After reading this guidebook, you'll have a method for ensuring that your story is well-told, well-paced, and highly effective. You'll be guided through the process of reviewing your story, scene-by-scene, until it works.
We won't focus on copy-edi...
I think it's to find out what happens next. But what happens next is only interesting if the "what happens next" involves characters or something important to a character.
Compelling characters drive your story. They act and react. They create emotion. They show motivation. Without characters, there isn't a story. That's a tall order for your characters.
The Story Elements will help you get the most out of your characters. The 3 most important Character Story Elements are:
1. Characters in a scene
2. Point of View (POV) Character
3. POV goal for the scene
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Characters In A Scene
By the time you're performing a story edit, you know who your characters are, what they look like, where they work, and so on. But what about how they fit into your story structure?
To understand this and make the most of it, try to evaluate your characters in the context of the structure of your novel.
Let's start with the basics.
Who is in each scene?
A list of characters in each scene and in your novel helps you:
- Keep track of characters from one scene to the next
- Assess whether you have too many characters in a scene
- Count how many times the protagonist and antagonist appear together
- Quickly determine which characters were present for a major event
- Ensure you haven't used character names that can be easily confused
Your Mission
Create a list of characters in your novel and in each scene. Use this list to work through the items above. I'll show you how.
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Keep Track Of Characters
If a character is in one scene, and the following scene is in the same setting at the same time, then either the character must still be there or you must write their exit. This element will keep you from having erroneously disappearing characters.
Your Mission
Use your character list and check you've written each character into and out of each scene.
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Too Many Characters
You don't want readers to flip (or click) to previous pages to find out who a character is. If you're worried you have too many characters ask yourself why each character is in a scene. Each character needs a reason for being there. If there is no reason to exist, consider cutting the character from the scene.
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Another way to reduce the number of characters is to try combining two characters into one. Can a role filled by one character be filled by a different character? If the answer is yes, try combining characters.
The love of your characters will keep readers coming back. The fewer characters in the story, the more time you have to develop each one, and the more time a reader has to grow to love the characters.
Your Mission
Check your character list for each scene. If you don't have a reason for each character to be in a scene, try cutting them.
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Protagonist And Antagonist Together
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To create tension, put your protagonist and antagonist in the same scene. Keeping track of characters in each scene enables you to determine which scenes the protagonist and antagonist are in together, and you can see which clues, revelations, and actions both characters know about.
Your Mission
Go through your list of characters and mark all the scenes where the protagonist and antagonist appear together. Make sure they are both in the climax.
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Major Events
You'll want to ensure your protagonist is in the major scenes such as the inciting incident, plot points, and climax. Typically, without the protagonist in your climax scene, the reader will be disappointed. We'll cover key scenes later in the book when we talk about the story arc.
Tracking which characters are in the scenes where major events occur may help you when you're rewriting your draft and trying to fix plot holes.
Your Mission
This one is easy. You've already listed the scenes your protagonist is in. Now make sure they are in the major scenes.
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Character Names
Character names are the first way to describe your character. There are cultural names, popular names for a generation, etc. that will bring certain images to mind for the reader.
Once you've chosen your character names, have a look at them as a group. Don't confuse your reader by having names that are too similar. If you have two characters and one is named Alice and the other Alicia, the reader will have a hard time remembering who each character is.
I loved the latest Mission Impossible movie, Fallout. Lots of action and stunts. Good story. But I had one issue. The two bad guys are named Lane and Lake. Whenever the good guys talked about Lane or Lake, I couldn't remember which one they meant. Changing one of the names would have solved this problem.
Your Mission
Review the character list you created and check for names that are too similar. This is your chance to do a global find and change one of the names.
