After
revising, I created a table to track my main character’s state of mind. I copied
every passage that dealt directly this decision and pasted the quote into my
table along with the chapter and page. Then I invented a scoring scale to
monitor her feelings about the decision.
0
= neutral
-4 = avoidance
-7 = saying no outright
-10 = pretending the problem never existed
+4 = waffling, but in a positive way
+7 = saying yes out loud
+10 = sealing the bargain.
-4 = avoidance
-7 = saying no outright
-10 = pretending the problem never existed
+4 = waffling, but in a positive way
+7 = saying yes out loud
+10 = sealing the bargain.
Of
course some passages fell between these markers.
I
learned she spends over 1000 words considering the problem. (I’m still waffling
about whether this is enough.) Originally, her decision was postponed twice by
interruptions. (I got rid of one interruption to reduce scene similarity.) The table allows
me to see how she makes up her mind. Often it’s one step forward, two steps
back. Perhaps that’s normal, or maybe she’s doing the cha-cha.
5 comments:
I'm always amazed by the insightful ways you analyze your writing Ann. ( Maybe you should write a book about it?)
Thanks, Buffy. Maybe someday. At least these tables and graphs are blog fodder. :-)
LOL. You and your scientific background. Mixing the right and left sides of the brain. Very impressive system you've designed for yourself.
Kim: It occurred to me later I could have simply used a descriptive word like "avoidance" instead of my number scale.
I like it. And I agree with Buffy: Eventually you'll write a book about writing, and people will learn a lot from it.
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