What?
I’m editing the second draft of my second novel, currently titled Desired Effect. The working log line is, “When a San Francisco actress lands her first film role as the often naked love interest of a flawlessly handsome momma’s boy, it sparks a romance of mythic proportions.” While I’m grateful to be this far along after a long (really long) writing process, working on this draft should be a lot more fun than it is right now.
Why?
I greatly prefer editing to writing. Filling blank pages is often agonizing; there’s either too much or too little to say, and it’s often hard to know where to begin. Refining text that already exists, filling in gaps in narrative, sharpening the jokes: that’s a whole lot easier.
How?
I’ve been using Uta Hagen’s 10 Questions, a tool I used in my acting school days, to ensure my main characters have clear objectives and very personalized stakes in their story arcs. These questions really help me firm up the given circumstances for my characters and ensure they’re taking meaningful action, not just sitting around talking all day long … which they’d love to do, believe me.
Good day LINDA K SIENKIEWICZ. You taught a writing class at the Birmingham Community House 2 years ago. I purchased your Eros and Psyche Book. It was an interesting read. I had been struggling with my family history and was afraid of copyrights… I finally finished it and found a local printer and ,,, done. Thank you for your insight and encouragement. You also asked of a good Book on Writing. At that time I shared, ” Story Physics and Story Engineering”; however, Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody is superior to any that I’ve read so far. Thank you again. BK