I have to say I haven't gotten as much done with my MS this week as I wanted. I took Monday off, as I needed a break (I'm still adjusting to a full time job, and with the holidays approaching and house construction going on... let's just leave it at that.)
On the bright side, I finished writing out my character and replacing her with another character. Now, I need to read through from the beginning to the end and make notes to myself as well as apply the comments I've received from my readers.
As I read through, I am going to look for words used often, and close to each other (smiled, shrugged, things like that). I will also look for where I used four words to say something I can say with one or two. Kathryn posted over the weekend about using color to show dialogue, action, description, and exposition. I am going to play with this as well and see how it goes. You can see her post here. (Maybe after I color it, I'll take a look at it on the big monitor on my hubby's computer so I can look at about 20 pages at once--of course, I can't read the words then, but I will see the color distribution better.)
How about you? When you are polishing your MS what do you do? What tips/tricks can have you found to help you?
My advise is to write with your senses -- all of them. Too often writers only portray scenes and characters through sight when utilizing smell, sound, and taste draws a much more vivid and complete picture. Good luck. I have complete faith in you!
ReplyDeleteI've tried to do the color thing. Didn't really work. For me, I've found that if I storyboard AFTER the book is written, cured, edited, critiqued, and still needs work, I can usually find the weak spots.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I'm doing right now. And guess what I found? My first chapter is really my second. I'm writing a new first chapter right now...
I do try to use as many senses as I can to evoke a clearer picture- but I will make sure I don't overly rely on sight.
ReplyDeleteI've never done a storyboard, so that is something I'll have to look into.
Thanks for the suggestions.