The first revision round has been like a roller coaster. Between ups and downs, doubt and fear, and just plain trying to make time—it’s been a trip to say the least.
I’m making progress in this middle section of the novel. Just like in the first part, I’ve found that I also had to axe another character in this second part. Then I fiddled around with some other possible characters and they didn’t work but I finally came to a workable solution.
I don’t know about you, but I love plot twists. As a reader, it delights me to no end when I find out what I thought I knew is not really the case. As a writer, coming up a with a plot twist is not so much fun. You don’t want it to be TOO obvious, but you want it to be obvious enough that on a second reading, the reader is like, “Ah, it was there all along.”
So, this is what I’m dealing with right now. Plot twists. In part one, the protagonist is thrust forward into a situation that changes her world view. Now in part two, she’s trying to figure out this new world and just when she thinks she has it—ta da—the plot twist comes into play. Then part three is all about how to get her to achieve the goal.
I would list here some of my favorite plot twists, but then that would mean I would have to reveal spoilers. But one of the best things a writer can do is take their time formulating the plot twist. Let it happen organically, don’t let it be something totally out of the air. Sometimes it takes you writing the draft to formulate a plot twist—that was the case for me. And also don’t be afraid to change the twist if it no longer works—that has also happened to me in this revision.
