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Revision & Self-Editing
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Cincinnati, Ohiowww.writersdigest.com
W R I T E G R E A T F I C T I O N
[ techniques for transforming your first draft into a finished novel ]
james scott bell
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[ C O P Y R I G H T ]
Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing © 2008 by James Scott Bell. Manufactured in the United States of America. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by Writer’s Digest Books, an imprint of F+W Publications, Inc., 4700 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236. (800) 289-0963. First edition. For more information, visit our Web sites at www.writersdigest.com and at www.fwpublications.com.
Distributed in Canada by Fraser Direct, 100 Armstrong Avenue, Georgetown, Ontario, Canada L7G 5S4; Distributed in the U.K. and Europe by David & Charles, Brunel House, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ12 4PU, England, E-mail: [email protected]; Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link, P.O. Box 704, Windsor, NSW 2756 Australia.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bell, James Scott. Write great fiction : revision & self-editing : techniques for transforming your first draft into a finished novel / by James Scott Bell. -- 1st ed. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-1-58297-508-5 (hbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-58297-509-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Fiction--Technique. 2. Manuscripts--Editing. I. Title.PN3365.B45 2008808.3--dc22 2007051874
Edited by Kelly Nickell
Interior designed by Stanard Design Partners
Page layout by Terri Woesner
Cover designed by Nick Gliebe/Design Matters and Eric West
Cover illustration © Getty Images
Interior illustrations © Getty Images
Production coordinated by Mark Griffin
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[ D E D I C A T I O N ]
To my writing friends of ChiLibris.
[ A B O U T T H E A U T H O R ]
James Scott Bell is a best-selling novelist (Try Dying, Presumed Guilty) and the author of Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure (Writer’s Digest Books). He lives and writes in Los Angeles. For more information, visit his Web site
at www.jamesscottbell.com.
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table of contentsintroduction:On Becoming a Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Part One: Self-Editing
chapter one:A Philosophy of Self-Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
chapter two:Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
chapter three:Plot & Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
chapter four:Point of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
chapter five:Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
chapter six:Dialogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
chapter seven:Beginnings, Middles & Ends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
chapter eight:Show vs. Tell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
chapter nine:Voice & Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
chapter ten:Setting & Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
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chapter eleven:Exposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
chapter twelve:Theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Part Two: Revision chapter thirteen:A Philosophy of Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
chapter fourteen:Before You Revise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
chapter fifteen:The First Read-Through . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
chapter sixteen:The Ultimate Revision Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222The Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227Middles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229Endings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239Exposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245Voice, Style & Point of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246Setting & Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247Dialogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248Theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249The Polish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
epilogue The Trick That Cannot Be Explained . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
appendixExercise Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
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