Part 2  Revision for Publication

From a talk for Sisters in Crime NorCal by Elizabeth K. Kracht, Literary Agent at Kimberley Cameron and Associates May 14, 2016.

Writing Quality:

1. Avoid adverbs (5 only. And that's per piece.)
2. Avoid clichés
3. Watch out for repetition
4. Avoid passive voice: was/were/seem/maybe/perhaps/had been, etc.
5. Avoid progressive verbs: verb + ing
6. Cut : suddenly, then and words like just, very, well (and I'm not fond of 'oh')
7. Avoid past tense verbs as dialog tags: she huffed, he scurried, they screamed

Voice:

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. Is the main character too “voice-y”? (sometimes this might look overwritten)
2. Are your voices genre appropriate?
3. Is voice making your character unpleasant, mean or generally un-likeable?
4. Are the character voices distinct?
5. Is author voice bleeding through into the characters’ voices?
6. Is the past tense pushing the voice over the top? Eg. Huffed, shouted, stammered, screamed (see attribution)

Plot:

Is your plot believable?

Aim for a multi-dimensional plot. Exploit your characters for subplots.

Themes: (sometimes called motifs)

Add themes for layering. 3 or 4 themes should run throughout your book.   Make a list of your themes and check your chapters to be sure that 1 or more of the themes is present in each chapter.

Character:

1. Avoid focus on characters that don’t string through the story.
2. Be sure the main character is sympathetic.
3. Each character has his or her personal arc.
4. Make sure the protagonist is sufficiently challenged
5. Is the setting or the narrator a character?
6. Are there too many characters?
7. Stretch character descriptions throughout the entire book, don’t bunch all the describing up at first meeting.
8. Even characters need to be wary of clichés.

Dialog:     

Is dialog your strength?

1. He said/she said is invisible. Use 'said' over other choices.
2. Only tag if who speaks is unclear.
3. Do not use adverbial tags: she said emphatically.
4. Avoid common pleasantries: “Hi, Bob. How are you doing?” “Great Jack. Nice day isn’t it?” This is boring.
5. Don’t use dialog to “download” or "dump" information.
6. Use dialog to reveal character.
7. Go easy on dialect and colloquialisms.
8. Translate foreign words (with my caveat that constant translating is distracting and some foreign words and phrases should stand, especially where context will point to meaning.~AM)
9. Use contractions.

Pacing:

Ask yourself:

1. Is the backstory necessary?
2. Is the dialog slowing the pace?
3. Is there excessive description?
4. Is the story going off-topic or on tangents?

There's plenty more to pay attention to during the revision process and Kracht suggests:

Get editorial feedback and proofreading before submitting.

Part 1  Revision for Publication

Recently I attended the monthly Sisters in Crime Northern California membership meeting where literary agent, Elizabeth K. Kracht delivered an excellent talk on how to prepare your manuscript for submission to an agent.The presentation covered the principles and conventions of good craft and appropriate mechanics, including formatting that applies, or should apply, to any written work being prepared for publication. As a developmental editor, I found her bullet points to be a checklist of what we need to look for when we set about to polish and format our work.

From the agent’s perspective, Kracht reminds us,  an agent see only up to 50 pages of our manuscripts. She says the manuscript must be "the best you can provide" and "hold the agent’s divided and distracted attention" from servicing existing clients and dealing with the huge volume of queries  she receives. Her tip? Send in work that needs only minor adjustments:

1. Make sure your formatting is uniform
2. Maintain structural uniformity
3. Ensure the quality of writing is high
4. Make sure your place and time are clear and distinct
5. Create sympathetic characters
6. Use appropriate pacing
7. Use back story appropriately
8. Make sure character voice and author voice are distinct and distinct from each other
9. Make sure the inciting incident is clear

Kracht suggests : The Objective look

1. Is your project structurally uniform?
2. Do your chapters have a beginning, middle and end?
3. Are you addressing themes in every chapter?
4. The Three Things Rule: What three things are happening in each chapter driving the story and characters forward?
5. Look objectively at your dialog.
6. Get editorial feedback from an editor and/or qualified critique group.

The first hour of the presentation Kracht devoted to formatting and structure. No one wants to read, let alone publish, a sloppy manuscript! I suggest you follow these guidelines before submitting work to your critique group, writing teacher and editor, as well as contest, agents and publishers.

Formatting:  Make it Uniform

Kratch says she  doesn’t adhere to any specific style. She mentioned the Chicago Style Manual and I advise everyone should buy a copy.

You should follow the guidelines for each individual agent when submitting, but if you're sending work to Liz, this is what she wants:

Title page

Page numbers

Double spacing

Contact info in header

12 pt font

Proper indentation (5 spaces)

Standard margins

New chapters starting on new pages

If using epistolary information, offset from the margin

Structure:  Create a Pattern

Use uniform chapter lengths or a good, logical reason chapters are mixed long and short. TIP: Chapters in genre novels run 12-15 pages and slightly longer in literary fiction.

Present alternating narratives (POV) in a pattern

Show POV shifts uniformly (new chapter, line drops, astericks)

Show breaks within chapters uniformly

Chapter headings and sub headings used uniformly

Uniform use of epigraphs, quotes, taglines or other similar information

Sections or Parts: rethink using this technique.

Vignettes: if using vignettes, make them meaty and gripping

Titles:  Connection to Content

1 to 3 word titles stand out. (Liz likes them best.)

Double entendres might work for you

The title ties to theme and content—Is your setting a major influence?

TECHIE TIP: Check Wordle.net for most common words. You may find words for theme and you may discover repetition. Or it's just fun to play with.

TIP: Run an Amazon search for your title. Title’s can’t be copyrighted so you may find yours in use.

TASK: Make a list of all the themes in your book and find strong commonality to pull key words from. Your title (especially on Amazon) can be developed from most used /common keywords.

Word Count: Too Long OR Too Short= No Go

Is your word count appropriate for the genre? Google genre word counts. If you need to cut, look at:

1.    back story
2.   dialog tags and “sharpening” the pleasantries and dumb, mundane utterances we hear from characters
3.    excessive description/over-writing
4.     information dumps: less is more
5.     build up
6.     narration showing passage of time— you don’t need to show it.

Please come back  soon to read Part 2 of Elizabeth K. Kracht's presentation on Revision for Publication delivered on May 14 to Sisters in Crime Norcal

Elizabeth is currently an agent with Kimberley Cameron and Associates, works with She Writes Press, and works with private editing clients.

Elizabeth's career in publishing took root in Puerto Rico where she completed her BA in English and worked as a copyeditor for an English-language newspaper. When she returned to the mainland she found her "vein of gold" in book publishing. She thrives on working closely with authors to build their careers.

Elizabeth's eclectic life experience drives her interests. She appreciates writing that has depth, an introspective voice, and is thematically layered. Having lived in cities such as New York, San Francisco and San Juan, Puerto Rico, she is compelled by multicultural themes and characters and is drawn toward strong settings.

She represents both literary and commercial fiction as well as nonfiction, and brings to the agency experience as a former acquisitions editor, freelance publicist and writer.