Hello all out there on Substack, WordPress, or in the various nooks and crannies of the Internet. It’s Writing Lab time again.

This is where I try to take some of the hard-earned skills and experiences I’ve picked up from (checking the calendar) nearly thirty years of working in writing or writing-adjacent fields (first journalism, then teaching, then back to journalism for a hot second, and now back to teaching for a while now), as well as my experiences with blogging and fiction writing¹.

For this week’s edition, I’m going to take one more look at the art and practice of revision. I believe revising might be the most important part of the writing process, because it’s there raw ideas and stories get crafted into coherent and compelling ones.

To recap how this particular series has progressed, I began with a quick review of revising and how it fits in with the broader writing process, and then I elaborated on this with a broad overview of my own revising process and how it works for me.

Then I discussed word count. While it’s always a good idea to try to write as much as possible, not every single word needs to be in the final version of your creation. I’ve got a new saying: You don’t need to get the last word with yourself. And then, I briefly touched on the element of collaborating with others, both in the revision process and writing in general.

So, for this installment, which will be the last in the revision series for now, will be about the concept of raising the stakes of your story². We’re going to talk about how to get readers to care more about the story you are trying to tell, and how to make that story more compelling.

---

On Revising, Part 5 of 5 (for now): Raising the Stakes

I remember I was in the middle of my initial revisions for the book that would become The Yank Striker when I had a conversation with one of my close acquaintances about the book. At a certain point in the revision process, I always wanted to take a look at everything about my story and see if there is anything structurally the matter with the piece. Are my characters (especially the MC) compelling? Does the story flow? Does my plot have any leaks or dead ends?

So, I showed it to my friend Misty Urban, who happens to be a quite good author of contemporary fiction and historical romance, and she gave me some very insightful comments.

There’s a type of critique that really puffs you up and there’s a type of critique that pulls you down, pulls you down so hard it either breaks your will or you totally disregard it. The critique I got was a third kind – the kind that excites you with the possibilities that you didn’t see before. It’s the type of critique that shines a light onto something you didn’t realize and lights the way to a better story.

There was a lot to it, but the essential part of the critique was this (I’m paraphrasing here): “Well, it’s all good to have an interesting character going through interesting experiences. But it’s not like he’s in danger of losing, is there? Not the way you have it written. The way you have it written, I know he’s always going to succeed. There’s not the suspense there, is there?”

It was then that I realized:

I needed to raise the stakes in my novel.

Let me try to explain this a little.

One of the deadliest things that a beta reader, or any reader, really, can say about a book is, “Well, who cares?” If you want readers to care about your story, you have to make that story involve struggle.

If I was going to define what stakes were, I would lay it out like this. What does your main character (MC) have to gain if they succeed? What do they have to lose if they don’t? Are they the type of things that other readers could relate to, even if they don’t find themselves in the same situations as those characters? Could they relate to them, at least?

The problem was, my MC was always winning. Even that’s all right, but I have to make sure that it’s tough for them. There has to be doubt in the readers’ minds that your character is going to succeed and some consideration of where the character is going to be if they fail.

Essentially, the premise of my book is, what would an American version of Diego Maradona or Lionel Messi look like? What would that person’s path be to soccer glory, and what would they have to overcome to make that happen?

In reading over Misty’s comments, I realized that I had dedicated most of my time to ensuring that my MC would reach those heights and not enough time putting obstacles in his path. For example, Diego had to overcome poverty, and Lionel had to overcome hormone deficiency to become the soccer gods they eventually became.

What did my character have to overcome to reach his goals, especially as a 17-18 year old kid starting to learn about life and what it takes to succeed? I had to show more of the building and less of the ribbon-cutting ceremony, essentially. I had to show the struggle, the climb to the top, to make sure that people cared about what happened to my MC.

I have to credit Donald Maass and his book Writing the Breakout Novel for educating me on the concept of raising the stakes in fiction. Those stakes I’m talking about mean simply: what is there to lose if the main character or characters fail in their efforts? These stakes have to be both public (affecting society or the greater public) and personal (affecting the main characters). In the case of public stakes, you always want to ask yourself if these public stakes are believable, or something that could be a plausible danger if the author gives sufficient detail. Personal stakes depend on making your reader relate to or even sympathize with your MC and their struggles. As the story goes on, you have to continue to ask yourself how things could get worse in the case of the public stakes, and how the personal stakes could matter more to the reader. And you should make sure things get tougher for your characters as time goes on.

---

Next Time at The Writing Lab:

On the next writing lab, I’m going to start getting into the creative process and prewriting ideas in particular. I’ll discuss a bit of my process on developing and fleshing out ideas. Also, stew will be involved.

-30-

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.

1. Even though I also write poetry, it’s an art I’ve picked up relatively late, so I’m seeking advice rather than giving it. soccer will be used a bit interchangeably to describe the same game both here and in the book. Those are the breaks, as they say. ↩︎
2. Unlike with the previous entries in this series, this one is certainly fiction-centered. ↩︎

Hello everyone who has somehow happened onto this electronic page, either through a friendly email or the whims of the mighty algorithms, or by some random twist fo fate. Welcome to The Writing Life.

Since it is once again the third weekend of the month, I am bringing you another edition of The Writing Lab. As I get older, I become painfully aware of how much I don’t know about the world and what I might never know. However, since I’ve had twenty-five-plus years of experience with the art of writing, as a journalist, teacher, fiction writer, and fledgling poet, I am at least slightly comfortable in saying I might have some knowledge of the art.

Since I started The Writing Lab back in March, I have fixated on the topic of revising. It turns out I’ve had a bit to say about it, one of the steps in the larger writing process. In all honesty, I’m of the opinion revision is the most important part of the writing process, because I see it at the step where your writing, especially your fiction writing, gets crafted into something both coherent and compelling¹.

We began with a quick review of revising and an explanation of how it fits into the writing process. I continued the following month with a broad overview of my own revising process and its basic workings.

I then touched on the topic of word count. Many writers, and I include myself in this category, see the more you write, the better it is for your creativity and productivity as well. However, what you learn in the revising process is the more you write, the more difficult it is to search through the word salad and find a clear and compelling story. You need to learn you don’t need to focus on getting the last word with yourself. I talked about it in detail before.

So, for this next installment, I want to discuss something perhaps not as discussed in writing columns—the idea of collaboration in writing, especially when it comes to the concept of beta readers. As I am still in the process of prepping my book The Yank Striker’s Journey for publication, this issue is still fresh in my mind.

---

On Revising, Part 4 (of ?): On the subject of writing collaboration and beta readers

In the realm of art, one of the questions is how much it is an inherently individual effort and how much it is a inherently collaborative effort. This can depend on the type of medium the artist works in. For example, musicians and film directors can find their creative processes involve interacting with and creating alongside many different people. For novelists and painters, however, it can be a far more individual journey—one man, woman, or being staring at a blank page or a blank canvas until a certain amount of inspiration strikes.

However, such categories obscure creative realities. In the realms of film and music, for instance, one person with a clear artistic vision, maybe a singer, guitarist, or producer, or a director or actor, can dominate above others’ visions. Also, those who are writers or painters can end up relying on outsiders far more than what immediately becomes apparent.

It is regarding the latter phenomenon we will review today. As a young man, I considered writing to be a one-man band situation. I created my worlds, I wrote them down on paper (or electronic files) and then released them into the wider world. However, I’ve come to realize the wisdom of former US President Barack Obama when he said during a 13 July 2012 campaign speech:

Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that.

In this instance, Obama was not trying to downplay the efforts of entrepreneurs and their creativity. What he was trying to say was there were plenty of people behind those successful entrepreneurs which helped them to get to where they needed to be. They had a support system to reach their goals.

With this in mind, writers do not get to be a success just based on their own skills and talents. They have to rely in part on the efforts of others to see their creative efforts develop into their optimal form. The intent behind this post is to detail how this idea of collaboration fits into the revision portion of the writing process in particular and their creative process of novels in general.

Again, the cliche of the fiction writer is someone striking out on their own on a creative standpoint, without the input or responsibility of collaborators, financial backers, and the like. For example, it’s not a coincidence that George R.R. Martin first started writing his A Song Of Ice And Fire series after being frustrated with the technical and financial limitations television had put on his ideas as a Hollywood screenwriter, ironic since that series would inspire one of the most expensive television programs in history. 🙂

Being your own boss as a fiction writer has tons of advantages. You don’t get into any arguments over whether a character or plot twist makes sense, or whether your story should be set in Los Angeles rather than an undersea colony, for example. You set your own deadlines, as well as the size of your work (within reason unless you are willing to pay to get it published). All of this is true.

When it comes to revisions, however, I do have a rule of thumb.

Any man can be his own editor, but they can never be their only editor.

One area where collaborative effort can play a significant and absolutely necessary part in writing is during the revision process. Whether you call them peer reviewers, first readers, or, as is now the fashion, beta readers, having another set of eyes to read what you’ve written can be the difference between an OK revision and a great one. Why is this? Simply put: you as a writer are not going to be able to find every plot point not wrapped up, every unrealistic characterization, and every unfinished scene, not to mention every misspelled word. You don’t need a village to write a book, but I think you do need more than one set of eyes to revise it.

Where do you find these beta readers? Unfortunately, most of us don’t happen to live in the household of Stephen King, which wound up producing four different published authors. So, you have to look around. I’m lucky enough to have a local writing group that I participate in. This next month, I’m actually hoping that some of them will do me the honor of reading my latest WIP. There are many online groups that have people willing to look at WIP’s, although the quality of this help can vary. I’d recommend developing acquaintances with members online before asking them to beta read. Sometimes you can be lucky enough to get a professional critique; however, I wouldn’t spend a massive amount of money doing this.

As far as when in the revising process this should take place, I would say it should happen before you seriously consider adding and/or subtracting major portions of your manuscript. By that, I mean the heavy lifting. Whatever form it takes, having more than just your eyes and viewpoint revising your work is key to making sure you don’t leave anything needed out and that you don’t keep anything that you don’t need. After a certain point in the revising process, you don’t want to make massive changes to your work, so it’s best to get this feedback early so you are more open to it.

Of course, there are many other ways people can collaborate with you in the writing process. I think a proofreader is massively important if you want to make your manuscript look professional. Most of the time, this just covers grammatical and conventions issues, but it can also cover some light revisions as well. It made a big difference with my work.

While I left the design of my first two books up to my publisher, I went to an outside designer for The Yank Striker’s Journey. It certainly cost me more than either just leaving it to my publisher or trying to rough out something myself on Canva, but I believe the results were well worth it.

There are some other professionals, such as marketing experts, who might also be of assistance for writers. All I can advise on this matter is to choose carefully. There are many people out online who say they can help you, but I’d take plenty of time to research them. As this world gets more digital, I find myself relying more on people I’ve had personal relationships with rather than wholly online. In the end, I think you should consider collaborating with people who can add something to your product you wouldn’t be able to accomplish as effectively on your own.

---

On the next writing lab, I’ll discuss another aspect of revising. I think I might have at least two more editions of this topic before having to consider another aspect of writing.

I’m going to be out of town Saturday for a book fair event, so I’m not even going to try and coordinate a live chat or Substack Note. However, if you have any questions about the article, had questions about fiction, poetry, or essay writing, or you wanted to get some advice on something you are trying to create, reach out to me either in the comments of this post or directly through Substack DMs. The links for both of them are below.

Hope I see you around.

-30-

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.

1. Most of this advice is aimed at fiction writers rather than nonfiction writers or those who write poetry verse, but I believe the vast majority of it applies to you just as much to those who write fiction. ↩︎