Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print

The three parts of your sequel will manifest in three different ways: the reaction will be emotional, the dilemma will be intellectual, and the decision will lead to physical action (by way of the next scene’s goal).

writers sometimes call the “As you know, Bob,” paragraph, in which you do this big info dump. There’s pleasure in working it out. Besides, brief, understated descriptions tend to better serve the lens of character. Real people don’t think of things in quite so many adverbs, or adjectives.

1. Description. You can tell readers how your character feels. This isn’t always going to be a good choice, since you’ll gain more oomph by showing readers what’s happening. But sometimes a simple summary will allow you to return to the action faster. 2. Internal narrative/monologue. Most reactions will contain at least some aspect of this option, sin

Think of your story in four sections; then try to reduce each section to one line of action – like a “mini-logline” for each act. The best way to define a Story Engine is to answer the question, “What does the protagonist have to do in this chapter of the story?”