WU Roadtest: FICTION FIRST AID, by Ray Obstfeld
September 17th, 2007 by Kathleen Bolton
On the road to manuscript completion, I occasionally test writing craft books for WU readers, and I see if they stack up to the gory practicalities of real-life revision. Because, if you’re like me, you love to read about great writing tips, but find yourself forgetting the wisdom they impart once you sit down to do the actual writing.
Past Road Tests include THE WRITER’S JOURNEY, by Christopher Vogler, and Holly Lisle’s One Pass Manuscript Revision process. For this revision, I used one of my favorite books, FICTION FIRST AID by Ray Obstfeld (one of WU’s recommended books), and put his five-step revision process to the test. How did it stack up?
Pretty durn good, I’ll have to say.
Unlike Holly Lisle’s method, which collapses all the necessary editing into one excruciating but quick process, Obstfeld’s method advises the writer to focus their revisions on five places: Structure (the plot); Texture (sharpening characters, fixing awkward prose and clunky passages); Dialogue (getting it right); Editing (tightening pace, fixing goofs); and the most important final step, Blending (to make sure it all hangs together). Obstfeld explains each section clearly, and gives the writer tips on what they should be looking for. The writer then tackles each of the phases separately in the scene or chapter. Here’s a big caveat: Obstfeld doesn’t recommend you do the entire manuscript at once. Focus on your section, go through the five stages, then once you’re really sure you’ve got it right, move onto the next. Obviously, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got the first few drafts out of the way so that you’ve got a good idea of plot, characters and resolution before going in for this nitty-gritty scrutiny.
If you’re in a big hurry, this isn’t the method for you. But if you have the time and you are a tinkerer at heart like me, this process is awesome. It was just what I needed for my third-round of revisions. And, unlike Lisle’s method (which I’m totally not knocking, because I think it rocks too, but in a different way) I had the comfort of going back and retooling to my heart’s content–but on different stuff. So I always felt like I was making progress.
We were hoping–and still are hoping!–to interview Ray for WU readers, but a family emergency prevented this. But we’re nothing if not persistent. In the meantime, if you’re at the revision stage of your manuscript, give FICTION FIRST AID a look. It’s chocked with goodies and real-world examples. Obstfeld’s revision method is well-worth a try.
