So we’ve all heard of writer’s block… but EDITOR’S block, now there’s the rub! Here are a few tips on how to turn your pile of word-mush into gold… or at least a pile of golden word-mush, which is sometimes the best we can hope for before CP comments come in.

If Your Draft is Too Linear….

Get Active, Not Passive

• Do things just sort of happen to your characters? Switch it up. Help your characters reach plot points using their own choices, strengths, and flaws. And whatever happens later in the book, make it a result of things they did before.

Throw a Wrench In It

• Mess with your characters, and do it without warning. Get them in a fight. Set them back. No pain, no gain, and besides–fights are more fun than speeches!

Add Mystery and Uncertainty

• Will any of your Point A –> Point B plot points do better as revealed mysteries? Is there a way that some things your character is told, they can instead learn? This will draw readers into the experience more.

Kill Someone

• Seriously–this change could make all the difference. Is your ending a happy one? Consider killing someoneand making things a little more gritty.

Do the Opposite of Everything

• What is the last thing you’d expect to happen? Do it, and do it right in the middle. It could change everything that comes afterwards–likely for the better.

 

 

If Your Characters Are Falling Flat…

 

Cover the Physical, Emotional, AND the Philosophical

• Your MC should face a dilemma of all of these types. He or she should hurt physically, struggle emotionally, and have to face their own philosophies and change their outlook. In short, they must be challenged in every way possible.

Focus In on Side Characters

• The story doesn’t have to be about only one person. Tell stories about supporting characters to intensify the plot or draw us into the world. Don’t forget their significance in relation to the MC! The two cannot exist independently.

Give Characters Flaws

• Make your characters into liars, betrayers, jealous lovers…. After all, nobody’s perfect in real life. Give them your own flaws, even.

 

 If There’s a Lack of Urgency…

 

Add Foreshadowing

• Now that you know for sure how it ends, go back to your early chapters and try to sneak in metaphors, one-liners, and veiled give-aways of the ending. The reader might sense the importance of the comments, but even if they don’t, the tone of your work will improve.

Raise the Stakes

• Is the whole world at stake? Add something more immediate and personal to the MC. Is something small at stake? Ramp it up, and make losing the battle that much more dangerous. Are you missing a time limit? Add one.

Delete the First Chapter

• Most books end up actually beginning much later than the author thinks. Does deleting your first five or ten thousand word put us into the story better and faster?

 

 When in doubt….

Throw Spaghetti

• If something–a scene, a plot point, a character–is falling totally flat, try throwing new ideas (i.e. “spaghetti”) at the wall, and see what sticks. What if something exploded? What if I moved this to chapter 19? This strategy is especially helpful if you’re stuck trying to connect two scenes that don’t want to connect, or if you’re going over a scene that feels boring.

Sleep On It

• This is great for more particular problems, like how to fix a certain scene to incorporate recent plot changes. Lie down. Think about the problem, hard. Sleep for 20 minutes, and you just might wake up with a solution.

Spoil the Ending for Someone

• Get an opinion from someone who already knows how it ends. Don’t have someone like that? Get one. Suck it up and spoil the ending for them. You would not believe how useful and freeing it is. We’re writers; we need sounding boards.