Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog
on Anne R. Allen:
You’ve kinda/sorta finished your book/first draft/whachamacallit.
In drastic cases, it could even be an outline that’s gone off the rails and landed in a ditch.
But.
- Your original brilliant idea is drowning in a sea of ugly clutter.
- There are dust bunnies in the corners.
- An overflowing laundry hamper in the hall.
- First chapter is suffering from ring-around-the-collar.
- Inciting incident is ho-hum and forgettable (even by you).
- Plot has more holes than plot.
- Characters have mutated into unrecognizable forms (and you’re not writing sci-fi or alien invasion fiction).
- Verbs are passive, the nouns flabby and adjectives rust in the front yard.
- Ending limps to a conclusion.
You’re asking yourself: Did I write that?
More often than we might wish, the answer is yes. What we’ve written is an endangered book.
Viv Drewa - The Owl Lady 