Editing, plot plans & synopsis it is all a labour of love.

A fantastic week. I've had a lots to do both at my day job and with my writing. I've been having fun with new characters and learning more about them as they allow me to delve into their lives. Even characters I thought I knew well, are surprising me. I'm hoping this is a good thing. During the Windmill Writers meeting this week it was pointed out that the male voice in my piece wasn't male enough. This made me think. So I went into work and spoke to men and after a while I gleaned a new kind of speech pattern that might work. I've put some ideas together and have now rewritten the piece. This means I have lopped off about 300 words and when I type up the edits I’ll see if it has improved.

I'm also working on tightening up a YA novel to enter into a competition. At present it has a bit of a soggy middle. There is a lot of work to be done? And I'm going to have to put together a chapter by chapter plot plan, which I've never done before. I believe this is to show the character arc and the major events in each chapter.  I'm sure this will allow me to see where the weak points might be and if any chapter doesn't have a major event crucial to the plot it might have to go or be restructured accordingly. It will be a labour of love. And the one page synopsis. I still hate them, but will endeavour to make this one the best I've ever achieved. 

Editing is one of the hardest parts of writing. Getting the book written in the first place is difficult enough, but editing is more painful. You may have to chop out whole scenes you are in love with just because they don’t need to be there, they are superfluous to the plot. Hard, cruel and heart-breaking, yes, but it will improve your work tenfold if you are brutal for the right reason. I know this is correct, but doing it is excruciatingly painful. Tearing yourself away from being the creator to becoming the improver. So wish me luck and I’ll let you know how it is coming on as I hack my way through my WIP with my metaphorical sword.

For this week’s writing task choose one of the following:

• Yesterday should never have happened.
• What! In the grave yard? You have to be joking, right?
• Tuppence took sixpence out for a walk and we've not seen them since.

You decided what genre to write these prompts. What is your target market? Think about where this piece of writing could be sent for publication. Why not write, edit and submit your work. Whatever you decide to do, please remember to engage your reader throughout your work

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So go on, get writing.