C is for Character Studies in the A to Z of Revising

haracter Studies

The second tool in my revision process is my book of character studies. Like my beat sheets these are hand-written in a coil-bound notebook. Now these are de rigeur for most writers, I'm sure - but maybe most writers do them up before they start their first draft. I can't do that as I'm writing in the dark in the beginning. I don't know a thing about my story before I fly at it. I don't even know the genre. I'm a pantser. But if there is one thing I've learned during this novel writing time - whether you do it before (plotters) or after (pantsers) it requires the same amount of work. Obviously, by the time my first draft is done, I know quite a bit about my characters - but not enough. So, I go back into my notebook and write down everything I should know before beginning my revision. I use Elizabeth George's tips in her book Write Away to make sure I'm capturing everything needed. George is a true plotter - she basically writes a book before writing a book - and gawd knows it works for her. 

I have to have a little aside here - I truly think being a pantser  or plotter is no more a choice than our gender. So, I can see that it might be truly satisfying to approach things so meticulously and not have to take apart a whole ms because I didn't know something at the beginning of the draft that I know at the end - but I could no more be a plotter than grow wings. 

Back to character studies - there is something so helpful about doing them when I do. For instance, in Crooked Knife, the mystery I'm revising right now - I discovered something about one of the characters that led to another suspect in the murders - and I needed another suspect. I write the character studies with the same not-knowing as  I write the first draft and allow myself to be surprised. Then, along with my beat sheets, and my backstory, I go to work. George uses something in her character studies that is so helpful - she finds out what each character's core need is and there pathological maneuvering to meet that need. Very helpful! 

Okay, time to get to work, see you tomorrow. Keep well and I promise to never tell you to wash your hands. Look where it got Lady Macbeth!

Saturday thoughts

I'm back at it. Well I have to be if I'm going to keep to my schedule. I want to finish my revision by the fifteenth. I've already set it up with the person who'd editing for me. She'll do a read of the whole thing without touching it - just as a reader this time - and then we'll sit and talk. For the last two weeks of January I'll get my package together. Only one huge awful problem with that. My computer died. Oh, I know, I haven't mentioned that here - or at least I don't think I did. It died a couple of days ago. I had my latest revision backed up on my external hard-drive but not all my package bits and pieces - not my brilliant synopsis which just about killed me to write and that I finally got.
Sweet Patootie says my hard-drive is OK but something is wrong with something. He's been fiddling with the whole thing for the last few days. The latest thing is just to take the thing to someone who can salvage all my files - including all my mail and photos etc... I have some of them but not all of them. And I'm on an old outlook express. One thing I am going to do for sure is to switch to gmail. This just sucks so big I can't deal. I've been meaning to do it for ages but I knew I'd have to get a hold of everyone and well...I'm lazy. There. I said it.
So...today I fine-tuned ten of 51 chapters. Even ones I thought had been fine-tuned to death. The thing is that we get so acclimatized to our own schlock. Not now. I want anything that sticks out even the tiniest bit as boring or awkward or not quite the right voice to be gone. I'd happily lose 7 thousand words.
And I'm trying to do this in the most detached way possible. Not freaking out that it is all garbage or pretty brilliant but like it has nothing to do with me. Like I'm a plumber or something. A steely-eyed technician - like the one that's going to recover all my files. Yes.
How is your new year going?