How Learning to Use a Document Map Saved My Bacon

When I first started writing a novel, I simply wrote. I had no idea of where to put chapter breaks, formatting, or such stuff as that. It all flowed into one long, frightening Word document. All 250+ pages of it. When I finished and printed it out I wanted to cry. How on earth was I supposed to edit this? I didn't want to make each chapter its own file. At that point, I didn't even know where the chapters began and ended.


That was four manuscripts ago, and while I know I have much to learn, I have picked up a few tips along the journey. Sometime last year I stumbled upon a great tutorial via Iain Broome over at the Write for Your Life website. He explained how using the Document Map feature in Word can help you organize your book. It was a revelation for this very basic Word user.


I can't afford fancy writing software at the moment, so I pretty much do everything in Word. Learning to use the Document Map feature has kept me from endlessly scrolling through acres of pages, trying to find out where a certain clue or character was introduced.


I find it also works well for my daily job. I've been able to organize 20 pages of a transcribed interview into a coherent white paper and wrestle a tangle of testimonials into a navigable document. I only wish I knew about it when I was writing my master's thesis. That would have saved me from several panicked moments. If you're a newbie like me trying to figure out how to organize your manuscript, I highly recommend heading over to Write for Your Life and checking out the video.


Do you use any special editing software? Have you learned any other tricks in Word that would help a writer out?

Putting Structure into the Self-Editing Process

Once I finished the novel, I outlined how I wanted my editing process to go:

1. One big read through of draft--general notes made on continuity, plot holes, characters, clues, etc. I also write a brief synopsis of each chapter for quick reference.

2. Substantive plot edit--fixing plot holes, research questions, making the whole thing make sense.

3. Character edit--putting the "paint" on the structure, if you will. Ensuring they drive the plot and their reactions are consistent.

4. Line edits--a tough look at syntax, cohesion, flow, etc.

5. Proofreading--check on basic grammar, punctuation, formatting, etc.

At the moment, I am supposed to be concentrating on #2. What is taking me so long, though, is that I keep trying to roll it together with #'s 3, 4, and 5. Which means the pace of the editing is going super slow. It's also unwise, I think, because I'll spend a lot of time crafting a character's reaction to a scene that might get cut.

I think I need to set some more concrete goals, time-wise, for getting through the plot edit. Any suggestions? What process do you have for editing your novel?

Taming the First Chapter

I want to kill my first chapter.

I know that's harsh, but I've lost track of how many times I've rewritten it. I'll take off in a direction, certain I've finally nailed it, only to read those words days later and wince at the flat characters and stilted dialogue. I walk away in silent self-condemnation. (Writers tend toward the emotional. At least, this one does.)

I have all the pressure of knowing the first chapter has to be IT. It has to have the hook that grabs the reader by the throat and throws that person onto the couch, never to rise again (at least until they've finished it). Characters must shine. Dialogue has to snap. It must be well-crafted, seamlessly showing (never, ever telling) the Main Event. And it must have voice, that elusive ingredient that no one quite defines well, but you know it when you read it.

My biggest problem is that I feel like so much of the chapter is simply a set up to the Main Event, which happens at the end of the chapter. It pretty much reads that way, too.

So today I made a list of what the reader needs to see in the first chapter. It boiled down to this:

1. Stick Main Character in Main Event

That's pretty much it. Everything else can be woven around that. Of course, this means that my first chapter is now cut by two-thirds. Perhaps this means that my Main Event was not nearly big enough, and I still have to pull off the high-wire act that a first chapter must accomplish. I only hope that a couple days from now I don't pull this iteration out and wince again, but I think I might be getting a little closer to where it needs to be.

How do you handle revising your first chapter? Any tips?

Two More Don't Miss Posts about Editing and Rewriting

As my plane soared into the air toward St. Simons Island, I reached into my laptop bag and, surprised, pulled out a sheaf of papers. What were they? Printouts of two of the best posts I've read about rewriting and editing. Yep, these two posts are ones I found worthy of actually printing out and they didn't make it into my last post. I apologize because they are really quite good.  


Top Ten Things I Know About Rewriting
By Alexandra Sokoloff. What's unique about this take is that she breaks down the process from a screenwriter's perspective. Make sure you read the end, where she lists Story Elements in each Act.


Ten Mistakes Writers Don't See (But Can Easily Fix When They Do)
This is from Pat Hold over at Holt Uncensored. The article uses excerpts from published books to point out 10 mistakes that most writers don't see. Very intriguing.


The only reason I'm updating the blog at the moment is because I came down with a lovely sinus infection, which gave me some time in the cottage. Here's to hoping the Atlantic ocean air helps.

Fixing Characters Who Cry (AKA The Tough Love Edit)

I'm about two-thirds of the way through my first big editing round on the first draft of my novel. At this point, I'm only interested in the bigger picture of if the plot holds together. Despite this plot-centric focus, though, something keeps cropping up that I can't ignore.

My main character cries. A lot.

Granted, if I were in her shoes I would cry a lot, too. It is a mystery I'm writing. She doesn't have an easy row to hoe, so to speak. But good grief, this woman is a waterworks. I went back and did a Find in Word on how many times the word "cry" appeared in the entire manuscript. I'm not going to confess to the number here.

The thing is, I would never describe my character as a weepy kind of gal. I consider her pretty resilient, all things considered. That, however, is the problem. Her resiliency still exists in my head; it never quite made it to the page. So while I'm going ahead with the plot edits, I'm flagging the script every time this gal falls apart. Sometimes I'll let her, but most of the time she's just going to have to take a deep breath and get on with it.

This little exercise, though, has heightened my awareness of other annoying character traits. My police sergeant sighs quite a bit. I meant to show that he was tired or frustrated, but it's coming off as exasperated. Flag, flag, flag, cut, cut, cut.

I also have several characters tapping pens, drumming fingers, and thumping a staccato beat on every piece of furniture that exists. That particular action was meant to convey that a character was thinking, mulling over, or sorting through clues mentally. There are better ways to show that, so I held a mini lottery. Only one character gets to drum his fingers against a desk, and he only gets to do it once.

I'm now on hyper alert for excessive shrugging, smiling, eyebrow raising, and chewing. We won't go into how many cups of tea are made. It is set in Scotland, after all, and it's cold there. My characters need their tea.

In the end, I hope this will make for a much stronger manuscript. Otherwise, you'll probably find me over here crying, sighing, and tapping my pen.