I wrote my entire first book, and most of my second, in first-person, past tense. I thought it gave the story a feel of a personal storyteller, recounting the experiences that had happened to him.
However, I've read a few other YA books lately, and I've noticed that a few of them have been in present tense. I found myself liking that tense better.
For one, it allows readers to feel like they're discovering facts at the same time as the protagonist. In my books, my main character has no memory of where he's been or who he is, so having him live in present tense allows a shared mystery with the character and the reader.
Secondly, in past tense, you know the main character is going to survive whatever circumstances are thrown their way. They have to, since they're still talking, and the situation has already happened. But in present tense, that knowledge is gone. I remember reading Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, and thinking, you know, Katniss might not survive. I could easily imagine an outcome where Katniss dies, and the story switches to another viewpoint. Since the story was told in present tense, there was nothing external stopping the author from doing that.
I want that same kind of tension in my stories. The kind where you're constantly thinking, oh, is Garrett going to survive this?
So, I have started to rewrite my books from past tense to present tense. And it's a large undertaking. I have done a few find/replaces, such as I was to I am, I could to I can, but I still have to read every word. I have a lot of other verbs in there, and they all need to be switched over. And the stupid English language seems to have more irregular verbs than regular one.
I've finished two chapters, and I like the result a lot more. Add that to the continuous editing process, and this book should be much better when I finish with it.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Cutting Out the Dross
Oh, editing.
When I finished my first book, Powers Awakening, it had a different title (The Awakening), and was pretty long at 142,000 words. I had learned that Shadow Mountain Publishing only took Utah authors, so I created a query letter, proudly stating that I had a 140k+ word book.
The rejection letter returned promptly. It was a standard form letter, so I didn't know what, if anything I had done wrong. But another aspiring writer and a friend, Janette Clark, told me that she thought the page count was too long for a first-time novel of that genre.
Turns out that the average YA debut novel is 80k to 100k words. Publishers just don't want to risk printing a longer book for a beginning author. It costs more money to print, and takes up more room on a book shelf.
But now I was faced with a dilemma. I had to cut out pretty much a third of my book.
I think I've done a good job so far. It's been about three years since I finished that novel, and I've cut it down to 120k words. I haven't worked on it continuously, obviously. I've been learning my craft, writing in my second book, and evolving into the writer I want to be.
I have a few more items to erase. I originally had my protagonist join a family where there were six kids. I cut out one kid already, and I think I'm going to cut out another. They just don't add anything extra to the story, and any story arcs that include them can easily be changed to the other kids.
I also have a few chapters that can be summed up in a page or a flashback. I don't need to go into all this detail on how the Stillwells are building a room for Garrett. It's just not exciting to hear about hammering and nailing and putting up sheet rock. See, you're bored already!
And near the end of the book, an event happens where I'm suddenly introducing twelve new characters. These characters are actually based on three of my sibling's families, and I did it as a thank you for their help with my book. However, that's just too many new characters five chapters before the end. I'm sad to see the bulk of them go, but it needs to be done. I have a few printed books where those characters can live on, but the final version will only have one family remaining.
Hopefully, with all these changes, and other general tightening up of the paragraphs, I can hit my goal of 100,000 words. Once that happens, I'll start to shop around for an agent and/or a publisher. It should help that I'll have the bulk of my second book done already.
When I finished my first book, Powers Awakening, it had a different title (The Awakening), and was pretty long at 142,000 words. I had learned that Shadow Mountain Publishing only took Utah authors, so I created a query letter, proudly stating that I had a 140k+ word book.
The rejection letter returned promptly. It was a standard form letter, so I didn't know what, if anything I had done wrong. But another aspiring writer and a friend, Janette Clark, told me that she thought the page count was too long for a first-time novel of that genre.
Turns out that the average YA debut novel is 80k to 100k words. Publishers just don't want to risk printing a longer book for a beginning author. It costs more money to print, and takes up more room on a book shelf.
But now I was faced with a dilemma. I had to cut out pretty much a third of my book.
I think I've done a good job so far. It's been about three years since I finished that novel, and I've cut it down to 120k words. I haven't worked on it continuously, obviously. I've been learning my craft, writing in my second book, and evolving into the writer I want to be.
I have a few more items to erase. I originally had my protagonist join a family where there were six kids. I cut out one kid already, and I think I'm going to cut out another. They just don't add anything extra to the story, and any story arcs that include them can easily be changed to the other kids.
I also have a few chapters that can be summed up in a page or a flashback. I don't need to go into all this detail on how the Stillwells are building a room for Garrett. It's just not exciting to hear about hammering and nailing and putting up sheet rock. See, you're bored already!
And near the end of the book, an event happens where I'm suddenly introducing twelve new characters. These characters are actually based on three of my sibling's families, and I did it as a thank you for their help with my book. However, that's just too many new characters five chapters before the end. I'm sad to see the bulk of them go, but it needs to be done. I have a few printed books where those characters can live on, but the final version will only have one family remaining.
Hopefully, with all these changes, and other general tightening up of the paragraphs, I can hit my goal of 100,000 words. Once that happens, I'll start to shop around for an agent and/or a publisher. It should help that I'll have the bulk of my second book done already.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)