Finish Your Novel 2018... Continued!

OK, I've had a crazy busy week, but I took a little time tonight to graph the tension of my novel. I don't have chapters; all my scenes are just one after the other, separated by asterisks. This was a really interesting exercise because I realized a couple of my scenes have a TON happening and could probably be broken up, while some of my scenes don't have much happening and could be cut or condensed. I also realized that tension isn't very well distributed, especially in "book 2" (this novel was written in two subsequent years during NaNoWriMo, so I think the tone of the second half is pretty different).

I would appreciate any feedback about what you think is missing or any advice about ways to mix it up to make the book more gripping throughout; it's meant to be a thriller so I don't want the action to lag for too long anywhere.

If any of my scene summaries don't make sense, I can explain. The numbers at the end of each description rate the tension of the scene, with 1 being the least amount of tension and 5 being the highest.

Book One   
The eight teens travel toward West Virginia, mentioning school closure, and pause at a truck stop.   1
Lars, Kinsey, Bobby, Derek, Monique and Rose have drinks at the truck stop bar, talk a bit more about school closure; Rose seems preoccupied.   1
Rose tells Derek to pull over because she senses a cop; they arrive at Hector's lodge late at night.   2
They settle in, having drinks and telling one another the lies they told their parents about where they were going. Marla and Diane make love.   1
Marla, Diane and Rose go for a walk after breakfast; Rose tells them things about the others that she's sensed. Back at the lodge, group chats.   1
Dinner goes well until Derek reveals a bit about the virus and kids who got it disappearing from school; they wonder if they should stay in WV or go home.   3
Kinsey and Bobby go to town for groceries and stop at a bar. He fights with waitress and busboy. Kinsey wonders how he knew busboy was waitress's son.   4
At dinner, Rose announces (and proves) she has psychic powers, reading Bobby's, Kinsey's and Lars's minds.   3
Derek talks to Rose, worried because he knows ESP is a symptom of the virus. She's excited about her powers and annoyed Derek thinks they're a disease.   2
Monique tells Lars she knew a kid taken from school and how she became paranoid, then euphoric, at the end. Reminded Mo of grandma's dementia.   2
Bobby and Kinsey make love; he reads her mind as she fantasizes about sex with a teacher. Bobby attacks her, they fight, and group comforts Kinsey.   4
Hector's team at the Organization discusses virus containment efforts. Boss tells Hector his son Derek is on unaccounted list; Hector says he's at home.   2
Diane and Marla search for Rose, who's been missing a couple days. Find her having paranoid delusions. They tell Derek; he doesn't want to leave for help.   3
That night the girls take Derek to where Rose is; he persuades her to come home. Delusions are turning to scary hallucinations.   3
Rose has another sudden change, becoming euphoric. Mo tells Derek this happened to kid she knew with virus. They tie up Rose so she won't run away.   2
Rose is found dead the next morning. Group argues about whether to stay or not; Derek convinces them to stay. They put Rose's body in a shed.   5
That night, while everyone's asleep, Mo leaves the bedroom she shares with Lars.   1
Mo's body is found the next morning, having killed herself. Group finds her note revealing she has the disease and didn't want to die the way Rose did.   5
Marla comforts Lars and takes him to sleep in her and Diane's room; meanwhile she, Bobby and Diane take Mo's body out to the shed.   4
Diane and Marla go to bed, forgetting Lars is in there. Comforting him turns into lovemaking. Afterward, they all experience psychic powers for the first time.   5
Kinsey and Derek realize the trio has the disease. Derek tells them more about the disease, talks about leaving since he's the only one who doesn't have it. Bobby seemingly kills him and runs away. Kinsey runs after him but can't find him. She and the trio put Derek in shed, then decide to leave the lodge. They can't find the car keys so decide to try and hotwire it.   5
Hector spies on the house and sees them taking his son's body to the shed; he's come to the lodge because he realized all the missing kids were friends of Derek. Calls the Organization to order a strike on the lodge.   4
While they work on the car, Bobby appears and attacks. He's shot by waitress from the diner and her boyfriend, come for revenge because her son has the disease. They kill Bobby and Kinsey; Lars shoots waitress and boyfriend dead.   5
Trio makes love again and sleeps. In morning they find the car keys in Bobby's pocket, as well as drugs and money. While packing to leave, they discover their telekinetic powers. Soon after, they sense Hector's men bearing down on them, and use their new powers to disable the guns and cars, and finally a helicopter. They leave and decide to go to Philadelphia. Once there they sell some drugs and meet Markie, a kind squatter who invites them to stay with him.   5
They go to dinner with Markie. That night in the squat, they express their love for one another for the first time.   2
They stay with Markie for a couple of weeks, until one day Diane's home alone and Lars and Marla sense that she's in trouble. Knowing Hector has found them, they tell Markie not to go back to his home right away, and say goodbye. Then they run to Diane's aid.   4
They find Hector sitting with Diane. He convinces them to stop running and come with him, where they'll be treated well. They can't read his mind very well, but they all sense that his son Derek might be alive.   4
Book Two   
Diane wakes from a nightmare, still in Hector's car. They realize they can't read his mind very well at all. They speculate but are unsure of where they're going.   1
They arrive at the facility, get settled into their quarters, and meet Leon, whose mind is also hard to read.   1
First day of testing/training, they read a random man's mind. Hector asks if they'd use their powers on humans or animals and they recoil. Find out Hector has been trained a technique for blocking his thoughts, and Leon has a "special" mind that's harder to read, which is why he was chosen as their attendant.   1
Back in their quarters, they make love, express longing for their old lives (college etc.), and have dinner.   1
After a few weeks, Hector takes them to see their parents, who haven't believed official accounts of their children's disappearance and could cause trouble if the kids can't convince them they're all right. The trio must help quell their suspicions or else they'll be killed.   2
The trio asks Leon to use his savant memory skills to bring them news; he memorizes TV news and web articles so they can later read them in his mind. Of particular interest is the presidential race, between the Republican VP and a Democratic upstart. Trio is given their first real assignment: spying on the thoughts of the Democratic presidental candidate (North) who Hector says is hiding something and suspected of harboring sympathies for North Korea.   3
Hector goes to a hospital where Derek has just awoke from a coma. He is much changed; bitter and angry. Hector catches him up on what's happened and says he has a plan for them to stay close from now on.   3
The trio spies on North in a hotel, managing to triangulate to tune into his thoughts among hundreds. They discover what he's been hiding: His daughter is engaged to a felon, and his family hopes to keep it a secret until after the election. The trio is relieved he's not a traitor and report back to Hector.   2
The next day, Leon's memory of the news reveals that North is now embroiled in a scandal about his daughter's engagement. The trio realizes the Organization used them to find dirt on North to sabotage his campaign.   3
The trio discuss what happened and wonder what to do, including briefly contemplating escape. They don't come to any conclusion.   2
Hector takes Diane away, and they discover it's an experiment to see how their powers fare when they're not in physical proximity. When Marla and Lars are taken to their testing room, they encounter Derek, who will run their testing while Hector's away. They are shocked by his appearance and demeanor, but do the exercises they're given.   4
Diane is driven to another Organization facility and given the same exercise as Lars and Marla.   2
Diane finishes her tests and is taken to living quarters. She tries and fails to reach Lars and Marla's minds.    2
Marla and Lars slip into an unhappy routine without Diane. They try to talk to Derek but he's hostile. They ask him about Diane but he won't tell them anything.   2
Diane gradually becomes less able to do the exercises as well as Marla and Lars, and she slips into erratic behavior and paranoid beliefs.   3
Diana is brought back to the original facility. She's paranoid and frightened of Marla and Lars, but Hector lets them bring her back to the living quarters to see if proximity to them reverses the virus's progress.   3
The trio stays in isolation for several days, and Diane gradually starts to recover. Her psychic abilities return.   2
The trio reads a news story in Leon's mind about how North's campaign is recovering from the scandal. His election prospects seem brighter again.   2
Hector again asks the trio to try their telekinetic powers on humans. When they refuse, he takes them to observe Derek doing tests on a man with twin sisters who have telekinetic powers, whose minds are impenetrable to the trio. Hector says it shows how it doesn't hurt and asks them again. They agree, if he lets them have a holiday as promised and if they get to meet the twins. He agrees to try and lets them out on the rooftop patio to have beers and enjoy the sunshine.   3
Hector tells them they'll be having a tropical vacation with the twins. They perform their first human-manipulation experiments and it goes well.   2
The trio arrives on a secluded island with the twins, Mary Jean and Alicia. The five enjoy the tropical atmosphere and have dinner. Trio goes to bed in their hut.   1
Lars gets up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and is acosted by the twins trying to seduce him. He's tempted but manages to resist, and they seem irritated but amused. He goes back to his hut, upset.   3
The next morning, Marla and Diane are hurt and upset when they read the events of the night before in Lars' mind. They go for a walk and gradually feel better, having makeup sex. They come upon the twins and watch unseen as the girls use their powers to torture and kill a lizard. The vacation ends and the trio are relieved to get away from Mary Jean and Alicia.   3
Hector tells the trio they'll be training for a new assignment: learning to manipulate a subject to use a rifle. They refuse, but Hector shows them footage of a sniper positioned outside Lars's parents house.   4
The trio begins to train. After a few days, they encounter the twins and Derek at their now-regular rooftop happy hour. Back in their quarters, they wonder what the twins are training for, and discuss whether they should (or could) go through with what seems to be an assassination assignment. Having their families' safety in the balance makes it harder to decide.   2
The trio is blindfolded and taken to the location where the assignment will happen, to familiarize themselves with the hidden location they'll be bringing their hypnotized subject to. They start training on how to get a hypnotized person to use a gun. They wonder who they're supposed to kill, and use what they remember of the location to have Leon do research. He figures out it's a university and finds a schedule of events. One is an upcoming speech by a liberal Supreme Court justice. They realize he must be their target, so the president can replace him with someone conservative in case his VP doesn't win the presidency. They begin to contemplate how they could foil the Organization's plot and possibly escape.   3
The day of the event, Hector takes them to the university and gives them earpieces to communicate with him. They walk their subject up to his perch and ready the gun. They see the twins with Derek; Hector tells them they're just there for backup, but it complicates their plans. When it comes time to shoot, instead they hold Harold and Derek with their minds and force the justice to walk out. The twins begin controlling two of the secret service agents to carry out the assassination. Bystanders are shot instead, and Hector and Derek are trampled by escaping audience members. The trio tries to control the twins' bodies but can't, so they control two audience members to attack the secret service agents. Lars makes the justice escape and the twins begin trying to kill the trio. In the battle, they try stopping Lars' and Marla's hearts but can't. Then they hurl heavy objects at them but together the trio creates a force field. They reanimate their subject to shoot Mary Jean. Alicia tries to help her and they levitate wildly into the air; Alicia's killed by broken glass of the skylight.    5
Trio escapes, using Hector's debit card which they'd stolen earlier via telekinesis (and his code by reading his mind) they withdraw money and take a cab.   3
The president and two advisors discuss what to do in the aftermath. They've received a letter from the trio demanding millions of dolllars and that the president steps down or they'll reveal state secrets gained through a computer hack. Gladstone decides he has no choice but to give in.   2
In a secluded cabin, the trio receives the news that North won the presidency. It's revealed that Leon helped them with the hack, fake identities and more. The virus will leave them as their brains mature; they're staying in hiding until then. They hope for a better future. After dinner, they go outside to look at the stars.   1

Well, I got a little bit more detailed in my plan for the next month anyway. I think I'll have to formulate my detailed plan as I go through the year, since it's hard to predict exactly what will need to be done and when.

Here's my plan through March:
February-March: Finish plot structure, with faster pace, added tension points and character development
By 2/25: Finish rating tension of scene-by-scene
By 3/11: Figure out where I’m missing tension, what plot points could be added/amped up, what could be deleted (brainstorm)
By 3/31: Detailed list of scenes to be cut, revised and/or added; schedule days to work on each

Therefore, my plan through 2/25 is to take the scene list I made and rate each one on tension, on a scale of 1 to 5. I also plan to finish reading the self-published paranormal novel; I got over halfway through this past week.

So glad my ramblings helped!

It's a busy week for me, so I'm only resurrecting one of my goals from last week that I didn't do: create a plan for the rest of the year. I want to at least come up with a larger month-by-month goal (working backward from having a self-publishing-ready book by the end of the year), but hopefully I can also start breaking those months into incremental weekly/daily goals. I tend to do better with bite-sized tasks.

I've decided to add another goal: To finish reading a self-published paranormal fiction book that I bought. I've read part of it and it skews more YA than mine, but I feel like it'll give me a better sense of the quality I want to achieve. I almost picked up a Stephen King book last weekend and thought no, I'd better read something a bit more modest. His grasp of tension and plotting are so incredible, I don't want to get intimidated instead of inspired! I'll wait until I'm farther along reworking my plot.

Hi Jamie,

In an ideal world, I'd get three things done by 2/11:
- Complete the Scrivener tutorial (I just bought the software license and got about halfway through the tutorial before I was slammed by other work and obligations)
- Finish the tension graph exercise from Week 3 of Kate's class
- Create a rough plan for steps to take to finish my novel this year (Kate's 4th assignment, which I thought about but didn't put anything into writing for)

But, if I get even one of these things done by 2/11, I won't be super mad at myself, because it'll be progress at least!

Thanks for setting this up, Jamie! I'll do a longer, more in-depth intro than I did on the class forum, since we may be here a while.

I'm Carol, 43, and a marketing copywriter. I live and work in Minneapolis. I wrote tons of fiction as a kid but it got very spotty after college. I tried NaNoWriMo every year but never got very far, until one year I did it, and since then I've completed a novel every year (2017 was my 5th). I never did much with them, but then I thought, now that I know how to pound out a first draft, let's see if I can get better at the revision aspect.

I came into Kate's class thinking OK, I've got the manuscript, I don't see the need to change much, I'm not trying to make art here. I'll just polish it up a bit and then self-publish to say I did it. But the assignments got me thinking of ways I could improve the character arcs and amp up the pacing and tension quite a bit. So I face a longer road than I originally intended, but it's by choice, so I'm happy. If I do get it in a good place, I'll probably still just self-publish. But I'm hoping the process will make me a better writer and reviser, and maybe someday I'll try to go the traditional publishing route with a different book!

The manuscript I'm working on is actually two consecutive NaNoWriMos--I wrote a sequel to the first one, but thought they'd be better as a single book. So marrying them together is one of my challenges.

Here's my query hook from the class: Trying to escape a mysterious virus spreading through their high school, a group of suburban teenagers takes a road trip to rural West Virginia. But when, one by one, they begin to exhibit the psychic abilities that are harbingers of the disease, they realize they've unwittingly brought the virus with them. As they struggle to understand and contain the disaster that’s overtaking them, unusual relationships develop -- deep mental and physical connections that may be the key to staying alive and thwarting the shadowy government organization that seeks to use the virus to undermine democracy.

I'd say my genre is closer to paranormal than sci-fi, because my "virus" isn't very believable from a science standpoint. It's pretty trashy, lots of sex and drugs, though my characters are pretty goodie-goodie (other than the sex and drugs). I like to write about polyamorous relationships that are positive and not the only/main point of the plot (but are important to the plot), so I have three main characters who are in a relationship with each other (and are also psychically linked because of the virus--and in fact their connection is what keeps the virus from killing them like it does most people who catch it).

My challenges as I see them so far are:
- Work on the plot/structure. Tighten the pacing--make the plot more exciting, amp up the tension and conflict, speed up the pace.
- Make my main characters more interesting/flawed, make them make more mistakes, make them argue/fight with one another more.
- Look at my secondary characters and see which of them need to play a bigger role, and whether there are any I don't actually need. (I"m hoping a lot of both character challenges will start to become clear as I work on the plot)
- After I feel like plot and character are in a better place, give it a good copy edit and proofread.
- When I'm getting close to where I feel good about the manuscript, I want to start marketing my book (I heard you should try to build buzz *before* you publish) and researching the self-publishing options out there.

That's my rough plan for the year, but my first step will be breaking these bigger goals into manageable steps. I find I do well if I put tasks on my calendar, so I'm going to try and work on this novel at least one weeknight and one weekend day per week, and schedule that time with as specific and finite a task attached to it as possible.