2.5 Are We There Yet?

ARE WE THERE YET?
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So, you've done the self-editing, you've had other people look at it and revised it based on their comments. Now what do you do? Set it aside. It should be for a week or longer, because you want to get the story out of your head so that it will appear fresh. Then you can go back to the story and look at it with fresh eyes. Pick it up and imagine yourself an editor reading it for the first time. Then rate it. Often you will find weaknesses in the story when you do so.

Break your rating down into three general areas, along those same lines of artist, craftsman, and laborer mentioned previously. Except now, use more sophisticated terms: content, flow, and structure. Once again, start from the outside—from content (artist), to flow (craftsman), to structure (laborer). Give yourself a numerical rating for each of these, and it will help you see what needs improvement.


Content

5 = Original storyline, characters come alive, and descriptions are vivid.
4 = Has elements of originality, with characters and descriptions only a little flat.
3 = Well-worn storyline, characters and descriptions more often flat than alive.
2 = Only a semblance of originality. Characters and descriptions rarely come alive.
1 = No originality, characters almost puppet-like, and descriptions boring to read.

Storyline

Some stories are written with plot where action moves from one event to another. Others contain almost no action and are meant primarily to expose the nature of a character or characters. If it contains a plot, it must be interesting and yet fit adequately within the confines of the word limitation. Attempting to chronicle someone’s life cannot be told in a few thousand words or less. Telling an incident in that life can.

If it contains very little plot, that doesn't mean it is not an effective story. Sometimes a story is merely an exposition of characters, leading to a conclusion. Nothing much may happen in these kinds of stories, however, the piece must progress smoothly and logically toward the end.

Whether it has a strong plot or not, the story must still have a point. The point doesn’t need to be in bold bright letters. In fact, most readers prefer the point of a story to sneak up on them and surprise them. This is the essence of good writing and how the storyline will be judged.

Character Definition

The main characters have to be well-rounded, and well-defined. Flat, one-dimensional characters that only exist to move the plot never work well. The more the reader believes the characters exist, the more effective the story will be. Look at which characters came alive and which seemed like puppets on a string.

Descriptions

Descriptions must be vivid. They should help the reader see the scene. The description of the action taking place should help the reader visualize it in their mind’s eye. How was the story able to transport a reader into another world, and how did it reach inside and touch some aspect related to life? In other words, how interesting were the descriptions?


Flow

5 = No confusing wording that must be reread to catch the meaning. A joy to read.
4 = Clear and concise wording. Flows consistently and smoothly without many bumps.
3 = Not as smooth as it could be and cannot be read without hesitation in some sections.
2 = Confusing use of the language requiring a lot of rereading to get the meaning.
1 = An extremely bumpy ride that makes reading it almost a chore.

Sentence Structure

How well are the sentences constructed? Does the story avoid wordy, rambling sentences, or an overabundance of short, choppy sentences. Although both may be used if not overused. Poorly constructed sentences are difficult to read and understand, and can be the downfall of a story. Confusing sentences resulting from poor word arrangement force the reader to go back and re-read to understand the sentence.

Paragraph Construction

Think in terms of paragraph units rather than sentence units. A good way to look at paragraphs is that they are mini-stories, with an opening and a closing. In addition, the closing sentence provides a springboard to the next paragraph, they should not jerk the reader along. Just as your story progresses from an introduction, to a middle, to an end, so should paragraphs.

Progression

A well-constructed story should be progressive. It actively moves toward an end, whether it has a plot or not. If the story stagnates, then there’s no point to it. This is different from an anti-climatic story, which simply provides a counterpoint to the expected result. Did it capture and hold the reader’s attention from start to finish? If not, how might it have been written to accomplish that?


Structure

5 = One or two slips of grammar or punctuation, but no spelling errors whatsoever.
4 = Some grammar and spelling errors, but almost too few to mention.
3 = Has enough syntax errors to make it annoying to read. Disrupts the reading.
2 = Many glaring errors that make it almost unreadable, but still worth fixing.
1 = Truly unreadable and not worth revising. Spelling is absolutely atrocious.

Grammar

This is the foundation of all writing. It makes the piece easy to read so that the reader can get to the end and understand the point. It's basically how well the author uses the English language. Strong, articulate writing is better than weak, repetitious writing.

Punctuation

The cornerstone of every writing piece is proper punctuation. Without these annoying little marks, the piece would run together. While most novice writing is serviceable, some pieces contain atrocious punctuation. If uncertain, check at places like dictionary.com for definitions of the punctuation marks.

If the piece contains dialogue tags, they must be formatted properly. Dialogue should be surrounded by full quotes and the writer should know how to handle the punctuation around it.

Spelling

Proper spelling is a non-negotiable point. Nothing turns a reader off more than spelling errors.


One Final Thought

This has been an important topic. An inability to review and edit your own work reduces your chance of becoming a published writer. That is a simple, hard, and cold fact. It's what will separate your work from countless other submissions. It's difficult, it's time consuming, it's boring, and it's simply not fun.

I'm reminded of a quote from the movie A League of Their Own. Near the conclusion, the character of Jimmy Dugan (played by Tom Hanks) says the following when confronting the character of Dottie Hinson (played by Geena Davis):

It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.

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REFERENCES

Perrin, Timothy. "Unleash Your Creativity: Become a Better, More Productive Writer" Writer's Digest, July 1989. www.right-writing.com/unleash.html, accessed 2007.