Self-editing
is tricky. For example as the author you are so familiar with your story you could
absentmindedly forget to include information along the way...say an important
point you thought of but, without thinking, left out.
Keep
this point in mind while editing, a reader knows only what you have actually told
(or shown) them on paper.
When
we go back through our stories during the editing process we try to remember
this and work together to make sure that we haven’t left out important details
and confused our readers. Plus, we don’t
want our writing to be choppy and sound like there are two writers. We have
worked very hard to create the Tia Dani voice.
We
call this particular part of our editing process the Domino Theory.
Imagine
you have spent hours, aligning hundreds of dominos, narrow-end up, across a
flat surface. You’ve placed the black, shiny tiles perfectly so they form an
intricate and unusual pattern. Once finished, your finger is poised at the
beginning. You tap the first key lightly. With pride you watch as the line
tumbles gracefully, one clicking against another, until the formation comes to
a glorious end.
Writing
a well-designed story is very much like setting up the dominos. Each sentence,
paragraph, scene, and chapter must be aligned in your intricate formation. The
writing dominos you work with generally are combinations of showing vs.
telling, description, view point, senses, mood, voice, plot, dialogue,
characterization, humor, and motivation. If any of the writing dominos are
off-centered or missing entirely, your beautiful story will fail.
Writers who understand
the power of correct placement look upon their manuscript as an exciting
challenge. They instinctively study a newly finished scene and ask themselves
what needs changing, adding or deleting. Will they need a domino from their bag
of writing tricks for a missing slot? Or will they have to carefully adjust an
off-centered tile so that it aligns perfectly with the others?
For beginners (and for
those who haven’t yet developed this gut instinct), condition yourself to
recognize what a missing or an off-centered domino looks like. If time is
available, put the work aside, return later and reread with fresh eyes. Or have
a trusted friend read the scene and ask if anything seems unclear. Don't ask
them to edit, just read for clarity. After while you will begin to see a
pattern of how you misalign your work or leave something out entirely. The
bottom line here: Knowledge comes with
practice, hard work, and common sense. It is also called
pay-attention-to-what-the- reader-sees.
For examples, let’s look
at some obvious missing dominos.
Problem: Imagine paragraphs one
through twelve has Katy in the house washing dishes and talking to her mother
on the phone her lack of boyfriends. Suddenly in paragraph thirteen Katy is
outside washing the car and talking to her dog about going for a walk.
Solution: Transition Domino. Add a
short paragraph between twelve and thirteen to show why Katy ended mom’s phone
call and went outside with her dog. Voila! You’ve filled in the open slot.
Problem: Veronica is home, alone,
with only a dozing cat for company. She’s just finished reading a romantic love
scene in one of her favorite books and is staring dreamily into the fire.
Suddenly Veronica throws the book across the room and jumps to her feet,
dislodging the sleepy animal from her lap. She mumbles something under her
breath then walks slowly into her darkened bedroom to get ready for bed.
Solution: Motivation Domino. Let’s
say the author used the correct dominos needed to build a believable scene;
such as the five senses, description, and mood. However why did the character
suddenly throw her book? The author neglected to explain poor Veronica hasn’t
had a date for over a year and she feels that her chances of meeting an
interesting man are nil to none.
Problem: A scene takes place
outdoors. The day is sunny, horribly hot with no wind. The characters walk and
engage in a captivating conversation which has drawn the reader in, yet something
feels not quite right.
Solution: Off-centered Domino. The
characters appear to be totally unfazed by the high temperatures. This scene requires
one of the five-senses realignment. With a few short sentences the author can
adjust the scene to show perspiration dripping from HIS brow or SHE rapidly fans
her face with her hand.
Problem: Envision a scene where Charles is hiking and has
stumbled across a rattler. The snake coiled, ready to strike. Yet paragraph
after paragraph, the author goes to great detail in describing the beauty of
the reptile, the sound of the animal’s ominous rattle and the texture of the
sand surrounding it.
Solution: A 'mis'-aligned domino.
The detail, though well-written, is not pertinent to Charles view point.
Charles would not be noting sand textures here. The snake is about to strike!
Try going back over the scene and weave in some extra dominos so that the
emotional dominos and descriptive dominos form a dance in time with each other.
It might take some work but will be worth it when completed.
Here are some important
points to remember
* A domino line can be
fixed at any time by concentrating on one very important rule. For every action there must be a reaction.
Use it as a mantra.
* Write down your
important dominos and display them somewhere you can see the list. While
editing, consider if any are missing. If you do, you'll soon keep your story flow
moving smoothly to a glorious end.
* Read aloud. For us, one
of the best ways we catch a missing domino is reading our scenes aloud. Tia
seems to have a natural instinct for catching missing dominos. So, usually Dani
reads the first round while Tia closes her eyes and listens. Then we alternate.
Tia reads while Dani listens for missing words. (Dani can catch them in a
heartbeat.)
* Print out your scene. When
you're truly stumped with awkward domino line, try printing out the scene on
paper. We generally do this when we feel something is still off with a
particular scene. Sometimes it seems faster to catch a tricky misaligned domino
that way.
The glorious end? Once
we feel we've aligned our dominos the best we can, we give it a thumbs up send it
off to our editor.
