A good storyline is essential if you want to keep readers entertained. Dynamic characters, brilliant descriptions, and snappy dialogue are great, but unless there’s substance to the story and the plot is enticing right through to the end, readers will quickly lose interest in your novel or story.
Once you have decided on your target audience, theme, etc., draft an outline of your manuscript, chapter by chapter. Here are some general guidelines:
- If appropriate, start off with an Introduction (to tell readers a little about yourself, why you wrote the book, what you hope readers will get from the book, etc.) or a Preface or Prologue (to set the mood and scene or prepare readers for what is to come).
- Early on, introduce the main characters and their situations and relationships. Establish the timeframe and location of the story.
- Let readers know who is “narrating” the story. Note: the “narrator” may change several times throughout the book. (More about this in Point of view.)
- Include lots of “meat” in your storyline. Without plenty of background information, character description and development, introspection, and emotion, your manuscript will be more like a diary than a novel. (More about this in Characters and Show Not Tell.)
- Include a healthy mix of narrative and dialogue between characters in your story. (More about this in Dialogue vs. Narrative.)
As your editor, I will identify problems with or gaps in the plot and, if necessary, conduct a Manuscript Evaluation to show you how to round out your storyline, improve the overall manuscript, and enhance your writing skills.
Continuity and flow
Your manuscript should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Each chapter in the manuscript should relate to the title of the book, as well as the theme and message of the book. A chapter title should reflect the subject of that chapter and accurately describe what the reader will experience. Each paragraph in the chapter should relate to that chapter’s topic and be properly “bridged” so they flow naturally into each other. Every sentence in a paragraph should relate to the subject of that paragraph and flow smoothly and with clarity. Perhaps more importantly, whatever is said must be accurate, and believable; otherwise, readers won’t buy it.
As your editor, I will point out areas of the manuscript that lack continuity. During the editing process, I will make adjustments and improvements to words, sentences and paragraphs to improve readability and flow—in keeping with your style and voice.
Characters
Ideally, your manuscript should have not only an enticing storyline but intriguing characters. The characters are what make the story come alive. Give readers details about them, i.e., who they are, their state of mind, what their life is like, etc. It’s important that readers have enough information about the characters to be able to relate to and care about them. If you want your manuscript to be a “page-turner,” there absolutely must be an emotional connection between the reader and the characters. The best way to do this is to “show not tell” the story through the viewpoint of one of the characters.
Character development is very important in storytelling. It is critical that your characters evolve and grow during the story, and that readers can sympathize with or relate to them (either positively or negatively).
As your editor, I will point out characterization problems and instruct you on how to get that vital emotional connection between the reader and the characters.
Point of View
The point of view (POV) is very important and must be clear. Readers should always know who is “speaking” in your story, In other words, who is the narrator? From whose viewpoint is the story being told? It’s important to note that the narrator doesn’t have to be the same throughout the manuscript. In fact, readers will find your story even more interesting if the point of view switches back and forth between characters. For example, you might start out relaying your story from one main character’s point of view (the protagonist), switch to another main character’s point of view (the antagonist) and then revert back to the main character again.
Show Not Tell
The characters in your story are like all of us—they have thoughts, feelings and emotions. Readers will become invested in and intrigued by your story if they can emotionally identify with the characters. Instead of having an anonymous narrator tell your story, “show” the story through a character’s thoughts, feelings and emotions while the action is taking place. If you wish, have different characters “show” the story at different times so readers get varying points of view. Include snappy dialogue and highlight individual character traits to enhance the experience for and evoke both positive and negative emotion from readers (e.g., humour, sadness, empathy, joy, or hatred).
As your editor, I will show you how to transform a “bare-bones” story into an exciting tale that will inspire, entertain and delight your target audience.
Dialogue vs. Narrative
Readers get tired of wading through a manuscript that contains seemingly endless pages of narrative, so be sure to insert some dialogue. This breaks up the monotony and adds credence to the characters. Note: a manuscript that contains predominantly dialogue is more like a screenplay than a story or novel.
As your editor, I will pinpoint areas that need more (or less) narrative and where dialogue would be effective.
Description
If your goal is to write a novel, memoir or short story that will touch readers’ hearts, you must use description effectively in both your narrative and dialogue. When you describe a person, place or event, choose words that will “paint pictures” for the reader and, if possible, evoke some emotion. For example, when describing someone’s hair, don’t just say it is short and blonde; use adjectives like golden, shiny, lustrous, silky, etc. And don’t just stop at the person’s hair! Describe his or her demeanour, facial expression, mood, body language, temperament, etc. Use dialogue to accurately portray what the characters are experiencing emotionally and physically.
As your editor, I will point out areas of the manuscript that lack punch and make suggestions on how to improve this.
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