Turning Points

If you've read a book on writing, you're aware there are writers who map out their novels in detail so they know exactly where they're going. Then there are writers who start with a crime, a character, or an image and keep writing until they find out where they're heading and if their destination is worthwhile.

I need characters and a story, preferably one with a crime that calls out for justice. Caught up in the excitement of creating a novel world, I peck away at the keys on my laptop until good wins out over evil, or at least over one of its representatives. The result is often a 90,000 word story with too many detours. Not to worry. Writers have a chance to revise, unlike stand-up comedians. How to revise in an efficient way--that is the problem.

One of the advantages of belonging to the local chapter of Sisters in Crime (there's no discrimination against brothers) is being able to attend workshops free. I attended a workshop given by Hallie Ephron, author of the Edgar-nominated WRITING AND SELLING YOUR MYSTERY NOVEL, and reviewer of mystery novels for the Boston Globe. The advice that was the most helpful for the revision of my WIP was the section on turning points.

At first I focused on plot points. Although these are essential, they didn't pull my story together. It wasn't until I returned home from the workshop that I was able to pull out three turning points, each of them making my story go in a different direction. The fourth and final turning point is the confrontation between the protagonist and the villain but I had that scene more or less clear in my head. It was the other three turning points I needed to focus my revision.

I could foreshadow the next turning point, build towards it, and cut out scenes that didn't contribute to dramatic tension and cause and effect. All the meandering side-stepping dropped away. I chopped off extra scenes without a single regret because I kept working towards the turning points.

I doubt whether I'll ever map out a novel as Hallie Ephron suggests in her book on writing but I will look out for the turning points in my first drafts so my revision zigzags to the climax in style.

Pauline