卫斯理大学创意写作课The Craft of Plot

第四周 cut it out 第一节editing and revision 字幕节选

checklist on exactly what to do once you have a complete first draft.

Number one, start with easy fixes, typos, cutting adverbs, etc. This is called running your spell check. Running spell check is not what revision is. Spell check is only the first step in your 21 step revision process, so don't confuse the two.

Number two, omit needless words. Look at your sentences. Is every single word necessary? The word single wasn't needed in that last sentence. Look for any opportunity to cut out words you don't need.

Number three, cut places where you're doing the reader's thinking for them. This falls under telling and not showing. If a reader needs to understand a particular point they should be shown it in the scene so they can draw there own conclusions. If you need to tell them something, write it again, and again, until you've shown them instead.

Number 4, cut stage direction, belaboring the obvious, clumsy back story etc. Stage direction are lines that focus on where a character's standing or how many physical movements they need to take to get to the kitchen. Don't walk me through every single step a character takes. Get me inside their head.

Number five, insure consistent character motivation. If a character does something that's out of character, it should be because your character has evolved in your story, not because you forgot what that character acts like.

Number six, has something happened? An action, a concrete action by the end of the first paragraph of your story.

Number seven, is my story coherent? Are my details both physical and emotional, consistent throughout my story?

Number eight, are there scenes? Are they clear? Are they complete scenes? Did I hit all five points on my scene checklist? Am I showing and not telling in these scenes?

Number nine, do I start each chapter in each scene with something active?

Number ten, am I writing in active voice? Have I avoided passive voice and parallel construction, using the same words over and over? Check out Strunk and White's Elements of Style for a more detailed description of passive voice, but if you're using any of the following phrases, there is, there are, it is, made his way, you're probably writing in passive voice.

Number 11, is setting working? Setting should be an integral part of your story and contribute to our understanding of it. If it isn't, then your story could be set anywhere and that's not an effective way to tell a story.

Number 12, are my characters acting believably? Do they each want something? Do each of my characters have believable flaws? Your characters need to do things that a reader believes they are both physically and emotionally capable of doing. They should also be flawed, because flawed characters usually desire something. Perfect characters don't want anything because they have everything they need already.

Number 13, are the transitions between my paragraphs and sections clear? Sloppy transitions kick the reader out of your story by reminding us where the scenes in your story are.

Number 14, does my story fit together the right way? Does it follow the five act structure? Action, background, development, conflict and end. If your story doesn't have the right structure, your story won't make sense to a reader.

Number 15, did I explain to the reader every risk involved for each of my characters? Characters that don't risk anything stay at home on the couch. Characters that take risks give us a story.

Number 16, did I explain to the reader the consequences of these risks? The better we understand what a character risks, the better we can empathize with that character, and want to follow them along.

Number 17, does every story of my sentence deepen our understanding of character or advance the plot? Every sentence of your novel has to do this. Any sentence that fails this simple test, should be cut.

Number 18, is my second draft 10% shorter than my first draft?

Number 19, am I ready to discard pages or entire drafts that are simply not working instead of trying to find endless ways to jerry rig them? Just because you worked on something for a year, or five years, or 15 years, doesn't mean it's good. I say this as someone who worked off and on on my second book for close to 18 years. Don't hold onto something and patch it together with duct tape just because you've been working on it a long time. If you aren't doing significant revisions each year you're working on your book, it's not getting better. If it's not getting better, it's time to toss those pages away.

Number 20, in Stephen King's craft book On Writing, when he revises he says I'm looking for what I meant. Is what you meant in your head as clear as it can be on the page? When you're writing you have a picture in your head that you're trying to capture. Have you translated that picture in your head onto the page? Now completing this checklist should take anywhere from several weeks to several months to complete. Stephen King mentioned in his nonfiction book On Writing that this process takes him at least three to four months of solid, steady, daily work.