Tag: Step Four of the Novel Writing Process: Revise & Refine

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Why is dialogue important in novel writing? | Revise and Refine

Mandy Webster

Dialogue is a key element of novel writing. In narrative writing, dialogue refers to the written conversation between characters. It helps reveal character personalities, relationships, and emotions through their words and interactions. Dialogue also advances the plot by conveying information, conflicts, or key events in a natural way. It breaks up descriptive passages and provides a sense of realism and immediacy to the story. Well-crafted dialogue can also enhance the tone, mood, and pacing of the narrative.

Dialogue in novel writing is the written conversation that occurs between two or more characters in a story.

Dialogue typically involves two or more characters taking turns speaking to each other. It may be presented in direct speech, where the characters’ exact words are written within quotation marks, or in indirect speech, where the gist of the conversation is conveyed without the exact words being spoken. Dialogue can be used for a variety of purposes in narrative writing, which I have outline below:

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How to fix point of view problems in your novel | Revise and Refine

Mandy Webster

Once you’ve learned how to spot POV shifts in your writing, it’s time to fix them. Let’s look at this short fictional story, courtesy of Chat GPT, that demonstrates how shifting the point of view (POV) too often can lead to confusion and disrupt the reader’s experience:

It can be difficult to spot POV shifts in your own novel manuscript!

The Picnic by the Lake

It was a beautiful day, and Emma spread the blanket on the grass by the lake. She smiled, looking at the calm water, imagining how perfect the afternoon would be with her friends. (At this point, the story appears to focus on Emma. Because we have insight into her imagination, we feel like we are seeing the story from her point of view).

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How to spot POV shifts when revising and refining your novel

Mandy Webster

Shifting points of view (POV) too frequently in a novel can be confusing and disorienting for the reader, making it difficult for them to engage with the story. However, it may be difficult for you to spot this problem on your own since you yourself are so fully immersed in the story. This is one of the many reasons why it is important to get outside feedback on your novel manuscript during the evaluation stage of the writing process.

It can be difficult to spot POV shifts in your own novel manuscript!

The first step you should take when revising and refining your manuscript with your attention turned to POV is to review the outside feedback that you have received to identify specific places in the story where your reviewer(s) noted that they were confused or where the story lost their attention. The following is a list of signs that the point of view in your story is shifting too much:

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The problem with inconsistent point of view | Revise and Refine

Mandy Webster

Inconsistent point of view (POV) in fiction can significantly affect the reader’s experience, often in a negative way if not handled with care. For example, readers often find William Faulkner’s novel, The Sound and the Fury, difficult to read because of its inconsistency in POV. Readers are forced to actively engage with the text, filling in gaps and reconciling differing perspectives.

Inconsistent point of view in a novel can disrupt the reader’s experience of the story as well as causing reader fatigue.

While this lack of consistency isn’t necessarily “wrong” when done with purpose, it is important for the writer to consider just how hard they want their reader to have to work to understand what they have written. You must consider your intended audience: do your readers prefer to read a novel that makes them work to tease out its meaning? Or does your target audience consist of readers who want to be fully immersed in a story without having to pause regularly to think outside of the story?

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The importance of maintaining a consistent point of view in fiction

Mandy Webster

Maintaining a consistent point of view (POV) is important in novel writing because it helps create a clear and immersive narrative for the reader. When a story’s POV changes frequently or unexpectedly, it can be jarring for the reader and disrupt their engagement with the story. POV is such an important element to tackle during the revise and refine stage of the novel writing process, you may find it useful to do a complete read-through of your manuscript with your attention focused solely on spotting POV shifts.

Revising for point of view is one of the most important tasks that you will complete when revising and refining your novel manuscript.

Below are a few reasons why it is so important to maintain consistent POV(s) in your novel:

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What is point of view in fiction? | Revise and Refine

Mandy Webster

Point of view (POV) refers to the perspective from which a story is told in fiction writing. It determines whose thoughts, feelings, and experiences are being shared with the reader. Consistent POV in fiction plays a crucial role in shaping the reader’s experience by providing clarity and enhancing immersion in the story.

In third person limited point of view, the reader only knows what the POV character knows. The reader is, in a sense, inside that character’s head and is able to see the view through the character’s eyes. In third person omniscient, the view is more like this one where the reader experiences the character — and everything else in the story — from outside of the character’s head.

On the other hand, inconsistent point of view in fiction can significantly affect the reader’s experience, often in a negative way if not handled with care. It may cause confusion for the reader or create a break in the reader’s suspension of disbelief. Inconsistent POV can also dilute the emotional impact of the story and undermine the reader’s trust in the narrative.

I’ll discuss the importance of maintaining a consistent point of view in your writing in more depth in the next few posts, but for today, let’s talk about what it is. First, there are three primary types of point of view in fiction:

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What’s the difference between character development and characterization?

Mandy Webster

Character development and characterization are two closely related concepts in fiction writing. However, there is a subtle difference between the two terms. Character development refers to the changes that a character undergoes over the course of a story. These physical, emotional, or psychological changes are all part of the character’s arc. For example, a character might start out as shy and timid, but by the end of the story, they might become more confident and outgoing.

How do you help your reader truly get to know each character in your story?

Meanwhile, characterization refers to the way that a writer reveals a character’s personality, motivations, and background. This can be done through a variety of methods, such as:

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How to develop your novel’s character arcs | Novel revision tips

Mandy Webster

Inconsistent character arcs are an essential big-picture issue that should be addressed early in the revise and refine stage of the novel writing process. A character arc is the transformation or development of a character over the course of the story. It’s the emotional or psychological journey that a character goes through as they face and overcome challenges or obstacles and change as a result.

The characters in your stories may have different types of character arcs– the important thing is that they evolve along with your story rather than remaining stagnant from start to finish.

To address these issues during the revise and refine stage of the novel writing process, it is important to first determine which of your characters are important enough for them to experience a defined character arc over the course of your story. This will often include both your protagonist and antagonist as well as any other characters who are essential to the plot of your story.

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How to create a sense of verisimilitude in your novel | Novel revision tips

Mandy Webster

Verisimilitude is the appearance of truth or reality in a work of fiction. It is the quality of a story that makes it seem believable, even if it is not actually true. Verisimilitude is created by the writer’s use of details, language, and characterization. There are two main types of verisimilitude: internal and external.

Even though unicorns may not exist in real life, your treatment of them in your story world must still be realistic to maintain the reader’s interest.

Internal verisimilitude is the believability of the story within its own fictional world. This means that the events and characters of the story must be consistent with the rules and logic of that world. For example, if a story is set in a medieval castle, the characters would not be driving cars or using cell phones.

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How to fix plot holes in your novel draft | Novel revision tips

Mandy Webster

When you revise your novel manuscript, you will want to start by addressing the biggest issues first. For example, you might begin by addressing any major structural issues you may have found during the evaluation stage of the novel writing process, such as plot holes.

Plot holes, at best, can make your novel difficult to comprehend. At worst, they can make your writing impossible to read.

A plot hole is a gap or inconsistency in the storyline of a novel, movie, or other narrative work that contradicts the established rules or logic of the story. It’s a flaw in the plot that can make the story confusing, illogical, or unrealistic. For example, a plot hole could occur when a character suddenly acquires a new ability or skill that was not previously established, or when an important detail or event is omitted without explanation. Another common type of plot hole is when a character acts in a way that is inconsistent with their established personality or motivations.

Here are some tips on how to fix a plot hole in a novel draft:

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