Season 2, Episode 49: The Magical Power of Solitude
IN THIS EPISODE
Mel's chapter 17 benefits from the magic of alone time this week, and that - plus not being exhausted! - made for a well-rounded chapter with an active narrative voice. But Mel was able to fight against her old nemesis, "show where your characters are at emotionally," and we're counting that as a big win for today.
Mel's been working on this book for a really long time. She says it's hard to immerse yourself when you have a lot of years-old pre-conceived notions of what your book "should" be like, and it's easy to doubt yourself along the way. It's important to remember that anything, anything at all can be changed. Your finished product might look nothing like the idea you started out with, and that's okay! It doesn't have to.
Mel has a process question for Kemlo - should her characters duck at the sound of a gunshot? What's the realistic thing to do here? Kemlo's gun-loving neighbors have desensitized her a little bit, so her reaction might not be the average reader's reaction. Kemlo suggests Mel show her protagonist imagining what the threat could be, and speculation from the other characters to paint a clearer picture and give the scene more context. Remember - in a first-person story, you're seeing everything through the eyes of your protagonist.
How does Mel reconcile the fact that this thread of her protagonist's new job, which was a main driving force in the beginning, has kind of... faded away? Should she cut the whole thing or try to beef it up? Kemlo advises her to review the manuscript, only taking the view of enhancing that aspect, and find the place in the story where Mel's protagonist finally comes to terms with how the whole thing is falling apart. Her profession can still be and should be, a part of who she is and how she thinks, and she has both personal and professional concerns that need space to play out. Kemlo also suggests Mel show this through her secondary characters - those secondary characters know the professional side of her and what she was hired to do. What are their expectations, and how do their opinion of her and her role change as events play forth? Mel needs to show her protagonist's role changing through the eyes of those secondary characters.
“The thing that made me happiest about this chapter - other than the fact that you made it so much better - is that you like it so much better.”
Showing how your character relates to their world is an essential skill, one that takes time to get right. Listen to Kemlo read where Abby gets it right to hear how little details mean so much, and convey so much information in just a few lines.
Be careful, however, in the overuse of this device - this time, Abby gets warned about using too many questions. Asking a specific or open-ended question can pique a reader's interest and get them wondering about what's next. But peppering them with too many questions can be overwhelming and confusing.
“Any good writing craft or technique is one that is used sparingly.”
Watch your use of filter words, too - there's a lot you can cut without losing meaning. Words like "felt," excessive adverbs, etc., are often unnecessary and should be on the chopping block unless you really need them.
The same goes for dialogue tags - there are a time and a place and appropriate use, but try to distinguish the speaker that doesn't end in "he/she/they said," either via description or action. Of course, it's not a hard and fast rule, and it's worth your time to review these in your editing process and see if you can mix it up.
