his or her role in the Climax—and then work backwards to set that up. And if you find your current antagonist isn’t really all that crucial to the mechanics of your Climax, you may realize you’ve chosen and/or focused on the wrong antagonistic force.
Full Post I’ve Already Written About This:
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7 Considerations for Your Antagonist’s Motivations (Which Will Save You SOOO Much Trouble)
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Double-Check Your Story’s Thematic ResonanceWriting Your Story’s Theme (Amazon affiliate link)
The Problem: Because my antagonistic force was too separate from my main characters’ personal journeys and because I had over-complicated the plot to the detriment of my characters’ relational development, my story’s thematic resonance inevitably suffered as well. The “shape” of a story is important. Plot structure and character arc play a role in this. But ultimately, “shape” comes down to thematic resonance. What overall image is emerging from all the individual puzzle pieces?
In my story—as in many problematic stories—the answer wasn’t clear. The more I worked on it, the more it just seemed like a rehash of every other fantasy story about brave heroes making difficult sacrifices. Don’t get me wrong: that is and will always be one of my favorite themes. But this time around, it just felt… fake. It didn’t feel as if the characters’ actions offered any deeper symbolic insight or import. My messy plot, my messy fantasy lore, and my messy magic system were all combining to create a cohesive effect—and that effect was, in a word, messy.
The Fix: Good complexity arises out of simplicity—out of going deep with a few cohesive elements. Bad complications arise out of a bunch of random pieces that never quite pull together. Particularly in a genre like fantasy that, however realistic it may seem, is deeply symbolic, it is important every piece makes sense as part of a larger whole. Thematic resonance is where this will prove out: your plot, your character arcs, your theme, and your overall symbolism will all create a larger whole.
For me, the good news in all this messiness was that in my attempts to create thematic resonance, I dug deep into archetypal studies and ended up with a new book on the subject (Writing Archetypal Character Arcs–coming very soon)! The not-so-good news was that, once again, I realized I would have to streamline my story’s elements to the point that I would have to rewrite the finished book altogether. This is yet another reason why it can be so valuable to know your story’s ending before you begin the first draft—so you can make sure every piece is pulling together toward the same end result.
Full Posts I’ve Already Written About This:
- 5 Questions for Choosing a Protagonist Who Represents Your Story’s Theme
- 7 Ways to Write Thematically-Pertinent Antagonists
- Deepening Your Story’s Theme With the Thematic Square
Bonus for Writers of Fantasy: Understand Your Magic SystemThe Problem: Fact #1: I write fantasy.
Fact #2: Most of the best-known fantasies these days incorporate elaborate magic systems.
Fact #3: I don’t really care about magic systems.
For me, magic systems generally fall into that same Plot Trope bucket as antagonists. Not saying this is a good thing, but it is me recognizing it’s difficult for me to write what I don’t care about. In most of my stories, this has never been much of a problem because the fantasy element has always been relatively simple and catalytic. In the original Dreamlander, the magic system is pretty much relegated to the protagonist’s ability to live in both the real world and the dream world; in Storming, the speculative element is limited to the “science” of a weather-controlling dirigible; and in Wayfarer, the only magic is the superpowers gained by two people from the same simple source.
But true to my commitment to a Very Complex Novel, I decided to go big or go home with the magic system in these new sequels. (Needless to say, I went home.) I created a comparatively big magic system that was really just a big mess. It made no “scientific” sense, even though I kept throwing explanations at it. And it lacked thematic resonance, in that it didn’t symbolize anything pertinent or cohesive.
The Fix: To fix my story’s magic system, I knew I would have to do three things:
1. Simplify the magic system, by stripping it down to a handful of very specific, simple, and sensible rules so everything the characters did with it did not require oodles of on-the-spot explanations from me.
2. Pay strict attention to the magic system’s thematic import. Not only did I want the magic system to seem like an extension of the overall theme and the characters’ growth within it, I also wanted every piece to be a part of its own thematic motif (in this case, I decided to re-center it around water motifs).
3. Identify what I needed the magic system to accomplish in the story’s Climax and build everything around that.
The Magic System Blueprint by C.R. Rowenson (affiliate link)
Since then, I’ve also read and appreciated C.R. Rowenson’s The Magic System Blueprint, which I would use if I ever attempt another complex magic system.
Bonus for Writers of Series: Make Sure Sequels Add to All Aspects of the Existing StoryThe Problem: This whole adventure was my first foray into the world of sequels and series. The fact that I was trying to create a trilogy out of a first book that had already been published as a standalone only complicated the task further.
As I wrestled with my sequels, one thought I kept circling back to was how much I hated, as a reader, when an author wrote sequels that seemed to forget what was best about the original or even what was the point of the original. I did not want to do that to my own readers, who already had a relationship with my original book Dreamlander.
I finally had to admit the sequels I’d created did not properly honor the original. Just as with certain series that I had felt personally let down by as a reader, I knew the sequels I was creating were not so much adding to the vision of the original as subtly changing and retrofitting elements in attempt to overall cohesion. (I did figure out how to fix that, but, again, it would require starting from scratch with the sequels.)
The Fix: Sequels and series are all the rage these days, for so many reasons—including the fact that they generally sell better and also that authors often love revisiting and expanding upon their own creations. But many sequels not only fail to add to their predecessors, they end up taking away from them, either simply because of their comparatively poor quality or because they change the original story and characters readers loved so much.
The simplest solution here is just to ask: does this sequel really need to be written?
If the answer turns out to be yes, then ask: how can I make sure every new element within these sequels adds to the original?
Of course, many of the potential pitfalls of writing sequels and series can be eliminated simply by planning the entire thing upfront, knowing the ultimate ending, and making sure everything in every book builds toward that end.
Full Posts I’ve Already Written on This:
- How to Write a Sequel That’s BETTER Than the First Book
- 5 Rules for How to Write a Sequel to Your Book
- How to Outline a Series of Bestselling Books
There’s knowing how to troubleshoot when a story isn’t working and there’s knowing. The frustrating part of my experience with these “lost novels” is that I consciously knew all six of these guidelines before I started writing them.
Writing a story, however, is never a simple experience. Even the most straightforward story requires the author to keep track of hundreds of different ideas and techniques all at the same time. It’s easy to forget, lose track of, or simply miscalculate the effect of any one decision you may be making about your story.
The more often we recognize these six important guidelines, the more likely we are to instinctively catch ourselves whenever we veer off-track when writing a story. And if we do get so far into the weeds that we must admit we wrote something unsalvageable, I can promise you the experience will make sure you never forget to check these points again.
Wordplayers, tell me your opinions! Have you ever felt like your story isn’t working? What did you do to fix it? Tell me in the comments!Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Helping Writers Become Authors podcast in Apple Podcast or Amazon Music).
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Love Helping Writers Become Authors? You can now become a patron. (Huge thanks to those of you who are already part of my Patreon family!)The post Your Story Isn’t Working? Here Are 6 Problems to Troubleshoot appeared first on Helping Writers Become Authors.
Among the greatest gifts one writer can give another is that being a beta reader. A beta reader is a volunteer who reads over a rough manuscript and offers feedback on what’s working and what’s not. This feedback can span the gamut from simply a general reaction to a full-on critique. But not all beta readers are created equal. Just as you can learn to be a better writer, you can also learn to be a better beta reader.
Earlier this year, I receive the following email from Archie Kregear:
I have been doing a lot of beta reading lately. I was looking for a guide/checklist to help folks like me to be a better beta reader. The critique group I’m a part of is prolific, a beta read a month. I’ve searched through your site and nothing on the details, just etiquette.
He’s right. I haven’t written much about beta reading for the same reason I don’t write a whole lot about editing in general, and this because the foundational principles of both are no different from those of good writing. If you know how to write a solid story, you’ll know how to edit one. Indeed, much of the trial and error of learning how to write solid first drafts begins in the trenches of troubleshooting our sloppy first drafts and figuring out how to fix them.
Creating Character Arcs (Amazon affiliate link)
The simplest answer to “how to edit” is “learn about story structure, character development, good prose, pacing, etc.” The same rules apply in beta reading. However, because of the extra accountability we bear in taking on a beta-reading job, it does deserve some extra forethought.
Most writers will learn some of their most valuable lessons thanks to beta readers. My own early experiences with beta readers transformed the way I approached story, as well as boosting my confidence. But most writers will also encounter a beta reader or two who, despite their best intentions, do more harm than not—either by offering faulty advice or by undercutting confidence. The entire writing community benefits when we all try to become the best beta readers possible.
To that end, here are my top thirteen tips for improving your editing game and becoming a better beta reader. Most of these tips will help you in editing your own stories as well!
Set the Ground Rules1. Get Very Clear on What Kind of Critique the Author Is Asking ForThe first and foremost rule of beta reading is that you are there to serve the story.If it’s important to put your ego in your back pocket and sit on it when you’re editing your own stories, it’s even more important to do so when editing for someone else. The first step toward that end is to make sure both you and the author are on the same page by making sure you understand exactly what kind of critique the author is asking for.
- Do they want you to simply read the book over and offer a general opinion at the end: like or dislike?
- Do they want you to offer a detailed content edit—a commentary throughout on what works and what doesn’t?
- Do they want a structural edit that critiques plot, pacing, and character arc?
- Do they want you to get down and dirty with a full-on comprehensive line edit that offers suggestions not just about the story but about the prose?
- Do they want you to note typos or leave them alone?
It is also incumbent upon the author to be clear (and get clear) about their wishes. Nothing is worse for a beta reader than spending weeks thoroughly editing a piece only to realize the author was hoping for something more lightweight.
- Communicate About How to Mark Suggested ChangesYou’ll want to discuss the best way for you to mark your suggested changes. Track Changes is still the best method I know of. As long as both parties have access to Microsoft Word, you can use this tool to easily share your deletions, edits, and comments. The author can then just as easily decide which changes to incorporate or bypass.
However, you might agree that you both prefer working in a Google Doc. You might even ask for an epub you can read (or a doc you can convert to epub) on your Kindle. You can read at your leisure, making notes as you go, then copy/paste them from Kindle Highlights on your computer for sharing with the author.
Don’t be afraid to ask for what’s best for you. At the end of the day, you’re the one doing the favor here. Within reason, it’s fine to ask for whatever setup will be most convenient for your needs.
- Agree on a Reasonable DeadlineThis one is important for both the author and the beta reader. Depending on the length of the story and the depth of the edit, beta-reading can represent a significant time investment. You’ll want to realistically assess how much time you can put into the project every day and figure out about how long it will take you. Then do your best to honor that.
Many a writer can attest to the frustration and disappointment of trusting a beta reader who never comes through or who keeps fobbing off the deadline. Obviously, life happens, and beta-reading is probably not going to be your highest priority at any time. But once you’ve agreed to help out a fellow writer, do your best to honor that commitment. If you can’t, at least make a point to reach out and let the writer know you’re not going to be able to fulfill the agreement.
Pro Editing Tips4. Be SpecificNow we get down to the actual beta-reading. How can you respond to someone else’s story in the way that will most benefit them? Perhaps the single most important offering you can make to another writer is simply that of being specific. If you don’t like something in the story, try to figure out why you don’t like. If you feel making a big change would benefit the story, try to figure out why you feel that way.
To some degree, any level of editing will always be subjective. But try to get clear on when the suggestions you’re making are based on logical reasons and your own understanding of story—and when they’re based on nothing more than your personal preferences. Your preferences as a reader are absolutely still valid and can be usefully shared with the author, but they should be noted as your preferences, not as universal rules.
Bottom line: always try to be clear with yourself about why you’re making suggestions. Not only will doing so better serve the author, it will also help you further hone your own storytelling instincts and skills.
- Map Out the Ideal Structural Timing Based on Page CountStructuring Your Novel (Amazon affiliate link)
If the author has asked for a plot edit, one of the key things you can examine for them is how well the story’s structure works.
When beta-reading for someone, one of the first things I do is find the total page count of their story. I divide that into eighths to find the ideal timing for each of the structural turning points, then scroll through the document and add a comment as a reminder to myself to check how well the story’s structure is holding up.
For example, if the book’s Word doc is 300 pages, I would make notes as follows:
Inciting Event: p. 37
First Plot Point: p. 75
First Pinch Point: p. 112
Midpoint (Second Plot Point): p. 150
Second Pinch Point: p. 187
Third Plot Point: p. 225
Climax: p. 263
These comments are just for my own purposes, and I will delete them as I go. It’s also important to note they are indicating the ideal structural timing. Very few stories will line up page-perfect. But the reminders will help you keep track of whether or not the story includes all the important structural turning points, how close they are to the ideal timing, and how much the pacing is affected one way or the other.
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Don’t Just Point Out Problems, Offer Solutions Where AppropriateWriters don’t need (and won’t always appreciate) if you try to brainstorm solutions for every problem you point out. You want to give them clues and nudges to help them fix their story’s problems in their own unique way. But simply pointing out problems with no explanation or suggested solution can also be less than helpful. Simply saying, “The female lead’s emotional reaction doesn’t ring true here” might not always be enough. You could instead go on to suggest, “Maybe this would be a good place for her to express a little confusion and vulnerability.”
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Point Out Scenes That Don’t Move the PlotThis one is always helpful. Particularly in first drafts, writers aren’t always aware they’ve included scenes that really don’t do much. If you find yourself bored when reading a scene or feeling you’ve already read this scene several times before, be sure to note that and note why. If you’re familiar with scene structure, you can also examine that to discover any broken or missing pieces that may be interrupting the forward movement of the story.
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Make Note of Any “Tic” Words That PopNo need to go overboard on this one, but if you start to notice the author consistently uses one particular word, make note of that and suggest they run a search to discover how often they really do use it. However, don’t ding someone for using words that are your pet peeves or that you’re noticing only because you know you have a tendency to overuse them.
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Create an “Edit Letter” to Address Major IssuesAt the end of editing, professional editors will send clients a document summarizing all the major issues they’ve found in the story. While in the midst of your beta-reading, you can keep a running list of issues you wish you discuss with the writer by the end.
I find it most helpful to divide the letter into broad sections with headers, particularly focusing on major areas such as “Plot Structure,” “Character Development,” “Dialogue,” etc., as well as any issues that are specific to the story.
You can also use the following list to ask yourself helpful and thorough questions about your reaction to the story. You don’t necessarily have to share every answer with the author, but scanning through the list may help you clarify your own reactions to the story.
>>Click here: 17 Questions for Critique Partners
General Guidelines10. Explain Your Reasoning Wherever NecessaryAlthough you don’t want to preach at the author, don’t assume he knows what you know and will understand why you made a particular change. For example, if you edit a sentence to make it more active, you may want to make a little note, explaining your reasoning. Beta-reading is often a mutual learning experience in which writers help each other improve their craft. Don’t necessarily assume you know more than the author, but don’t be afraid to offer helpful tips where appropriate.
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Try to Interact With the Story Simultaneously as Reader and EditorBeta-readers wear multiple hats. Not only are you (probably) a fellow writer who is approaching the editing of this story as if it were your own, you’re also interacting with it as both an objective reader and an editor. Try to balance those last two identities. Don’t get so consumed by the fiddly work of ruthlessly editing that you don’t occasionally pull back and interact with the story as if you were a random reader who had purchased it. As a beta reader, you’ve volunteered to look under the story’s hood, but the ultimate test of whether or not a story works is whether or not it works for a reader. If you’re able to give your fellow author your perspectives as a writer, an editor, and a reader, you’ll have all the more to offer them.
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Honor the Author’s Vision for the StoryThis one is super-important. Respect the author at all times. This is their story, not yours. They have their own vision for it, which may entirely different from the vision you would have had. What they want the story to be may also be different from what you, as that random reader, would prefer to read. As a beta reader, you’re not here to mold their story to your preferences; you’re here to help them realize their best vision for the story.
One of the surest ways to do this is to outright ask the author: What’s your intention for this story?
If they can provide a story summary in the beginning, that can often help you determine what type of story they intend this to be.
- Don’t Forget to Point Out Things You LikeIf you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a critique, you know how brutal it can sometimes be. Even the best of critiques (and often exactly because they are really good critiques) can leave the author feeling overwhelmed. As a beta reader, your primary job is to help the author make the story better by pointing out all the things that don’t work. But pointing out the things you do like can be just as helpful in the long run. Anytime something makes you smile, laugh, cry, or experience any other strong reaction, be sure to make a note. And when it comes time to comment on the story as a whole, try the “compliment sandwich” method. Start by telling the author what you liked best about the story, then share your suggestions for improvement, then end on a final encouraging note.
The most important guideline for being a better beta reader is simply the old Golden Rule: Critique other authors exactly how you would like to be critiqued yourself. Respect their hard work and their passion, honor the story they’re trying to tell, be honest but also kind, keep your deadlines and commitments, and enjoy sharing with someone else your deep love of storytelling.
Wordplayers, tell me in the comments! Are there any other suggestions you would add about how to be a better beta reader? Tell me in the comments!Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Helping Writers Become Authors podcast in Apple Podcast or Amazon Music).
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Ah, the writer’s inner critic. It’s that wily inner editor who has such a way of getting in the last word (and first and middle words) on any writing session or project. Most of the time when writers speak of the inner critic, there’s a fair amount of self-deprecating exaggeration of how ruthless that little […]
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Should you edit as you go? This is a question just about every writer asks at one point or another. Part of the reason for the prevalence of the question is that the question is in fact complex and contextual. In short, the answer to “should you edit as you go?” isn’t always a simple […]
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Editing your novel can bring a host of its own challenges, concerns, and questions. Many of those questions are ultimately the same questions you ask when writing: How to properly structure a story? How to create a strong character arc? How to write a sentence that makes sense? But some of those questions are unique […]
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Where do I find a good book editor? This is without doubt the question I receive most frequently from fellow writers. It’s a hard question to answer because, while finding an editor is easy, finding a good book editor is something else again. I originally published this post a few years ago after asking other […]
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As writers, we have the opportunity to live lives of creativity, in which we get to craft whole worlds that conform to our every whim. Whether you’re writing your first book or your thirtieth, it’s always going to be a heady experience. But this comes with certain inherent pitfalls. Sometimes all this power can go […]
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Editors see hundreds of manuscripts every year, from new and veteran writers alike. Almost all of them fall down on the same points. To help you avoid the common pitfalls of fiction writing, here are the manuscript malfunctions editors see most often, with tips on how you can avoid them! Manuscript Malfunction #1: Clichés Clichés are at top […]
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Nothing can strike fear in the hearts of writers like editing. But if you’re going to improve your story, a thorough book edit is something that must happen. With the right tools, mindset, and preparation, it doesn’t have to be scary at all! The fun thing about the writing and editing process is that everyone approaches […]
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When starting a new novel, a writer needs to overcome several challenges. Planning your plot is definitely one of those. You must decide on the elements that will define your story and that will help you deliver it to your audience in the right way, by creating a clear structure that helps readers progress from […]
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Sometimes figuring out how to find the right critique partner feels about as daunting as finding the right marriage partner. First, you just have to find someone who’s interested, and then you somehow have to make sure this someone is the right someone. No pressure, right? There’s a lot on the line in choosing the right person to critique […]
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As a writer, you need tools that help you organize your thoughts and eliminate distractions, so you can focus on what’s really important: the story. One of the best tools (of all time?) for this is the powerhouse writing software Scrivener. I started using it a few years ago, and it has transformed my writing process. […]
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