Wendy Tokunaga S

Wendy Tokunaga’s REVISION CHEAT SHEET for Novels and Memoirs San Francisco Writer’s Conference February 12-15, 2015 www.WendyTokunaga.com Twitter: @Wendy_Tokunaga Email: [email protected]

Structure and Pacing

~ Is there conflict in each one of your scenes? ~ Does each scene build upon what has come before it? ~ Do your scenes have action that is rising and moving along? ~ Do your scenes move things forward in a logical way? ~ Does your story fall broadly into three acts? ~ Are subplots relevant? ~ Are flashbacks clear and serve a logical purpose? ~ Does the book have a forward momentum? ~ Do chapters end in a way that makes the reader want to keep reading?

Scene vs. Summary

~ Are there too many instances of dense text and long paragraphs? ~ What exposition can be put into scene? ~ What can be cut? ~ Do your scenes contain conflicts and obstacles? ~ Is the point of view clear? ~ Are the character motivations clear? ~ Does the scene go on for too long?

Your Beginning

~ Does your story start in the right place? ~ Does something unexpected happen or is something about to change? ~ Is there an inciting incident or triggering event? ~ Is there too much backstory? ~ Are you spending too much time “warming up?” ~ What happens that will keep the reader reading? ~ Do you have a story-worthy problem? Why should the reader care? ~ Is there enough set-up and conflict to continue through the book? ~ Is there a feeling of forward momentum and emotional energy?

Your Middle

~ Does the story veer off track? ~ Does it sag? ~ Do you have adequate subplot(s)? ~ Do you need to add a plot complication?

Your Ending

~ Do you have loose ends dangling? ~ Do you have characters that have disappeared unintentionally? ~ Is it satisfying? Does it resonate?

Your Protagonist

~ Does he jump off the page? ~ Do you know what he wants and what he needs to do to get it? ~ Does he have conflicts? Flaws? ~ Does he go through a character change? ~ Does he have a problem to solve? ~ Is he competent at something? ~ Is he worth following for the entire novel?

Other Characters

~ Are they well rounded as opposed to flat? ~ Are all featured characters vital to the plot? ~ Do the characters support the main character? Challenge him? Push his buttons? ~ Are inconsequential characters named? They probably shouldn’t be. ~ Are character names varied or do they sound similar?

Dialogue

~ Have you read your dialogue out loud to make sure it sounds natural? ~ Have you eradicated adverbs? ~ Have you used dialog tags sparingly? ~ Does the dialogue move the story forward? ~ Is there too much mundane dialogue? ~ Is the dialogue essential to the story? Does it have conflict? ~ Does the dialog have subtext?

Chapters

~ Do all the chapters begin in the same way? ~ If you have more than one POV do you start a new chapter for a different character? ~ Do the endings of your chapters make the reader want to keep reading? ~ Are chapters clearly indicated?

Nuts & Bolts & Miscellaneous

~ Have you checked for typos, grammar and punctuation errors? ~ Have you checked the spelling of homonyms? ~ Have you verified anything that can be verified? (dates, technology, historical events, inventions, etc.) ~ Are words character, era and scene appropriate? ~ Is the passage of time clear? ~ Are your character points of view clean, clear and consistent? ~ Have you checked for adverbs (“ly” words) and taken them out? ~ Are you using the best action, strong and specific verbs? ~ Are you sure of the precise meaning of every word you’ve used? ~ Do you have variety in your sentence structure? ~ Have you read your entire book out loud? ~ Have you thought about the contract with your reader or have you been too busy trying to please yourself as a writer?

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