Category: Writing
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In addition to the ‘Contract with the Reader‘ and various ‘Character and Chronology‘ spreadsheets, the recommendation in Step 1 of the 10-part process was to “a 2-3 page ‘Revision Blueprint’ document that you’ll reference throughout the process.” This grew out of the Contract and Chronology listings to include: ChatGPT advises: “A strong revision blueprint moves…
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After completing the ‘Contract with the reader’, I turned to the next task Claude assigned as a preliminary step in the structural diagnosis: I was impressed that the character spreadsheet generated three months ago, when Claude reviewed the supporting characters, and I was curious to see what help Claude would be in generating more spreadsheets…
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Step 1 in Claude’s 10-point plan presented the first task: Your first task: Complete Step 1’s “Contract with Reader” document. Answer in one paragraph: “This novel promises readers a story about ___________ (protagonist) who wants ___________ (external goal) but needs ___________ (internal growth). Through a journey that spans ___________ (time/setting), readers will experience ___________ (emotional…
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With the last of the 10-part editorial plan completed, Claude produced an overall Timeline. This is the “fast track” 3-month plan, working 5-6 days a week. A full-time job. Alternative: Sustainable 6-Month Plan A more manageable 6-month plan. Start in June, finish in December. Budget Summary Step Focus Time % Hours (Range) 1 Structural Diagnosis…
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Following the subplot housekeeping and choice of ending, we now take a look at the completed manuscript. This sounds like something that trusted ‘beat test’ readers would also be a help with as “a second pair of eyes”. The focus on cutting never seems to go away! Listening to an ElevenLabs audio version might work…
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Following a relatively brief engagement with the music, Claude now directs my attention to some housekeeping tasks to do with subplots. The final chapters leading to a satisfactory ending are a major task. There’s a certain ‘rinse and repeat’ quality to these directions. I anticipate picking up the loose ends in the story line and…
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Following the Voice and Prose polish assignment, Claude recommends ways to address the songs that were featured in Episodes 5-12 of the series. My feeling at this point is that I easily cut the lyrics from the novel. OK, I can see the value in having Luna experience the music, without needing to explicitly include…
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Assuming to survive the massive time commitment of extensive Scene Level Rewriting I can now turn to the possibly less demanding task of voice and prose polishing. While James Joyce could get away with a wildly inconsistent and stunningly creative cacophony of voices in Ulysses (even though Claude is clearly up to the task of…
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Having listed the 10-14 hours work that needs doing on the Subplot Architecture, Claude now dishes up by far the most time consuming and probably challenging part of the project: scene by scene rewriting. Scene-Level Rewriting (35% – 42-63 hours) Objective: Rewrite individual scenes to maximize emotional impact, character voice, and narrative momentum. This is…
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Following a review of the supporting characters, Claude turns to the subplot architecture. Luna’s family legacy should also mention the challenges faced by any Latina family resident in the United States in the current (2025-28) political environment. Are the parents harassed bu ICE? How will drawing attention to herself and positioning her discoveries against corporate…