FIFTY TWO FIRST DRAFT QUESTIONS
Congratulations. You have finished your first draft. Now it's time to sit down and read it all the way through, keeping the following questions in mind.
Story
- Has the action that puts your story into motion
started the storyline, (or have you used a random act
or a meaningless coincidence? If so, change it to be
meaningful.)
- How soon into the chapter does this action takeplace? (The closer to the beginning the better.)
- Have you started with a prologue? If so, and it's more than a few pages long, considering making it a first chapter.
- Does your story line stay on target? (Story-line: an imaginary line stretched between beginning and end, on which all the elements of your story are hung.)
- Is there a scene that does not push the story ahead? If you find one, take it out. (Put it in a separate save file. You might be able to use elements of it in a different way, or you may be able to rewrite it to make it relevant.)
- Have you hooked the reader by asking a question on the first page that will make your reader want to turn the page?
- Have you started at the time when something changes for your protagonist? If not, consider rewriting the beginning. (Some authors say they've rewritten the beginning of their books as many as 50 times.)
- Have you asked questions that (inadvertently) by the end of the book you haven't answered? (Only permissible in certain instances if you are planning a sequel.)
- Have you asked a main question that you expect will
be answered by the end of the book? (Will the girl
get the boy, will the world be saved, etc.?)
Setting
- As you are reading the draft, are you making sure your settings are consistent with the time and place you are writing about. Even if you have created a fantasy setting, it must be consistent within itself, enough so that the reader believes.
- If you are using an actual place or actual time (or both) have you done your research? This is especially true of period pieces.
- If you are making up a place, have you drawn your own maps, house plans etc. so that you haven't confused yourself?
Character
- Have you made a master list of all the main characters and their descriptions, characteristics and motives? If you do this, then as you read you can check what you have said about each character against your master list. This avoids having an editor at a later date point out such discrepancies to your embarrassment.
- Is your protagonist an actor or a reactor? Only a strong protagonist can carry a book, but remember your antagonist must be as strong as your protagonist.
- Are there any names of characters accidentally similar? If so, change them to make them distinguishable.
- Have you over-described characters? Give enough of a description that a character will be remembered, but not so much that a reader is overwhelmed.
- Are your characters distinguishable in looks and actions?
- As you read, are you checking for any place you may have made green eyes blue, dark hair light, an old person young, ill person fit, or vice versa? (don't laugh, it happens.)
- As you read, make sure your protagonist, even with flaws, is someone with whom your reader can identify.
- Have you made sure your motives for principal characters' actions are planted early and solidly? Thus any growth in your characters becomes logical.
- Have you properly prepared your reader for your characters emotions and actions by planting the possibilities for same early in the book.
- To create verisimilitude (the appearance of truth) have you made sure your characters believe in whatever world you are creating? If your characters believe, so will your readers.
- If you are starting from character, have you made sure you know your people inside and out so that you will always know how they'll react in any situation? Check in this reading for any illogical actions or thoughts.
Conflicts, Crisis and Climax:
- Does your book build from conflicts, to crisis to Climax?
- Have you given your protagonist barriers to progress of increasing difficulty?
Motivation
- Have you made sure the reader understands why characters do what they do, and why events happen as they do?
Back story, Flashbacks and Mini-flashbacks
- If you have interrupted the current action with a flashback anywhere within the first chapter, cut it out, break it up or move it to a different place in your book.
- Have you made sure you have not interrupted a time of action with a flashback?
- Have you made use of the mini-flashback, or tuck-in information to inform your reader of the back story? This is a good device for skipping prolonged flashbacks.
Plot and Outline and/or Synopsis:
- Now that you have finished the first draft, can you make a concise outline of your book? This is a very good way of telling if something is missing.
- Does the story line stay on target? A good way to tell is to do a scene by scene outline, where a wandering story line will become obvious.
Dialogue
- When characters speak do they all sound the same? (same rhythms, same choice of vocabulary, etc.) If so, individualize them.
- Are there any gaps in dialogue? Gaps occur when your dialogue is not responsive. (What anyone says must be responded to before further dialogue is added.)
- Have you overused attributed dialogue? (he said, she said, etc.) If you have, try interspersing attributions with relevant action. (He laid the cup on the table. "That's the worst cup of tea I ever tasted")
- Have you used a great amount of dialect? Remember that dialect is hard to sustain throughout the whole book. Use it sparingly for best effect.
- Are you using an em (long dash) to indicate a break in thought or speech? Be careful you don't use too many. It gives a choppy feel to the dialogue.
- Have you made your character's dialogue appropriate to his/her situation?
- Have you given your viewpoint character internal dialogue that lets the reader in on what he/she is thinking?
Scene
- Do each of your scenes contain a beginning, a middle and an end, and end on the high (or power) point?
- Does each scene end pointing to the next?
- Does each scene develop or reveal character and enlarge on motivation while still staying on story line?
- Even if your protagonist does something stupid, does the reader understand the motivation for the action?
- Does each scene have a reason for being there beyond just exemplifying character. Remember, each scene has to push the story ahead.
Transitions
- Have you checked transitions between paragraphs for the seamless flow of thought?
- Have you made transitions between chapters as smooth as possible? Is the flow of thought almost inevitable?
- As you read, have you checked for anything that jars your ear. If it does it usually means a gap in the flow of thought or dialogue.
Viewpoint and Tense
- Have you switched viewpoints in the middle of a paragraph? This can be confusing to a reader.
- Have you stayed solidly within your viewpoint character, seeing and hearing the world only through your viewpoint's eyes? (No matter how many viewpoint characters you have, singly each viewpoint will have a unique view of the world)
Tension and Suspense
- Do you have a series of conflicts of rising seriousness that build tension?
- Do you have a doubtful outcome to the very last minute? (that's suspense.)
Grammar and Punctuation
- Do you find any problems of grammar or punctuation? If you are in doubt, get a good book of grammar and punctuation. I recommend Strunk & White's Elements of Style and a good little speller.
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