Writing a Novel: Revision

There are so many levels of revision. The big picture is what I'm looking at right now.

Does Chapter one lead into Chapter two? I don't mean "lead into" in an obvious way. Sometimes the two chapters don't have anything to do with each other and it's juxtaposition that I'm going for.

Sometimes it's a resting spot, so the reader can regroup and get ready for what comes next.

Sometimes I'm working hard to supply all the components of plot that I'm going to need later on in the story.

I'm often working on the shape of the chapter. If it's going up and up and up, I can't tack on another scene at the end that spins it downward. It must go up and up and up, then cut.

It's deeply satisfying work but I do wonder if it will be finished in time for my end of June deadline.

Writing a Novel: Images

Lately I've been thinking about images and how they differ from description. Seems to me that they shimmer with a certain luminosity not found in the usual description of a scene.

So, as I revise, I'm reading for images. When does the moment occur when the reader pauses and really sees something. Do I have enough of those moments, ordinary moments that glow?

That's today's challenge.

Writing a Novel: Structure

Building a Novel

The inciting incident establishes the narrator's baseline. Initial philosophy revealed, the status quo established. The narrator is stuck in a certain way of thinking, a specific belief system.

In the scenes that build the narrator resists change. Holds onto belief system throughout the novel.

Midpoint of the novel, the narrator is closest to achieving what she/he wants. Within grasp but he or she loses it.

Crisis: The narrator faces such questions as: Do I change or not? What am I made of? Biggest dilemma of her/his life. The narrator is the furthest away from success. Zero hope.

Climax: Show how the narrator has changed.

End with a different belief system. How did the narrator change?

Writing a Novel: One Step at a Time

Annie Dillard wrote this passage in her book, The Writing Life:

You climb a long ladder until you can see over the roof, or over the clouds. You are writing a book. You watch your shod feet step on each round rung, one at a time; you do not hurry and do not rest. Your feet feel the steep ladder's balance; the long muscles in your thighs check its sway. you climb steadily, doing your job in the dark. When you reach the end, there is nothing more to climb. The sun hits you. The bright wideness surprises you: you had forgotten there was an end. You look back at the ladder's two feet on the distant grass, astonished.