Recently I’ve been watching sessions from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Online Conference. My favorite sessions always involve a how-to element. One session was on finding your writer’s voice. Another was on taking something from idea to full picture book.
Yet my favorite session was on making your work stand out. The same thing kept coming up. Know what is at the heart of your project.
It was interesting to hear agents and editors alike explain how vital it is to know what is at the heart of your project.
When you are drafting a project, it helps keep you focused. Whether you are outlining or working on your draft, when you feel stuck, consider the heart. Why am I writing this? What inspired it? What do I want this piece to do for my readers? Often these questions can help get you moving again.
Questions like these are just as critical when you are revising. This is especially true if you are revising based on an agent’s or editor’s comments.
Think about it. The agent tells you that editors are seeing too many manuscripts set in New York. You groan. You did so much research to figure out what your characters would see as they moved through the city. Should you try revising and setting your story somewhere else? It depends. Why are you writing this piece? Let’s say that you wanted to create a fast-paced piece of fiction with two sisters as the main characters. Hmm. New York didn’t even come into play. What did you want this piece to do for your readers? You wanted them to experience a story with two smart, sassy women who have each other’s backs, come-what-may. Maybe you could try a new setting.
But if the agent tells you that one of these two characters needs to go, no one wants a sisters-as-buddies story? That’s another situation altogether. The pair of sisters who are also buddies is at the heart of your story. Getting rid of one of them would be self-defeating.
The agent concedes that you can keep both of your characters. But one of the sisters should betray the other. That would increase the tension and be quite the plot twist! It would. But it too would go against the heart of your story. If you want to give the agent's suggestion a try, you might try to write the big reveal and see if it feels genuine.
Or you could employ one of my favorite tricks. The story needs more tension. Check. But who else could be the secret villain? Who else could it be that would be just as shocking? That would create just as much tension?
I always try to see what is behind the request for a change. But I also try to keep the heart of my story in sight.
I am much better at doing that when I write nonfiction. I am hoping that using this idea in my fiction will help me wend my way through that revision.
--SueBE
- To find out more about her writing, visit her site and blog, One Writer's Journey.
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Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 60 books for young readers.
She is also the instructor for 3 WOW classes which begin on the first Monday of every month. She teaches:
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