Before, I would run off the entire novel (at least, what I had), then read it through and just mark it as I went. Now, I’m only printing off one chapter at a time, beginning from the first. The goal is to tighten up the scenes, edit the language and errors, and overall, polish it, then move on to the next.

As I’m finishing up with Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell (which is a marvelous book, by the way), I’ve made some wonderful notes about scene construction that I plan to put into use, the main one being the HIP method.

1. Hook readers early
2. Intensify the scene
3. Prompt the reader to push forward

I’m proud to say that it’s the layout I’ve been following for the majority of my chapters so far, but the golden revelation for me was the section on prompts. Unfortunately, while I was aiming to push the reader forward, I found myself making one grievous mistake: ending the scene on a boring note such as having someone drive or walk away. Erm, not good.

So, a good portion of the week will be spent making my chapters end on a note that says to the reader, you must find out what happens next.

On another note, editing each chapter is posing a slight challenge because each chapter is written from the viewpoint of one of two main characters. That means I need to climb into a different character’s head and shake the previous one as I move from chapter to chapter. *sigh*

1. Who?
2. What?
3. When?
4. Where?
5. Why?
6. (and sometimes How?)

The 5 W’s (and sometimes H) Explained

Who did it or who’s it happening to?
Example: Ulysses McKenzie

What did "who" do or what did the "who" want to happen?
Example: Ulysses was in a car accident.

When did the "what" occur?
Example: A Sunday afternoon in May

Where did the "what" happen?
Example: The corner of Wiltshire Boulevard and Maple Lane

Why did the "what" happen?
Example: Because Ulysses dropped his iPod on the floor and was bending over to pick it up.

There’s a special note about the why, sometimes we simply don’t know why and that’s OK. As the author, you should know why something happens although you may not reveal it to the readers. It will help you construct the story when you at least have all the parts outlined. The why could even be something internal, for instance, Ulysses could have been distracted because he’d broken up with his girlfriend that morning and he was distraught.

How did the "what" happen?
Example: Ulysses yanked the steering wheel hard right as he reached down for the iPod, the car careened for a few seconds when he realized what was happening and slammed on his brakes and skidded into the tree.

The how is special. It’s where the magic happens. It’s the difference between "he was in an accident" and "his car skidded into a tree at 95MPH". The how is the adornment because it can bring life to otherwise stark facts.

Practical Applications

This lesson drifted back to me as I was editing the novel of the moment and I began thinking of each chapter as its own small story, each with its own 5 W’s (and sometimes H).

So, I decided to put that theory to the test. I grabbed a sheet of paper, at the top I wrote "Chapter 1 Scene 1" and then wrote out:

• who made an appearance in the chapter/scene;
• what they did and what they were supposed to do or wanted to happen;
• when the scenes took place (month, day, day of week, time of day);
• where everything happened (specificity is a wonderful thing);
• and why it happened (the motivations of each character along with any external influences);
• Sometimes the how made it onto the list, but sometimes I deliberately left it out for suspense.

Although I worked at the micro-level (i.e. scenes within chapters), the exercise reminded me that there is also a story happening at the macro-level–the entire book.

• Who? The protagonist(s).
• What? Find star-crossed love in a new city.
• When? Summer 2008 through Winter 2009
• Where? Providence, RI and Crescent Hill, CA
• Why? (sometimes a tough one to summarize on a grand scale) The "who" lost his house, forced to move for work, and finds himself lonely.

Using this method of outlining, I’ve been able to dig deep into each chapter of the story and tighten them up.

He took a block of wood and then lopped out big chunks until it was roughly the shape he needed it to be. (He was making a horse I believe.)

On his second pass, he carved out the necessary holes, slots, and that’s when the idea began to emerge. (He made a space between the four legs, rounded out the head, and shaped the tail.)

On the next pass, he began to add the details. That’s when there was no mistaking that it would be a horse. It had hooves, nostrils, a flowing main and flicking tail.

And when he was done with the details, he sanded, sealed, and polished it. It was quite beautiful how he transformed a rectangular block of wood into a stunning brown horse.

That’s what writing is. To me, anyway. Except, instead of carving wood, we’re carving words.

We start with a vague idea (the rectangular block of wood), then we carve the general shape (write the first draft), whittle it down (editing the first draft), etch the details (editing the second draft), and then polish it (create the final draft).

It truly is wondrous how art is created.