Writing process and cloak

The first piece of advice was to limit my characters. I had upwards of thirty.

Secondly, she wrote the alphabet and had me write down each of my character's names. Only one name per letter. I found that I had multiple characters with the same first letter. She told me that was confusing to the reader. So that is where I started. Combining three and four characters into one person  and then was able to whittle down the amount of people in my book.

Then she had me make a chart and based off of the story wrote what the two main characters' main action was in that chapter. The chart was five spaces across and four down. At the fifth square on each row there had to be a main turning point. Something had to change in the story which the character reacted to and turned the trajectory of the plot in a different direction.

I asked my daughter to make this cloak and then realized that no one enjoys seeing worn-out clothing. 

Writing process and loose fitting Pelisse

But then I didn't know what to do from there. I made the corrections and then two of my other sisters agreed to read it. (Thank heaven for big families) Each had constructive input and I worked again on the story. I finally had to put it aside, not knowing what else it needed. I began working on my second novel, then my third followed by a fourth and finally my fifth. My sisters were again called upon to read and they did not fail me.

Now ten years later, I have five books with gaping plot holes and glaring grammar problems. What was I going to do? I decided to take all my great work and bring it to my sister/author/writer/editor to see what she thought I should do.

She read the first page guardedly. Being a nice sister, however, she gave me some ideas and a structure to take the first book to the next level.

Not as elegant but much needed for England's rainy weather.

Writing process and day gown

Not having access to the book I had written, I was surprised that the essence of the story started to come alive. It took me another three years to finish the book. 

When I was done, I called one of my sisters, and she volunteered to read it. While it was in her hands, I changed the ending three times. Running over to her house, I gave her the freshly printed endings. She was kind and generous and even went so far as to correct punctuation and ask questions about things that had happened.

What's more she told me how my lead character must have been feeling at certain points in the book which would explain reactions at various events. She was wonderful. Every writer needs someone to visit their world and then to interpret why they wrote and why.