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(More customer reviews)THE WEEKEND NOVELIST REWRITES THE NOVEL makes an excellent companion to Ray's "The Weekend Novelist" (TWN). But what if you haven't read TWN? Can you still use the follow-up book? You could -- thanks to its 11-page detailed glossary. The book also includes a witty rewrite-in-progress of a draft -- a draft that had been completed without its author having read TWN.
In rewriting, Ray focuses on restructuring, not mere copyediting (aka line-editing): "The key to rewriting your novel is not line-editing, the key is fixing the subplots. If you fix the subplots, then the manuscript will shape up" (page 7). The assumption here is that the writer has already structured the main plot with care. Ray suggests many restructuring exercises such as making separate grids for each subplot. Throughout, he presents structural analyses of a number of novels to illustrate craft concepts. The novels include:
literary contemporaries such as
The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler,
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys,and
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje;
literary classics like "Pride and Prejudice," "Jane Eyre," and "The Great Gatsby";
and a few genre novels like "Gorky Park" and "The Eye of the Needle."
Ray also comments on the screen adaptations of novels and suggests the "Rewrite mantra: to find story secrets, study good films" (p. 35). In both editions of TWN, the short list of recommended books for novel-writing include Syd Field's pioneering "The Screenwriter's Workbook."
popularized the three-act structure (based on Aristotle's "Poetics") and added two plot points, which he defined "as any incident, episode, or event that hooks into the action and spins it around in another direction." The second edition begins by noting: "Writing a novel in the twenty-first century is made complicated by the world of screens. It wasn't like that always....Screens have changed the writing world. When the writing world changes, the writer must change." To learn the new complications in the craft, I studied both editions of TWN.
In TWN first edition, Ray lucidly analyzes the fiction craft in one novel, Anne Tyler's "The Accidental Tourist," a great favorite of mine ("Anne Tyler is not merely good; she is wickedly good," wrote John Updike). Study of this edition effectivley teaches many characterization techniques. TWN, second edition, expands "the plotting section ...to give you a range of choices for building your book. The basic concept you need to build a plot is architecture" (ix). The second edition presents detailed craft analyses of five contemporary novels, including two with cyclical structural design. The five novels are:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon;
Amsterdam: A Novel by Ian McEwan;
White Teeth: A Novel by Zadie Smith;
and the two with cyclical design,
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho;
The Namesake: A Novel by Jhumpa Lahiri (film adaptation,The Namesake DVD).
Yes, the second edition does teach more complex plot-structures. Michael Chabon's "The Adventures of Klavier and Clay" is a great favorite of mine as I fully agree with his aesthetic that "a work of fiction must be first of all entertaining" (A recent conversation at UC Berkeley library). Another great favorite is Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Namesake," especially its cyclical plot structure. However, if you are plannig a linear plot structure, the TWN first edition (now out of print) might be adequate.
The rewriting guide schedules 20 hours each weekend for 17 weeks for rewriting -- at least as many hours as scheduled in TWN for completing the initial draft. I found no particular merit in long sessions on weekends and reverted to the equivalent schedule of daily three-hour sessions.
Although "The Weekend Novelist Rewrites the Novel" could serve as a guide by itself, it'll clearly be more effective as a follow-up to the second edition of "The Weekend Novelist."
--C J Singh
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The Weekend Novelist Rewrites the Novel: A Step-by-Step Guide to Perfecting Your WorkThis follow-up to the bestselling The Weekend Novelist will guide writers of all levels through the next phase in crafting their novel: the rewrite. You\'ve finished your first draft—congratulations! Think it\'s ready for publication? Think again. The next stage is all about revising and reworking your manuscript—fine-tuning the plot, adding or improving subplots, and fleshing out characters; in short, addressing important structural issues that make or break a novel. Robert J. Ray, who helped thousands of writers get from blank page to first draft in The Weekend Novelist, now guides the same audience through a series of seventeen weekend revision exercises designed to fit into any busy lifestyle, focusing on everything from rewriting scenes to developing sound flashbacks to refining characters\' back stories. Throughout the book, Ray illustrates his lessons with examples from such great works of literature as Jane Eyre, Gorky Park, and The Great Gatsby so that writers may more easily identify how and why a certain technique or structural element helps or hinders their own work. Also included are checklists, timed exercises, plot diagrams, and charts—all aimed to get you rewriting and revising your draft with confidence. Whether you\'re an amateur novelist, a seasoned writer who\'s hit a mental block, or a creative writing teacher looking for proven exercises for better instruction, The Weekend Novelist Rewrites the Novel provides the tools to transform first drafts into successful novels.
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