Revising? Choose Your Emphasis
Posted by annastan on May 18th, 2012. Filed under: Craft, My Epic Fairy Tale Fail, Revision.
A friend and I were talking about revising yesterday and how, once you have the ingredients of your story figured out, you have to decide which aspects you’re going to emphasize. Funnily enough, I got my editorial letter for Book 2 yesterday (yay!) and my editor also talked about emphasis. She commented on how a more serious thread of the book should be de-emphasized and the fairy tale aspect should be emphasized more.
I thought this was a good reminder of one of the ways you need to look at your story when you’re revising. You have to step back, look at the bigger picture, and see which things you’re most highlighting. Then you have to figure out if that emphasis lines up with the goals you have for the story.
Is anyone else figuring out the emphasis in your WIP?
May 18th, 2012 at 10:17 am
Yes! I’m struggling with a romance in my current WIP that I’ve been told is too tame for YA from one person (only hand holding and kissing). Yet, another person said the tension was actually too strong and took away from the rest of the story since the romance is meant to be just a side plot. Arg!
May 18th, 2012 at 11:44 am
Interesting! I’m not revising right now, but this is something to think about as I’m writing. Good luck with your book 2 revisions, Anna!
May 18th, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Definitely! I’m figuring out whether my protagonist’s motivation is apparent enough so that it will lead her to the choices she needs to make to save others (and therefore advance the overall plot). I’m hoping it comes across, but it’s hard to have an objective eye–I should take your advice, back up a bit, and really study that bigger picture.