Frankendraft

I didn't make up the term. But I totally get it.

I read it on Janice Hardy's excellent post about whether or not to pull that "trunk manuscript" out of the drawer and revise. Here's just a tiny bit of what she has to say:

Does it fix what went wrong? Before you dive in and spend who knows how long just to wind up in the same spot, try outlining or summarizing the new direction. Does it fix the original problems?
Is the draft salvageable or do you need to start over? Reworking an old draft that didn’t work risks turning it into a Frankendraft (pieces of novel sewed together to form a plot, but it really doesn’t fit), so consider how you want to proceed carefully. Starting over can seem like more work, but not if it takes you three times longer to revise what’s there. 

Thank you, Rosi Hollinbeck, for your excellent blogposts that always give me something to ponder. AND she almost always has a book to give away!



(And, maybe this is actually what I'm doing here...) 

Writing Lesson: Talking to Yourself

This morning I thought I would organize old emails. 
But you can't read and delete something that piques your interest, can you?
Instead, I ended up on Janice Hardy's "Fiction University" website.

See what she says about INTERNALIZATION.
Or talking to yourself. 
Which I find my characters do a lot...

Check your internal monologue and see if it fits your character. Read it aloud, of course. Delete the unnecessary. Delete the stilted language. Delete the overthinking.


The "Bob" examples (in blue, below) really crack me up.

 
(From Janice Hardy)
Writing Internalization
 
Internalization takes the general and makes it personal. As you study your own work, look for opportunities to show how your characters feel about their worlds and situations. Show their opinions and beliefs, let them think about what it means on a variety of levels. Are there places to show world building? A moral belief? An aspect of the character growth?
Sometimes a few words is all you need, especially if they're judgment words.  There's a difference between "It was Bob" and "It was just Bob" and "Crap, it was Bob." A little attitude can go a long way.
While not every detail needs to be internalized, they are opportunities to deepen your story and connect your reader to your character.

In case you're wondering, this is kind of what I'm saying to myself right now.

(Shout-out to my friend Eileen Harrell whose Facebook posts are full of these gems.)

THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS

I'm way behind in my adult novels To Be Read list.
To whoever recommended this one, thank you and I'm sorry I didn't get to it a year ago when you raved.

A perfect vacation read, THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS is written by M.L. Stedman, an Australian living in London. 
Click to read that the novel's ->  ->
Coming soon to the movies!

The book is about many things I love: lighthouses, families, World War I. 

For a terrific interview about writing the book, click here:

http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2012/0918/M.L.-Stedman-talks-about-The-Light-Between-Oceans

As I turned the pages quickly (because it was that kind of story- hey Oprah likes it too!), I was reminded of writing advice I recently read on Janice Hardy's blog about creating conflict:

2. Offer an impossible choice

Choices move the plot, but impossible choices make the protagonist work for it. When there’s no clear answer, and both choices have terrible consequences, readers know something about the story is going to change and the stakes are going up–two solid ways to keep readers hooked. 

To read the rest of her tips, CLICK HERE.

Without spoiling the novel for those of you who haven't read it, Stedman is quite good at that impossible choice thing. 

Anything else I shouldn't miss reading this summer, which will be gone when I blink fast?