Real Life Diagnostics: Diagnosing a Story Idea

Critique By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Real Life Diagnostics is a weekly column that studies a snippet of a work in progress for specific issues. Readers are encouraged to send in work with questions, and I diagnose it on the site. It’s part critique, part example, and designed to help the submitter as well as anyone else having a similar problem.

If you're interested in submitting to Real Life Diagnostics, please check out these guidelines.

Submissions currently in the queue: Zero

This week’s question:

I wrote a query letter to see if I can pinpoint any potential problems in the novel before I even finish writing it. Thoughts? 

Market/Genre: Young adult

Note: Doing something a little different this week. The focus won’t be on the writing, but on testing the story idea to see if it can carry a novel.

On to the diagnosis…

Real Life Diagnostics: A Study of Plot: Looking for Cause and Effect in a Synopsis

Critique By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Real Life Diagnostics is a weekly column that studies a snippet of a work in progress for specific issues. Readers are encouraged to send in work with questions, and I diagnose them on the blog. It’s part critique, part example, and designed to help the submitter as well as anyone else having a similar problem.

If you're interested in submitting to Real Life Diagnostics, please check out these guidelines.

Submissions currently in the queue: Five 

REVISED TEXT: A revised outline is at the bottom of the post.

NOTE: It's a very different RLD today, but it looked like fun so I'm going to try it. The submitter has more of a plot question than a writing one (and felt others might be having the same issue, so it might make a nice teaching post as well), so the typical crit wasn't going to help her. Instead, I'm going to review a bit of her synopsis/outline to answer her question on cause and effect. Not sure how this might work out, but it could be fun to open the diagnostics up to new things. Love to hear feedback on this as well as answer the submitter's questions. (It's a little longer than the normal diagnostic due to the nature of the critique)

This week’s question:

I am revising the first draft of my NaNoWriMo '11 novel and I am concerned with the Cause and Effect for the plot and scenes.

Market/Genre: Young adult

On to the diagnosis…