Something is missing from my novel -- what?

Nobody who hasn't read your manuscript is going to have a clue. I know I don't.

caw

What is cluing you in that something is missing? Maybe considering that might help you narrow down what it might be... character development or whatever. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers has some useful checklists of things to consider with respect to voice, dialogue, point of view etc. Good luck.

I always have to fix pacing in revision, but what's missing is usually voice. I tend to barrel through the first draft, narrating my story and learning about my MC. Then I have to go back and let the MC's personality, desires, perceptions, and emotions color the story. Something that helps me at that point is to read other writers who are "voicey", especially is the voice they use is in the same ballpark as the one I want, but often I have to make a conscious effort to decide, for instance, if my MC would notice escape routes, or art, or animals, and build that in.

Jason said:

However, it's missing ... something. So, this is a general question, not meant for specifics (i.e., you don't need to see my manuscript to answer), when "something is missing" from your writing, what is it? Word choice? Pace? Rhythm? Clarity? Expository? Teeth? Gums?

I'm just curious -- when you've thrown your hands up and asked, "What else can I do?", do you discover what to do next?

Thanks.

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Absolutely no way to know without reading it, Jason. It could be any of those things or none of those things.
Linnea

I know what's missing from my novel. An agent's love.

Can't say what you're missing though.

The first thing I would look at is the nature of the conflict. Or conflicts. I like to have my MC facing internal problems, personal problems and bigger world problems, with all of them affecting each other. (Whether I'm doing this well is another question.) So if you're missing a spark I would suspect that the conflicts are not compelling and/or we don't care what happens to the characters.

I will put up with a lack of these if the writing itself is exceptionally beautiful or entertaining or insightful. But in terms of reader interest, a good plot and engaging characters go much further with more people.

Mine? The missing element tends to be quality.

Seriously, it's usually a murky middle, the scenes not illuminating character nor moving the plot forward sufficiently to justify their existence. The plot points are not the solid pivots with increasing stakes, emotional or otherwise, that I need them to be. The conflict doesn't escalate, and my character often remains somewhat reactive rather than becoming active in going after what s/he wants or needs.

What's not missing are scads of words. Every time I go over my manuscript, I find more that's worth deleting. Sigh...

Maryn, who writes fat

I just got done reading the Donald Maass book Writing the Breakout Novel. It's excellent--I'd put it up there with The Art of Fiction--and has a lot of page-by-page exercises for ratcheting up tension that i found extremely useful.

When something is missing from my work it's usually the passion for writing it. The one time I recall writing a story that truly sucked, even to me, that's what was missing. I didn't care for it as I was writing it, and it showed. Ditto with another story I started to write. As I worked on it I realized I just didn't care for it that much, so I stopped, because the way I was currently approaching it, it would have ended up lousy.

Maybe you've lost some of your passion/enthusiasm for the story in the rewrites? That doesn't mean you don't care about the story anymore, just that something has gotten stale. I don't know how to spice it back up if so, sorry, but that's my two cents. *shrug*

An antagonist.

Usually I add them in the second draft.

After my fifth re-write I realised what was missing, and that was my character's motivation. Okay, she was after a man... it is a romance after all... but specifically WHY someone so apparently self-sufficient was "needing" a man and why she was failing spectacularly all the time was not that obvious. It was hinted at but it was so subtle even I missed it. Then in a flash, a certain element of her character flew into my mind. Now I have developed that side of my MC, the story is much more satisfying. To me, anyway!

I have no clue what is missing in your work. For, I have not read it. However, you do state it has been fairly well received by a couple readers at least. Thus, maybe nothing is missing and your brain is overworking and has a desire to make it more, when it is not required? I cannot say. Something to mull, though just in case.

If you mull and find something still feels "off" you could do the following without looking at the book to try to find out. Ask yourself:

What you wanted your story to be about?
Who you wanted in your story and why?
What conflicts and how many you wanted to occur?
What you wanted your characters to accomplish?
What you wanted your characters to say in dialogue and with their actions?
What drives the plot?
Did the things occur in a way that made sense and were easy to read/understand?
What did you want your readers to feel?

If you can check the work and answer:

Your story ended up the way you wanted (what you wanted it to be about).
You put everyone in (not missing anyone that could add flesh to something).
You got in all conflicts and resolutions necessary to complete the tale (or start series).
Your characters acted on and did all they were intended to do to get to end.
Your characters drove the story forward by what they said, did.
Your plot makes sense and the conclusion resulted by what drove the plot.
Your writing was clear and understandable and the plot flowed for it.
Your readers (should/could) come away feeling good, bad, hateful, joyful, happy, sad, etc.

Then you are missing nothing. If you look and you cannot answer in a positive manner about one of these things, look there for the thing (s) you need to fix.

Not sure this makes sense to another, but it is what I do. Hope it helps.

Christine

Jason said:

when "something is missing" from your writing, what is it? Word choice? Pace? Rhythm? Clarity? Expository? Teeth? Gums?

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For me, I'm usually too heavy on dialogue and too light on narration. I always have to go back and add subplot and subtext when I edit. It just doesn't come naturally in the first/second draft for me. But after I've read it a couple times, I can see where I need to beef up.

I'm trying something new with my next novel while I shop my other one. I'm going to do some serious outlining and brainstorming to see if I can work in some of my finer details with the first draft.

With me, what's missing is often a sense of setting. I'm not a very visual person, so I tend to have lots of conversations with no place for them to happen.

I like your question. I am an unpublished novelist and lack confidence about my work, even though my beta readers have been kind. I am hard on myself, true, but my self-doubts are likely justified (!?!) because I want my work to be superb, but that is asking a great deal. Christine's questions seem like good ones, the kinds of things all of us need to look for in our work.

What I see my own work lacking is a combination of compelling prose and artful pacing. I keep reading other writers who tell similar stories to pick up clues on how to improve, but so far my reading has not helped much.

Maybe it makes no sense to wait until the work is superb. Maybe I (and you) should just send it out and see if an outsider sees its strengths. If it is rejected with just a dismissive card by several, you can look at it again after a time break. In the mean time, work on something else.

I think in many ways writing is like drawing or painting in that it's sometimes difficult to know when to stop working the piece. There is a tenuous balance between 'finished' and 'overworked'. Knowing that threshold is the most maddening thing for me. I have to make a conscious effort to stop reworking something until it lacks any type of spark or life.

In the end only you know if and when you're satisfied with your own creation. Listen to your critics and betas, but trust your instincts.

Missing energy.
Missing a theme.

When I get to that point (and often I have with this WIP), I realize what's missing is ME.

MY vision, MY feeling for the scene(s), for the story. And most importantly, MY appreciation for what I've already built.

Seeing something a hundred times, hearing something over and over... can make that something less desirable. That's why I've learned its so important to retain a sampling, a golden nugget that represents my true love of the story I've told up to that point.

That nugget, that feeling, helps me reconnect with the people, with the possibility inherent in the blank pages ahead. It also helps me go back and critically revisit what I've written and improve it, if I think it needs it.

If you don't have that sampling, that reminder, times like these will really set you back, emotionally and timewise as an author, in my opinion.

Mine tend to be missing sensory descriptions.

Not sure if this applies to you, but I find that when I feel my work is dragging and/or boring is when there isn't enough conflict.

Find further ways to threaten your characters happiness or throw down some puzzlling questions to create mystery for the reader. Anything to jump start the characters and ultimatly the story.

Michael Parks said:

When I get to that point (and often I have with this WIP), I realize what's missing is ME.

MY vision, MY feeling for the scene(s), for the story. And most importantly, MY appreciation for what I've already built.

Seeing something a hundred times, hearing something over and over... can make that something less desirable. That's why I've learned its so important to retain a sampling, a golden nugget that represents my true love of the story I've told up to that point.

That nugget, that feeling, helps me reconnect with the people, with the possibility inherent in the blank pages ahead. It also helps me go back and critically revisit what I've written and improve it, if I think it needs it.

If you don't have that sampling, that reminder, times like these will really set you back, emotionally and timewise as an author, in my opinion.

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I agree with Michael Parks. If my own work is missing 'me' then I don't like the work anymore because I feel like there is something missing.

I also have issues with lack of conflict, areas that need more description, and times where there are too many characters and it gets confusing.

Pacing. That was the chronic problem with my first novel, and is something very difficult to see and recognize (as it's very subjective). All the advice is always to cut, cut, cut when we edit, to erase any scenes that aren't important and full of conflict. It's bad advice. For me, at least, erasing too many 'quiet' scenes will make the story very choppy and ultimately unfulfilling to read. I'm not saying we shouldn't cut anything (and how much to cut depends on each person's own style), but trying to cut everything you can will end up with the story feeling like it was edited with a meat cleaver.

Something that might help is if you go back and read the first draft of your story, from back before you started editing. The problem may be that you over-edited.

True meaning, true emotions, true character.

A good plot line.

I don't really know since I haven't read it, haha.