Becky Lower | How I Write a Novel

There are as many different ways to craft a book as there are writers. For me, the first draft is the easy part. I usually do a beat sheet followed by a synopsis first, to make sure I have enough of a story for a full-length book. Then, I do a flash first draft, usually about 40,000 words, just to get the story down.

The hard part begins when the first draft is finished. I recently took an on-line workshop that uses magic markers and color-coding for the various parts of the story. It sounds simplistic, I know, but it really helps me. I color-code each scene and then look at the colors. If I don’t have enough pink, or green, I add words.

After I do the color-coding, I read through each scene with my checklist in hand. Do I have enough of the senses in each scene? Can the reader smell the food I’m describing? Can they feel the breeze on their cheeks? Is there enough conflict? Do I have a hook ending? If not, I punch it up, adding more words. I have a list of the seven words I tend to overuse, so I check to see how many of those can be eliminated.

I do a read-through of the whole book, scene by scene, after that, and find I can usually add a scene or two where the change from one scene to another is too abrupt. Usually by this point, I’m up to 55,000 words or so. I call it layering.

Only after all the above steps are done do I dump the manuscript from Scrivener into a Word program. I format it into chapters then, read through it one more time, adding more description, more color, more of the senses, more layering.

When I think I’m done with the manuscript, I put it away for a few days. Then, I go back and re-read it again, from the start, trying to keep my fingers off the keyboard. I’ve never had a clean read-through yet, but that’s the goal. If I find myself making a lot of changes and additions, I have to go back and read it from start to finish again. This process lasts as long as it takes. When I get the tweaking down to only a handful in the entire work, I’ll put it away again. One final read-through and I’m ready to send it off. My books usually end up between 65,000 and 70,000 words.

By the time I send it off, I’ve read through it at least seven or eight times. Then, the editors get their hands on it and I have to make changes and read through it again. And again. And again, before it’s deemed ready to go.

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About Becky Lower

Becky Lower has traveled the country looking for great settings for her novels. She loves to write about two people finding each other and falling in love amid the backdrop of a great setting, be it present day coastal Maine or on a covered wagon headed west in the 1850s. Contemporary and historical romances are her specialty.

Becky is a PAN member of the Romance Writers of America, a member of the Northeast Ohio chapter of RWA and the Hearts Through History and Contemporary RWA on-line chapters. She has a degree in English and Journalism from Bowling Green State University, and lives in an eclectic college town in Ohio with her puppy-mill rescue dog, Mary. Visit her website at www.beckylowerauthor.com

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About A WIDOW'S SALVATION

In 1862 America, the Civil War has raged for twelve months. Pepper Fitzpatrick Brown's heart was broken when her husband died with the first volley at Manassas. Now she's a widow raising three young boys and plans to honor his sacrifice by volunteering at the army hospital.

When Colonel Elijah Williams can grab a few minutes to nap between his duties as head surgeon at MacDougall Army Hospital in the Bronx, his sleep is invaded with nightmares of the atrocities he's seen. His life has narrowed to nothing but the bloody war . . . until he meets Pepper Brown. But her father is concerned Elijah doesn't have the best intentions, and Pepper is fearful of loving and losing again.

It's hard to find happiness in a war-torn United States, but these two stand a fighting chance - if they can save what's left of their hearts.

Sensuality Level: Sensual