At the moment, I’m fine-tuning Chapter 16 and am about ready to tackle Chapter 17.   In Chapter 16, I cut a few scenes down in size when I felt I’d stepped out of the narrative.  I keep a sign by my computer reminding myself not to add anything that doesn’t move the story forward.  A writing instructor once told me, “If you’re writing about an Indian, remove everything that doesn’t  relate to the Indian.”   

I love it when I can read along and feel like I am simply telling myself a story.  I hate it when I discover that I’ve added narrative simply to explain things to the reader.  That means it is time for more chopping.

In chapter sixteen, soon after Tessa arrives on the huge University of Illinois campus as a freshman, she faces an experience that throws her into a tailspin.  I’m working carefully to let the reader feel the depth of  her emotion.   I want to show her vulnerability and also her strength.   She has plenty of hurdles left to jump over.   She can’t fall apart now.    

Revising is a challenge but every day I tell myself, ”Okay, your characters are waiting, sit your butt on the chair.”

June is coming soon.  Stop in and say hello. 

Lisbeth

It turns out that I’m only touching the surface of my main character’s emotions.  Stephen King says in his book, On Writing,  ”Don’t stop writing a scene because it’s hard emotionally.”   I think that’s why I’ve been simply skimming the surface.   (Twenty lashes with a wet rag for me.)  When Tessa’s sister, Claudine, goes after her boyfriend while she’s lying in a hospital bed after getting her front teeth knocked out in a car accident, I don’t show her emotions.  I’ve got to let my readers know that she feels like she’s been stuck in the gut with a sharp knife.  And it hurts like hell. 

A second critiqued comment was about my tendency to jump into a journalistic mode.  I did just that in a scene where Tessa’s friend Lisa comes by and insists Tessa get her butt out of the house where she’s been  hibernating while her face heals.  The teenagers walk downtown.  I have a golden opportunity to show character in this scene.  Instead, I give a journalistic report.   In my revision, I plan to let the reader see the buildings, smell the doughnuts in the bakery, get a glimpse of what other shoppers are wearing, hear the clerk comment on Tessa injuries and Lisa’s trendy outfit, have Tessa see her face in a store mirror and get teary-eyed, and listen to the two girls share their thoughts.   Tessa may even notice the sawdust on the floor of the remodeled drugstore when they stop in for a milkshake.  These are only ideas, but it will be a real scene, not a newspaper report.

I hope my ramblings have helped you realize the importance in digging deep for emotion and in setting a scene in your writing.

Happy writing.  Have a good day.