The Latter Stages of Editing (speaking generally)

Joanna Bourne, Historical Romance

I was talking to a friend who is looking at the final stages of her Southern Gothic manuscript. She says, kinda doubtful, “What do I do next?”

I thought about what I do in the later production stages.
“Well,” says I, which gives me a moment to organize my thoughts, “I pick out the five or six Emotional High Points of the story and then I look back to see how I have prepared the reader for them.”

I expand on that, since we’re neither of us in a great rush with something burning on the stove and she is willing to be patient with me.

I says -

You got a few couple places in the manuscript where you want the reader to FEEL^TM .  

– Not solve a problem or enjoy the sunset or ponder the mysteries of the universe, but get angry or jealous or guilty or sad or ashamed or lustful or horrified
or something. 

FEELS^TM ya know. Words with emotion attached to them. 

Because the reader is there for the FEELS^TM, this being fiction.

These five or six scenes of important Feels are almost always going on in the protagonist’s POV, btw,
because why would you want to waste this storytelling emotional charge on a minor character’s subplot anyhow?
Unless you do want to, in which case that is also cool.

The actual scene attempts to tug the emotions. Yes.

But it does that by having a foundation made of solid blocks of Feels,
rather than just blocks of information. 

It’s built on scene after scene of Annique missing her mother and hearing her mother’s wisdom in her head.

We see Maman again and again through Annique’s eyes, with all of Annique’s Feels firmly attached.

– Now Maman was dead in a stupid accident that should not have killed a dog. Maman. Maman, how I miss you. – p. 5

–The mindless optimism of the English. Who could comprehend it? Had not her own mother told her they were all mad? – p. 6

– She laughed, a deep, throaty sound copied exactly from Maman. — p. 55.

And so on and so on.

The reader’s emotional belief in Annique’s pain and shock at Maman’s betrayal comes not from explanations and reasons, not information or backstory or assumptions about a mother and daughter relationship.
It’s dozens of little Feels scattered everywhere.

TL:DR version: When you want to punch up a late stage manuscript, consider looking at the big-ticket Emo scenes. Track back to make sure the emotion of that scene is supported by previous Feels.

*****

photocredits Deedee86, Sarah Richter, press 👠and ⭐, Peter H

RITA-winning author Joanna Bourne writes historical fiction set in Revolutionary and Napoleonic France and Regency England. It was a time of love and sacrifice, clashing ideals, and really cool clothing.