Author Sherry Harris is a good friend (and editing client) of mine. Recently, she mentioned how my prior edits continue to influence her to this day, and we realized it might be helpful for Sherry to share some of my past comments/concerns in case any of you have the same writing issues. So I invited her to be our guest blogger today. Take it away, Sherry!
— Barb Goffman
The Extra Voice
by Sherry Harris
All writers have voices in their head, but I have an extra one. It's Barb Goffman's. She edited twelve of my thirteen published books, one that isn't published, and all the short stories I've written. So, trust me, when I'm writing, Barb is right there with me. Below are some of the things she's saying:
Not enough sleuthing – What, Barb? I write mysteries; of course there's sleuthing. But apparently, in every third book or so, there isn't! I get distracted by a relationship or a subplot and forget the main point of the book--that my protagonist has a mystery to solve. Here's a comment Barb made when she edited Rum and Choke: "I've already mentioned this, but to flesh it out, a large majority of the book (at least it felt like a large majority) involved Chloe helping Ann search for the treasure. The rest of the book had a lot of subplots, and sleuthing into Enrique's murder felt like one of them. Obviously, that's a problem."
Are you writing a travelogue? – Apparently, I was. In an early book, I sent Sarah from her little town of Ellington, which is about fifteen miles northwest of Boston, to the North End of Boston. I love Boston. I love the North End. It took Sarah two pages to make it from the T by the Government Center in Boston to the North End, which is about a ten-minute walk. In the original version I waxed on about the history of Faneuil Hall and its famous golden grasshopper weather vane. Sarah stopped at the Holocaust Memorial and at Union Oyster House. She padded across the cobblestone street and went by Mike's Pastries before she arrived at her destination. In the final version of the book, her walk was one paragraph, as much as it pained me to delete so much detail about my beloved Boston. Sigh, Barb was right. Now when I'm waxing on about something in a first draft, it gets axed by the second one.
She needs to react – I'm reacting to this voice. Both of my series have female protagonists, and this bit of advice has made a huge difference in my writing. Find a dead body? You need a reaction. Someone say something startling? Your protagonist has to think something or say something or make an expression that gives away their thoughts to the reader. This seemingly simple statement is key to writing a book with more emotional depth. Now, it drives me nuts when I read a book where the characters don't react.
Slow down – but the pace... It's one of those rules of writing to slow down the fast-paced (action) scenes and speed up the slow ones. While my logical brain knows that, apparently my writing brain forgets it. BTW, reactions work in the fast scenes too.
Make it a full scene – all too often when I'm writing early drafts I jump to the next scene and start it with a line that summarizes something that happened since the last scene. It's fine to do it if what happened isn't anything important. However, in the book I just wrote, I found myself hearing Barb's voice telling me that the summary deserved its own scene. She was right. Again.
When was the last time she ate? – I don't know. If your protagonist has kids or a pet, you can add fed/took care of them to the above. Ah, yes, meals. My protagonists can apparently go days without eating. And it's not that each meal needs to be a scene (see paragraph on description above), but characters can grab something as they go out the door, or stop for something, or it can be a scene if something important happens.
I could probably write ten more pages of examples of things Barb's voice is saying. Like, why is your character doing something, or why is that scene in there–just because the writing is pretty doesn't mean it has a place in the story. Thanks, Barb. Sigh. But if you have to have an extra voice in your head, I hope it's Barb's!
Sherry Harris (https://sherryharrisauthor.com) is the Agatha Award-nominated author of the Sarah Winston Garage Sale mystery series and the Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon mysteries. She's published short stories in Edgar Allan Cozy, The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell, Black Cat Weekly, Three Strikes--You're Dead, and Scattered, Smothered, Covered & Chunked: Crime Fiction Inspired by Waffle House. Sherry is a past president of Sisters in Crime and a member of Mystery Writers of America.
I hope this means you are writing something new.
ReplyDeleteYou brought up some really important points. As a non-pet owner, I made the mistake of including a cat in my series. It was a mistake because I had to keep reminding myself that I needed to have my main character care for her cat.
My first Sarah Winston book didn’t have a cat until I saw the cover and there was one on the front, spine, and back! I gave the cat to her landlady so she wouldn’t have to worry about it. I am writing something new!
DeleteYou two are a great team! I will be looking forward to more from both of you!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Tonette! Barb has definitely made me a better writer.
DeleteHey, Sherry! Some great advice here -- thanks, Barb! I laughed when I got to your comment about summary, because I was hearing my crit partner, Debbie Burke, telling me in virtually every ms she's read for me -- novel or short story -- that I've summarized something she wants me to play out. In most cases, I disagree, but now I hear her caution as I'm writing, and I know I've listened and changed a few summaries to scenes without having to be told!
ReplyDeleteIn my latest manuscript the “summary” kept getting longer and I realized it needed to be a scene. I actually liked the scene too!
DeleteI laughed out loud at the characters who don't eat, Sherry! Guilty! But I solved that in my current series (on a 1920s ocean liner) by making mealtime central to the structure of the novels. Enjoyed this post!
ReplyDeleteThat is an excellent way to handle the meals!
DeleteBarb is a teacher as well as an editor! Over the years, I internalized many similar lessons I got from Ramona DeFelice Long and from a critique group I was in. I know I still make mistakes in my writing, but I hope I fix more things as I go along than before.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Edith!
DeleteDavid Edgerley Gates and I both lived in Boston/Cambridge, so we might have followed the travelogue!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of meals, when I read Swiss Family Robinson in grade school, it seemed they stopped for a repast every 20 minutes or so. Funny– that the main thing I retaiined from the story.
It's an amazing place to live! That is so funny about Swiss Family Robinson. I don't think I read the book, but I sure wanted the tree house from the movie.
ReplyDelete