What to Do With Weak Spots

Hello everybody! I am working hard on my first book right now because I am hoping to have it in a readable form all the way through by the summer. Inevitably, in a book that is almost 400 pages with a small font, what am I going to find? Weak spots. Plenty of them. I’m going to talk about weak spots today, and how to turn them into something beautiful.

What is a weak spot?

Well, I don’t think it takes a lot of imagination to understand this. It is what it sounds like. A spot that doesn’t flow well with the rest of the story, needs to be updated, lengthened, shortened, etc. Sometimes it doesn’t fit with your story or writing style and needs a lot of work. Sometimes they’re not horrible, they’re just weak.

Where do they come from?

Well, they can come especially from your first and second drafts when you are tired and not sure what to write. You decided to write whatever came to the top of your head. If you survived the first draft, then when you read through, you realized that some of the stuff was pathetic. I’m still doing that nearly three years later from when I first started. Weak spots that are inconsistent can come as you edit, updating and changing. Perhaps you had a different vision for a character in the beginning, and a year later, his character is vastly different. Any weak spots with him that are consistent with the old, but not the new are bad. Another is the writing style. If you go through a vat change of writing style (as I did) in the middle of writing a book, you basically have to rewrite everything. Please remember that when you start a book at age fourteen, you WILL go through a lot of changes as you learn to read it as a more mature teen.

Where do they seem to lurk?

Beginnings and ends. It’s hard to write beginnings and end! It’s only natural that they should be weak spots. Another is the pivotal turning point. The part where everything changes. You are basically having to rechannel the direction of the book. Depending on what you write, that is not easy. Like I said earlier, there will also be those times that you didn’t know what to write and wrote a cheesy scene (more for younger writers growing into older writers).

First things to think about.

Here are some hopefully helpful tips on rewriting these weak spots. In identifying a weak spot, you need to know what needs work, and what needs to be replaced. First of all, what books would you like your book to stand up with? What I mean by this, is when somebody asks a friend what books like Anne of Green Gables she likes, she will remember your book because they are similar. What books do you look up to as the ultimate and peer of your writing genre? What books do you want to write like in style, etc. My personal peer is J. R. R. Tolkien, and The Lord of the Rings. The one big difference is probably that I don’t use the word magic. How are my books like his? Well, they are very long, I try to use the same beautiful writing style, the medieval flare is similar, I try to write deeply like he does, and they are very long journeys, not really mysteries. What do I really want to be similar? Probably the writing style. I love books that are written around 100 years ago, and I think that there’s just a real beauty about them. Knowing that I want to write in that style helps me when I consider something and realize that it sounds too modern. One of the biggest things I’ve observed is the descriptions, writing with older descriptions can be hard, but I love them way better than the usual choppy style. Weather should be watched closely, like don’t make it summer forever and then winter in a week. Watch sentimental parts, anything in the character development, spiritually or emotionally needs to really be monitored. Watch romances, make sure that you don’t repeat them over and over and over with the same male heroes, and same female heroines. Like, if you have two romances, don’t make both men outgoing and proud with the females both soft and timid. Maybe just one timid girl, and the other plays the part of a redheaded spitfire. Make one guy bold and daring, and the other more thoughtful perhaps.

A scene that needs replacing.

Let’s use the example of the farewell scene between two close siblings.

Ways to help you rewrite it:

Check the scene. Was it in a garden? On the castle stairs? That might work in a fairy tale, but perhaps not a more serious adventure. Is a starry night below the cold blue mountains better? Or if it’s not an emergency and can wait till the morning, what about in the rustling grass looking out over the hills?

Check the words: “Farewell, I love you, brother and shall miss you.” Just doesn’t really work. If you make the emotion just right between the two, the words won’t matter as much. Just think about all the meaning and impact as Sam says, “Well, I’m back.” If he had said, “I’ve lost my dearest Frodo, but life must go on.” That wouldn’t have had the same stunning impact. People don’t speak poetry very often. In these really emotional scenes, the characters don’t have time to think out song perfect phrases. The emotion and description in these parts will probably hold more significance than the words. If you’ve ever read Rilla of Ingleside you’ll know what I mean. The last scene where she lisps upon seeing Kenneth somehow wrapped all the sadness, despair, humor and beauty of that book all together. If you’ve never read that book and are an Anne fan, please read it because it so good!

Check the gestures: Don’t make them hug three times, and weep. If it is an emergency, and the brother is leaving very quickly, or perhaps it’s the sister escaping, that is a little less formal. If they think they might never see each again, maybe he kisses her forehead before he shoves her out the window to escape. If it is more formal (riding away to war), then maybe they are holding onto some threads of seeing each other again, and don’t treat it like their last meeting. There might be a little more stiffness in the farewell. Maybe a hand on the arm, kiss on the hand, or maybe a brotherly grasp if it is two brothers. Depending on the characters personalities, just think about what they would be doing in the situation, not what’s sentimental.

Make it special: Don’t describe each and every detail. Describe the few special ones, and then let your reader imagine the rest. Remember the way that Rilla lisps ties everything together. Montgomery didn’t have to write a ton of detail to make the ending perfect. Referencing something, even a quirk like that can be enough. Less is more in these times.

Why I love weak spots.

Weak spots are like uncut jewels, and in my experience, they can often be turned into beautiful scenes. One part of my book I had never loved was the ending. One character was always getting on my nerves, but I needed him, and could never get him to do what I wanted. He was supposed to be a menacing villain, but he always came out like a fool. Then I struck upon the idea that he knows he’s acting like a fool, but he has a reason for it. It seemed to be a gateway that all of a sudden let a flood of new ideas come pouring in. The end is so much stronger now. If a scene is bad, don’t always scrap it, rethink, and sometimes it is amazing just how much you can glean from this one rewritten scene.

God might be in them.

Don’t stress about a scene that is not coming out perfectly. Perhaps in God’s timing, he has a plan for these spots and what might come of replacing them. In my writing, if it hadn’t been for weak spots, and the timing I’ve had of fixing them, my book, and the whole series wouldn’t be the same. I am so glad that things haven’t been near as perfect because other things that came into my life that influenced my writing had to come at the right time. Weak spots that could have been fixed without these influences wouldn’t be what they are now. Just remember that there may be things God might use the weak spots to hold you back for a time so that in the end your book will be stronger. Pray about weak spots and remember to never grow impatient with your writing, in the end, you will be able to see God’s hand and glorify him.

What did you think? Do you like weak spots? How do you evaluate/fix them?