As any writer knows, critiquing your own work can be a real pain. I mean, how are we supposed to know what the readers would think? You can sprain your cerebum, trying to think too hard about that.
So... without further beating-around-the-bushage, here are 12 questions you should be asking yourself as you go critic for a scene in your novel: (the source of which is my collection of writing books)
1. Does the scene have an interesting opening?
2. Do we know where we are, when, and in whose point of view?
3.Can you sharpen any details of setting?
4.Is the point-of-view consistant, without lapses?
5.Does the scene have a good shape, that is, does it seem to progress and then finish with something different than what you started with? (That "something different" might be that the character has learned new information, been given another choice, had his/her problem complicated, been introduced to a new person, discovered conflict in her values, moved furthur along a hopeless course of action, etc. Something has to be different or the scene is pointless.)
6.Will this scene contribute something important to the book as a whole?
7.Does this scene end in a way that makes the reader want to read more?
8.Do the details of appearance, action, dialogue, and thoughts develop character, bringing him ever sharper into focus? Can you sharpen details more?
9.Does the emotion of the scene feel honest and unforced? Is it complex enough to genuinely represent both the character and the way life really is?
10. Does the dialogue sound natural, characteristic, and pertinent?
11.On a sentence-by-sentence scrutiny, do you need to rewrite to eliminate
clichés, awkward action, dangling modifiers, redundant words or phrases, or outwright grammatical errors?
12. Do you like this scene? If not, can you articulate why? Is this problem something you can fix?
Hope that was helpful!
-Mr. Rune
