Blog Blitz Editing Your Novel’s Structure by Bethany A. Tucker

I'm delighted to have a guest post from Bethany A. Tucker on The Crime Warp today as part of a Blog Blitz for her book Editing for Structure: Tips, Tricks, and Checklists to Get You from Start to Finish. For all you authors published or unpublished this book might be the answer to all your problems. Here's the Blurb, followed by Bethany's guest post.Thanks also to Rachel's Random Resources for organising this Blog Blitz

The Blurb

Editing Your Novel's Structure:

 Tips, Tricks, and Checklists to Get You From Start to Finish

Before it’s time to check for commas and iron out passive voice, fiction writers need to know that their story is strong. Are your beta readers not finishing? Do they have multiple, conflicting complaints? When you ask them questions about how they experience your story, do they give lukewarm responses? Or have you not even asked anyone to read your story, wondering if it’s ready?

If any of the above is true, you may need to refine the structure of your story. What is structure you ask?  Structure is what holds a story together. Does the character arc entrance the reader? Is the world building comprehensive and believable? These questions and more have to be answered by all of us as we turn our drafts into books. 

In this concise handbook, complete with checklists for each section, let a veteran writer walk you through the process of self-assessing your novel, from characters to pacing with lots of compassion and a dash of humor. In easy to follow directions and using adaptable strategies, she shows you how to check yourself for plot holes, settle timeline confusion, and snap character arcs into place. 

Use this handbook for quick help and quick self-editing checklists on:

- Characters and Character Arcs.
- Plot.
- Backstory.
- Point of View.
- A detailed explanation of nearly free self-editing tools and how to apply them to your book to find your own structural problems.
- Beginnings and Ends.
- Editing for sensitive and specialized subject matter.
- Helpful tips on choosing beta readers, when to seek an editor, and a sample questionnaire to give to your first readers. 

Grab your copy of Edit Your Novel’s Structure today! Now is the time to finish that draft and get your story out into the world.

Purchase Links

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Editing-Your-Novels-Structure-Checklists-ebook/dp/B08PSP82ZQ

US - https://www.amazon.com/Editing-Your-Novels-Structure-Checklists-ebook/dp/B08PSP82ZQ

 Guest post by Bethany A Tucker

Years ago, when I was scrapping through my first few novels, most of which will never see the light of day and one of which might get resurrected years from now, I would have laughed at anyone who suggested I would write a handbook on editing for structure. I was still hazy on language like first, second, and third acts, and my strongest tool was character arc and the concept of the Hero’s Journey. Oh, the joys of being an apprentice in the craft of fiction. So much still to learn. 

I thought editing was something you had to do, like cleaning the house or putting gas in the car. Writing was fun. Editing was what you did so someone else would read your work. It was the hard part of writing. I could not yet articulate the beauty and the crucible of editing Story, as I had not fully experienced it. 

In these early days, I was still writing for myself and myself alone. Today, I still write for myself, first, and then I write for everyone else. It’s a sequence. The outline and the initial draft, that is for me and the characters. We get intimate. We talk. We fight and struggle and I put all the blood and tears and triumph on the page. It’s our private space. The characters can do whatever they’re going to do and I can tell it however I find it best to tell. It’s private. No one reads my rough drafts. No one. 

Then I edit for structure. This is the creative pass that requires me to create and refine for an audience. There is just as much creativity and imagination in this part of the process as in the initial rough draft. I have to see my work from the outside. I have to walk in the shoes of my future reader. Is the emotional impact present? Does this flow? Are the details clear? Is the pace relentless and yet not damaging to the experience? Is the dilemma strong enough to justify what comes next? This is where the story starts to really stretch itself and bloom. 

If you dread editing the structure of your story, if you feel afraid of it, if you find it boring, I invite you to look at both the process and your manuscript again. Editing is still storytelling. Perhaps the initial thrill of discovering a fresh plot has passed, but hopefully you’ve written a concept compelling enough to draw you in, again, to refine it for a reader. If you haven’t, if you can’t stand to spend another minute working to make the story better and it’s not yet good, then perhaps it’s time to revisit the concept.  

Start your editing there. What would make this story interesting enough to keep you working on it? What would fire you up again? Make this concept fresh and make that creative fire burn.  

If it’s fear that keeps you away from editing, remember, you and only you decide which draft becomes the one someone else gets to see. This second draft, third, even fourth, can all be private. No one has to see. So edit like you’re playing in a room alone. Then choose someone honest and compassionate, someone without an ego to get in the way, and show a little. Learn from that, go back into the secret space, apply it. Do it again.  

Bit by bit, the fear can be eased. Does it ever go away? No. Not completely. When I put the pre-orders up for the book on this very blog tour, I felt sick to my stomach. But I know that about five minutes after I push “publish”, that feeling will pass. We’re mortals after all, and we only have so much time in this life. So eventually, we just have to do what we’re here to do.  

I hope, for your sake, that’s editing and finishing your book. Play games with your boredom and trick your fear. Whatever it takes. Bribe yourself if you must. Find your way to stay with the discomfort and reach beyond it.

Author Bio

Bethany Tucker is an author and editor located near Seattle, U.S.A. Story has
always been a part of her life. With over twenty years of writing and teaching experience, she’s more than ready to take your hand and pull back the curtain on writing craft and mindset. Last year she edited over a million words for aspiring authors. Her YA fantasy series Adelaide is published wide under the pen name Mustang Rabbit and her dark epic fantasy is releasing in 2021 under Ciara Darren. You can find more about her services for authors at TheArtandScienceofWords.com. 

Social Media Links –   theartandscienceofwords.com, mustangrabbit.com