Novels Need An Oral Exam

Say AH. How do you spell that? Ah? Aaah? aaH? Would you believe it is properly written as “ah?” Though you may still write it as “aah,” that is a less common approach in novel writing. Things like this expression are often discovered in the edit phase of writing your novel, but you might be surprised to know it is often most discovered during the ORAL phase, that is, when you read your novel ALOUD.

What’s that you say? You don’t do that? Then you are short changing yourself and missing out on the most critical of all the edits, the oral. Oral readings do several things and all of them benefit both you and the reader.

First, a good novel has natural rhythm and flow to the sentences. The words in a novel flow, are varied and come and go like the tide. Sometimes words rush and sometimes they drift lazily by, the pages easy reading. Sometimes the novel swallows the reader with drama and other times creeps up like a sneaky growing tidal wave, filled with foreshadowing. An oral read through of your work lets you, and the one or ones who are listening (more on that in a moment) get a feeling of the natural undulation of your work. Too slow and the reader snoozes and drops the book. Too fast and the reader may have a hard time staying with the plot. Therefore, a good read thru provides the first actual feel of the story. When you read the words aloud you can hear and feel the advancement of your idea and decide if it has a good pace.

Second, an oral read through lets you hear the dialogue. Are your characters sounding stilted and unnatural? Do guys sound like guys? Do the YA girls sound current or more like your old mom? Getting the right dialogue is tricky and no matter how many times you read it to yourself, there is nothing like hearing it aloud. You find out if your jokes sound natural and if they are truly funny. You hear if an argument has the fury you intended or just becomes page filler. Once you hear the worlds aloud, you (and your listeners) start to know your characters. As the book progresses, so they stay true to how they began? Are the voices consistent? Do you have the right slang? Are the joikes dated or are your references out of the wrong era (or head of time)? Don’t forget to listen for the accents of your characters. Do they say “lemme” but later, “let me?” Be sure to capture the consistent. Have the listeners pretend they are listening to your audio book. You will hear all the oddities you never dreamed in your writing.

Next, the oral read through helps you define pacing. If you started out slow and are supposed to be building to a moment but suddenly drift away to a subplot, is it well-timed? Is it necessary? You can hear these things and you will miss them when you read to yourself. Things the author wants to be there may not sound correct when said aloud. Separate from the rhythm and flow, pacing tells you whether your story is hitting the marks for impact, plot and climax. Like how the words flow, the story must also flow and develop. Bumps in this area come when the reader stutters through certain parts of the oral review. You’ll hear it when it happens.

Of course, the next thing you can eliminate the repetitive or unnecessary. When you’re in the diner, do we need to know what the rest of the diner is eating while we’re having a romantic moment? Probably not. But if you’re a vampire slayer and everyone is eating raw meat, you might be in a zombie deli and be in trouble. Orals let you know whether the details matter. You may enjoy the scene when you read it to yourself, but when you read it aloud, you  tend to sense whether or not you have fluff. Again, you’ll hear it. Also, you’ll hear your favorite overused words:  said, but, so, maybe, just, and, and, and. In my case: smiled, turned, laughed, breathed. Look out for the adverbs too: suddenly, consequently, as a result. Remember the road to hell is paved with adverbs and readers are trusting you to take them to heaven.

In the end, maybe the most important reason to do the oral exam is because this allows you to slow down and really hear the story. Reading aloud is time consuming, yes. But it presents the novel to you in a way that no other edit will. Everything that is wrong – missing commas, overused words, odd phrasing, choppy sentences, rough dialogue – everything stands out in an oral. I tried to put in vampire parkour because my vampire loves to run the rooftops. But my story takes place in 1997 and my listener looked at that and realized that parkour didn’t happen until the 21st century. Things that look great on paper can jump out during an oral (feel unnatural or sound silly).

If you’ve finished a story or a novel, then you are ready for all those terrible edits – copy, line and developmental – but don’t forget the one that will make you dividends, the Oral. After all, an oral checkup for the writer keeps your mouth and you healthy. The oral edit, the novel checkup, makes the book strong and healthy too.

_______________________________________________________________

I just finished the oral exam of my latest book, LOVE AND BLOOD, coming in Sept 2018. God Bless my friend, Terri Wilson, who sat through nine hours on day one and five hours on day two until we finished. Lessons from that read dramatically improve my work. Now my novel is ready for its close up and sharing all its secrets.

Get your Oral Exam done today!

Thanks for stopping by.

I remain, Yours Between the Lines, 

Sherry

Normally, I don’t like discussing religion and politics. I keep to mine and let others keep to theirs, mostly because of the controversy and vitriol the diversity tends to create. However, when it comes to writing, I don’t think writers should shy away from professing their beliefs. Not if the message is hopeful and encouraging. Not if lessons are learned or gained. Not if growth will be the result. If any of those reasons is the result of a controversial or important opinion or viewpoint, then you, the writer, are obligated to make a presentation, take a stand, and share your vision.

But let me be clear about one thing — I’m not for chest thumping issues. I believe in offering solutions for the majority. I believe in looking forward and not back. I do not believe in finger pointing, shaming or manipulating facts. To offer an opinion is one thing, but to offer something stronger, like change, requires intelligent and careful approaches. The bull in the china shop won’t work.

Why? Change is rarely if ever easy. Oh sure, we’ve all heard that before, but it is true. Let’s just look at the issue of the Confederate Flag. Now for me, I’ve never been a supporter. Mostly because I have read the history of the flag and know how it evolved and why (most people have not read anything about it but assume a great deal). For over a hundred years, many towns have had flags flying and monuments built but there has not been the kind of outcry as seen recently. No group, in previous and recent memory, stood on courthouse steps screaming at the top of their lungs to remove the statues, down the flag, or take it off the license plates. Only when a crazed killer waves a Confederate flag (he didn’t even espouse the Confederate beliefs, not the real ones), and kills nine people, that the world goes nuts and begins a kind of banishment and censorship that has risen to eyebrow breaking heights. And suddenly the pain of change begins. Whatever the reason, no matter how odd or rational or whatever, the painful transmutation begins where the world seeks betterment and plastic surgery.

There are such knee-jerk reactions to every major event. When a whole room of kindergarden children are attacked, when a massive number are killed in a nightclub, when a building is bombed or 60 women accuse a once family-friendly father figure of the most disgusting sexual abuse, when a child is selling lemonade without a permit, a black woman enters a white pool, or white police officer shoots a young black teen in the back, or when a lone gunman shoots down into a concert. The results from such incidents bring a cry for laws, justice — change.

Change hurts. Change shocks. Change excites. Change inspires. Change is new. Change is scary. Change is….life. Change is THE PLOT, writers.

Writers are instruments of change. We can move mountains when our words bring truth. Our truth can bring change and when used for positive reasons, we can do wondrous things. We can motivate and inspire, enliven and create. We can also scare, threaten, intimidate, command, demand, manipulate, and destroy. Lawmakers, politicians, pastors, teachers, parents, journalists,  all react and respond.

We writers have this power, too. 

We have power and we have obligation. Our stories, even our small ones, can contain instruments of change. Our lessons and our messages might be small or they may be blimpy, but you should exercise your power as a writer.

Don’t be one of those people who rise up only from opportunity. Make change a force that works always. Make change because it is right, has always been right, will continue to be right because it is a universal truth and must be repeated and shared. Make change a part of your life, one by which you can live every day. Be the power, the force, and the idea that is something better and more important than a bullet or a knife, or a flag, or an acerbic word.

As writers, we have a chance to do special things. With everything you write, every thought you present, it is your moment for lessons, for change, for enlightenment, for magic. Will you be like the Confederate Flag, a token of bygone values, of dead mores, of antipathy? Will you be the opportunist who urges change only when an incident makes your voice fortuitous?  Or will you be like the sun, rising glorious and steady, regular and necessary, honest and blunt, lighting the way?

Don’t worry whether or not others are reading or listening. Even a whisper in the dark can reach one soul. One thought can change a mind, one tear can give hope. Never run from offering honesty.

Change is hard but must happen for progress. Writers have a tool to help facilitate changes when they are needed. Write. Wisely chose the way you cut your words and change the world for the better.

______________________________________________________

NEWS:  Wrapping edits on my new book, LOVE AND BLOOD. The cover IS FINISHED and I’m about to do a reveal. If you want a first look, be sure to sign up for my newsletter. Those folks will see the book cover before the public reveal.

And if you missed the latest LOVE AND BLOOD hint (on Facebook), here is the graphic with a picture highlighting the action in the book.

Thanks for stopping by.

I remain, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

Personal Commentary: Sickness, Guilt, and Doubt

I was very ill for several days this past week. Not to go into too much gory detail but last Monday night I had some abdominal craps and wrote it off as gas. (Anyone over 40 knows what I mean). And I followed that up with major abdominal pains (lower and middle) on Tuesday, with nausea (I did throw up twice) and on Wednesday that developed (digressed?) into mild diarrhea. At no time did I run a fever but I had plenty of chills. By Thursday, I had some slight aches in my stomach but finally managed to keep some food down starting with a few plain pieces of bread, unsweetened applesauce and coffee that was half milk. Believe me, the coffee tasted FABULOUS because I hadn’t had any since Monday morning. Then on Friday all I wanted to do was hydrate and sleep. Saturday I felt like my old self again.

From Tuesday through Friday I didn’t write. I didn’t cook. I didn’t do dishes or laundry or shower (too weak and got nauseated just standing). I slept a lot, I hurt mostly. And I developed a new thing — guilt.

I am behind on my edits for the book and being sick was the last thing on my “To Do” list. I felt behind enough already and the guilt of not writing, not editing, and not making progress was about to do me in. To make matters worse, I have a husband who doesn’t know how to handle sickness (runs from me when I am sick), and so I had no one to commiserate with (though I could see in his eyes how much he was distressed for me) and thus feel better.

So all in all everything sucked. Yeah, I wallowed and fretted. And then I realized that if I couldn’t sit long enough to concentrate and do work, then I could plan. Make lists, write outlines, and get myself organized for when I could work.

Most of all the guilt was killer. Do we give ourselves permission to not write? To not work around the house? To not cook or clean? No. We don’t. If you live in a home where others do this for you, then brava/o. Hubs is able to take care of himself and I was fortunate that these days I was sick he  participated in planned golfing tournaments. He was gone and he ate elsewhere. Good for me. When he returned home, I tried to pay attention to him as much as I could (besides I missed his company), between pain and wanting to sleep. More guilt for neglecting him. He didn’t see it that way but my old fashioned guilt-meter pinged.

I feel better now, and I learned a few lessons over the week. No matter who we are, we set expectations for ourselves and few limitations. Writers are especially good at procrastination but that’s by choice. When that choice is taken away, we aren’t happy with being unable to work. That creates guilt when we aren’t performing to personal plans and oh that’s not good.

I felt the days slipping away and time escaping on my project. I desperately wanted to get back to doing what I love and hated that I couldn’t focus or think long enough between being sick and sleeping. I hated being sick. I’m almost never sick. And so the guilt burned extra deep.

For the odd cold that comes my way (mostly because hubby brings it home) I can shake it off in no time. This is the first time in decades that I’ve been really ill. And I missed not having a hand or a hug to get me through it (I really missed my mother saying something to make the little girl in me feel better. Truth). I was lonely, sick, guilty, and frustrated and you know what I did? I made notes about all those feelings. I will use them. I will write them.

I won’t forget those feelings.

One thing I don’t do well is advertise my sickness. I see people on Facebook all the time with their ailments and bruises and hospital stays and I feel badly for them. I’ve even cried for them. But I have trouble sharing that kind of personal stuff (despite this post). As a result, it makes it difficult to solicit sympathy when I really need it. More guilt when I do. I feel weak and I know I’m not. And then I wonder why no one cares. I am a mess sometimes.

But hey, we all need some human connection right?

I overcame my sickness and I battled my guilt at the same time. I had to learn to stop punishing myself with what I couldn’t do and concentrate on what I could do. It was paltry but I did something. That assuaged some of the guilt and thus the lesson was learned.

Women with families are the most susceptible to this kind of guilt. We can’t take time to be sick, especially moms. I have unending respect for mothers who do all things for their family. They sacrifice. Sickness? Pshaw. Who has time for that? I guess that’s why I don’t have children. 

But I know you out there. I know you feel the guilt from the loss of time, of work, of sharing, of being together. I know you because for a few terrible days, I was you. And I know the self-imposed guilt. 

We have to stop doing that to ourselves! Just let it go. (I’m a work in progress).

Long ago my mother said to me, “Ask yourself this: in 20 years will anyone remember what you did or didn’t do? If the answer is no, then it’s not worth your worrying about now. If it isn’t life-changing or bankrupting, let it go. Life is short enough without agonizing over what you lost. Treasure what you have, Sherry, and count your blessings and not your regrets.”

Got me through the week. I’m writing again as you can see. Sans guilt. It’ll come back again one day, I’m sure. But for now, I’m working and healing and learning to be free of me.

This may take some practice. 

Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry