Great post, I'm wondering how the mixing board metaphor applies to revising short stories. Perhaps the soundboard has fewer dials when it comes to a short story?
Good question! I think it could apply, depending. If you're writing a story in 5 sections, you might want those sections consistent (or intentionally inconsistent). And I also think some writers, maybe all writers, gravitate toward different qualities. Like we might simply be more inclined to write action and description than interiority, and revision might be the place to add that interiority in.
Any advice on plot? I seem to want to think about the plot forever instead of rewriting this story to follow it. Thinking=not writing. Feeling=writing. Its like my conscious mind keeps me from making progress. Im not a planner at all, but I might have to plot the whole thing out on index cards or a whiteboard first, so I can get my non i tuitive brain out of the way.
I expanded the past few months,, realized that there are too many elements, so I will have to contract in a total rewrite of the first half of the story. The bass, treble, reverb, mid range, volume, and gain all got cranked to 11.
I'll try to think of a plot post. I won't pretend to be any kind of plot expert. But more me, teaching myself plot meant really planning out the story in plot arc / plot beat / outline form. My novel had a noir structure, so part of that was ordering information, finding out when in a story a character should learn X or Y. I never write with outlines in short stories. But for a novel that has a plot, I need one.
I believe thats the key for me as well. I need to visualize the entire thing in one place, rather than revising a chapter at a time and trying to figure it our piece by piece.
Planned an ending at the beginning, but then I learned that ending had been done by the author Ive been learning minimalism from. So it got changed to a very unconventional, modern, and realistic hero's journey. Which totally changed everything Id written previously.
Will build a visual of some sort, and rewrite everything after I finish this horror/romance Christmas story.
Fantastic post. After several requests for full mss, from agents, but problems with my structure, I hired an editor/coach to help me with the entire project. I am almost finished, and this is the work we've done. Pacing, interiorty vs dialogue v scene v summary to make it flow. Wish I had done this long ago. Despite many high level workshops that look at one chapter, having an outside view of my full project has been invaluable. Great piece!
I'm a big fan of the soundboard metaphor. I've found being part of a writers' group adds another layer to this idea of tweaking levels. When you're standing up there reading, paying attention to the spikes and valleys of attention in the audience offers an external bit of feedback that you can take back to the drawing board.
The only thing I'd push back on slightly here is the idea that things need to be balanced. Perhaps I'm stretching the music metaphor a bit too far here, but the grunge movement was built on the quiet/loud concept, so I personally think, if you notice a certain section is engaging in an outsized manner, its best to lean into that and feed it.
A useful reminder. I used the metaphor of creating a sandcastle: first you need a pile of sand (the first draft) then you shape and design until you get the finished monument.
That helps me get through to the end of the first draft (6,000 words left of current WIP).
Do your first drafts get better or do you plough through and then get critical?
I'm currently working on my first book - a creative, nonfiction novel. I'm in my second revision (the first one after beta readers), and now using an actual editor who has made line-by-line edits.
As the book is memoir like, the main character POV tends to come in a mix of present tense and past-perfect within the same paragraph, which can be confusing. I've supplemented this with my own editor's note reflections in the past tense, to clear things up. My beta readers readers said despite the mix of tenses used by the main character (and me as editor), the interior-headspace moments were suspenseful and they wanted to continue reading on, despite there also being a few inconsistently, long passages that dragged about exteriors.
With the revised beta draft, my editor has switched all the main character's tenses to simple past for consistency and grammar reasons, while reducing the scope and focus of the exteriors. While reducing the verbiage in exteriors has sped up the pace of the book, the line by line changes to tense has really changed the vibe of the book, from walking with the the main character in the moment, to one of looking back at the main character through the lens of the past.
Many good tips here! I needed this. I’m working on a novel where the chapters have very different balances, almost like short stories. And different points of view, etc.
I love it this way, at the moment, but I like your point that there has to be a reason. I’m keeping that in mind and when I’m further along I’ll need to make sure it really works.
(Do I recall correctly that you were the guy who lobbied for more Moby Dick strange left turns?)
The soundboard metaphor is very helpful! I am starting revisions on my current WIP. My first draft has the Interiority/Mood level cranked very high. The Action/Plot level is lowered to a whisper.
…it is a horror novel, so that balance is going to have to be completely reworked.
This also makes me think about how the various levels have to be tweaked in book-to-film adaptations. I just finished reading The Shining for the first time, and I was shocked at how different it felt from Kubrick’s film (which I’m pretty meh on, but need to return to). Part of King’s strength as a genre writer is that he keeps the Interiority level quite high, but it doesn’t drown out the Plot and Weirdness. It’s harder to land that exact balance in a visual medium.
Anyway! I feel like your posts always offer a new and creative way to analyze literature, and I really appreciate it.
Great post, I'm wondering how the mixing board metaphor applies to revising short stories. Perhaps the soundboard has fewer dials when it comes to a short story?
Good question! I think it could apply, depending. If you're writing a story in 5 sections, you might want those sections consistent (or intentionally inconsistent). And I also think some writers, maybe all writers, gravitate toward different qualities. Like we might simply be more inclined to write action and description than interiority, and revision might be the place to add that interiority in.
Useful metaphor I just stole from you. 😇 Thanks!
Editing is a wonderful thing. I think you should invest at least another 50% of the time you spent drafting in editing. https://coverstorybooks.com/so-you-think-youre-a-writer-ian-gouge/
These are incredible editing tips.
Thank you!
I have 24K words in my draft 0. It is a pain in the ass to work on a outline when you are 24K in…
For the next novel (if there is one), I would definitely only limit myself to have 5K words and figure out the outline there!
Any advice on plot? I seem to want to think about the plot forever instead of rewriting this story to follow it. Thinking=not writing. Feeling=writing. Its like my conscious mind keeps me from making progress. Im not a planner at all, but I might have to plot the whole thing out on index cards or a whiteboard first, so I can get my non i tuitive brain out of the way.
I expanded the past few months,, realized that there are too many elements, so I will have to contract in a total rewrite of the first half of the story. The bass, treble, reverb, mid range, volume, and gain all got cranked to 11.
I'll try to think of a plot post. I won't pretend to be any kind of plot expert. But more me, teaching myself plot meant really planning out the story in plot arc / plot beat / outline form. My novel had a noir structure, so part of that was ordering information, finding out when in a story a character should learn X or Y. I never write with outlines in short stories. But for a novel that has a plot, I need one.
I believe thats the key for me as well. I need to visualize the entire thing in one place, rather than revising a chapter at a time and trying to figure it our piece by piece.
Planned an ending at the beginning, but then I learned that ending had been done by the author Ive been learning minimalism from. So it got changed to a very unconventional, modern, and realistic hero's journey. Which totally changed everything Id written previously.
Will build a visual of some sort, and rewrite everything after I finish this horror/romance Christmas story.
Fantastic post. After several requests for full mss, from agents, but problems with my structure, I hired an editor/coach to help me with the entire project. I am almost finished, and this is the work we've done. Pacing, interiorty vs dialogue v scene v summary to make it flow. Wish I had done this long ago. Despite many high level workshops that look at one chapter, having an outside view of my full project has been invaluable. Great piece!
I'm a big fan of the soundboard metaphor. I've found being part of a writers' group adds another layer to this idea of tweaking levels. When you're standing up there reading, paying attention to the spikes and valleys of attention in the audience offers an external bit of feedback that you can take back to the drawing board.
The only thing I'd push back on slightly here is the idea that things need to be balanced. Perhaps I'm stretching the music metaphor a bit too far here, but the grunge movement was built on the quiet/loud concept, so I personally think, if you notice a certain section is engaging in an outsized manner, its best to lean into that and feed it.
Great article.
A useful reminder. I used the metaphor of creating a sandcastle: first you need a pile of sand (the first draft) then you shape and design until you get the finished monument.
That helps me get through to the end of the first draft (6,000 words left of current WIP).
Do your first drafts get better or do you plough through and then get critical?
I'm currently working on my first book - a creative, nonfiction novel. I'm in my second revision (the first one after beta readers), and now using an actual editor who has made line-by-line edits.
As the book is memoir like, the main character POV tends to come in a mix of present tense and past-perfect within the same paragraph, which can be confusing. I've supplemented this with my own editor's note reflections in the past tense, to clear things up. My beta readers readers said despite the mix of tenses used by the main character (and me as editor), the interior-headspace moments were suspenseful and they wanted to continue reading on, despite there also being a few inconsistently, long passages that dragged about exteriors.
With the revised beta draft, my editor has switched all the main character's tenses to simple past for consistency and grammar reasons, while reducing the scope and focus of the exteriors. While reducing the verbiage in exteriors has sped up the pace of the book, the line by line changes to tense has really changed the vibe of the book, from walking with the the main character in the moment, to one of looking back at the main character through the lens of the past.
What are your thoughts?
Many good tips here! I needed this. I’m working on a novel where the chapters have very different balances, almost like short stories. And different points of view, etc.
I love it this way, at the moment, but I like your point that there has to be a reason. I’m keeping that in mind and when I’m further along I’ll need to make sure it really works.
(Do I recall correctly that you were the guy who lobbied for more Moby Dick strange left turns?)
The soundboard metaphor is very helpful! I am starting revisions on my current WIP. My first draft has the Interiority/Mood level cranked very high. The Action/Plot level is lowered to a whisper.
…it is a horror novel, so that balance is going to have to be completely reworked.
This also makes me think about how the various levels have to be tweaked in book-to-film adaptations. I just finished reading The Shining for the first time, and I was shocked at how different it felt from Kubrick’s film (which I’m pretty meh on, but need to return to). Part of King’s strength as a genre writer is that he keeps the Interiority level quite high, but it doesn’t drown out the Plot and Weirdness. It’s harder to land that exact balance in a visual medium.
Anyway! I feel like your posts always offer a new and creative way to analyze literature, and I really appreciate it.
I like this the 7 self editing process article:
https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/when-is-my-novel-ready-to-read-self-editing-processes-for-writers?utm_campaign=WDG%20-%20NL%20-%20Monday%20Motivation&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9yk37NCp1DjrVLZmau3p0H0Ypih6XkYC_Aap3S9YzFH41AQGVRebahtJnOpYRsLN5k26_6DkuHAy9pKVp5Oc7874q_qQ&_hsmi=240052972&utm_content=240052972&utm_source=hs_email