This week I am finishing yet another round of edits on my revision of Breathing Room,
my next novel. My wonderful editor, a flight expert, and a
screenwriter friend have given me their feedback, and I have a pile of
notes to think about, incorporate, and make changes from.
The solution to manuscript problems isn't always easy to see. That's why I turn to other authors.
For instance, my screenwriter--who has a wonderful eye for the cinematic--recommended I boost the character visuals: She couldn't always see the characters in each scene. We writers internalize our characters easily, so we sometimes forget that readers outside our heads can't do this.
Clues are needed--a quirk, a way of moving, a physical characteristic. Not too much, but enough to be able to set the person onstage in front of us.
This is especially important, my friend said, in the opening pages.
I agree--but I also hate when the opening scene is loaded with too much description. It slows things way down.
The solution to manuscript problems isn't always easy to see. That's why I turn to other authors.
For instance, my screenwriter--who has a wonderful eye for the cinematic--recommended I boost the character visuals: She couldn't always see the characters in each scene. We writers internalize our characters easily, so we sometimes forget that readers outside our heads can't do this.
Clues are needed--a quirk, a way of moving, a physical characteristic. Not too much, but enough to be able to set the person onstage in front of us.
This is especially important, my friend said, in the opening pages.
I agree--but I also hate when the opening scene is loaded with too much description. It slows things way down.