The document provides guidance on big-picture revision for authors. It discusses examining what a story is really about underneath the surface plot. Examples are given of stories that on the surface are about a girl solving a mystery on a cricket farm, an Irish dancer catching a wish-granting fish, and kids trying to stop killer tornadoes, but are really about themes like taking back what is taken from girls, accepting unchangeable things, and using powers for good. The document also addresses narrative point of view, narrative distance, mentor texts, and using a big-picture story chart to ensure characters, settings, objects, jokes, themes, and threads are consistently woven throughout a work-in-progress.

1. Big-Picture Revision
SCBWI-NY 2020
@KateMessner
www.katemessner.com

2. What are you writing?
My book is about
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________.
But underneath that, it’s really about
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________

3. My book is about a girl who
has to solve a mystery to
save her grandmother’s
cricket farm.
But underneath that, it’s
really about the things that
are taken from girls and how
we take them back.

4. My book is about an Irish
dancer who catches a
wish-granting fish.
But underneath that, it’s
really about accepting the
things we can’t change
instead of holding on to
wishes.

5. My book is about a future world
where killer tornadoes are
widespread, and four kids at a
science camp are trying to stop
them but discover a terrifying
secret.
But underneath that, it’s really
about using your powers for
good.

6. What are you writing?
My book is about
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________.
But underneath that, it’s really about
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________

7. What’s your character’s knot?

8. IN WHAT POINT OF VIEW
IS YOUR BOOK
CURRENTLY WRITTEN?
1st
2nd
3rd close
3rd omniscient
Past/present?
Mixed?

9. IN WHAT POINT OF VIEW
IS YOUR BOOK
CURRENTLY WRITTEN?
WHY?

10. NARRATIVE DISTANCE
The distance between the narrator and
the character.

11. NARRATIVE DISTANCE
1st Person = No Distance
Expressed (usually) with pronoun “I”
The world of the fiction is experienced
exclusively through this character.
Present tense – immediate/in the moment
Past tense – with perspective

12. NARRATIVE DISTANCE
1st Person Benefits:
Empathy
Immediacy
Unreliable/uninformed narrators
Ability to withhold/conceal information

13. NARRATIVE DISTANCE
1st Person Limitations:
Limited lens
Limited language
Can feel claustrophobic/grating

14. NARRATIVE DISTANCE
1st Person = No Distance
Consider the intended audience.
To whom is the story being told?

15. NARRATIVE DISTANCE
2nd Person = No Distance?/Greatest
Distance?
It’s complicated.
Choose-your-own-adventure
”Voicy” storyteller narrators
Useful device when story is too painful
for 1st person narrator
But…also jarring & uncomfortable to read

16. NARRATIVE DISTANCE
Close 3rd Person = sliding degree of distance
Action
Perception
Thought
Emotion
Deep Immersion/Voice
Whose thoughts do we see?
Single character or shifting POV

17. NARRATIVE DISTANCE
Omniscience = Greatest Distance
The narrator knows all there is to know
about the fictional world
– including the ending and what came before.
Useful for mysteries/classic fairy tale storytelling
voice/when theme invites drifting perspectives

18. Structure Serves Story

19. Structure Serves Story

20. Structure Serves Story

21. Structure Serves Story

22. Structure Serves Story

23. Structure Serves Story

33. MENTOR
TEXT PLOT
CHART

34. Mentor texts

35. Highlight a Mentor Text

36. Retype a Mentor Text

37. What books that you
admire feel like the
kind of book you
hope your work-in-
progress will be?
List a few titles that
might be “mentor
texts” for you.

38. Big-Picture Story Chart -
What characters,
settings, objects, jokes,
themes, and threads are
important in your
project? Are they woven
consistently throughout
the text?

42. What elements will
be included on your
Big-Picture Story
Chart?
• Characters
• Objects
• Running jokes
• Themes
• Threads

43. Plot and Pacing:
Characters & Changes

44. CH TREATMENT SYMPTOMS BELIEFS ACTION/PLOT
POINTS
1 Medicine/light/e
xercise
Headaches
dwindling
I-CAN really is a
miracle clinic. But
there are weird
things…confused.
Discovers files on
computer
2 Medicine/light/e
xercise
Headaches gone
– clarity returns
I_CAN is helping
our headaches,
but Phase III is
dangerous/weird.
Files on computer,
sees changes in
Trent – Docs are
secretive
3 Medicine only Headaches gone
– clarity remains
I-CAN is not what
it seems – we
need to escape
Plot to go w/ Molly
– failed –
desperation
4 Medicine
wearing off
Headaches/confu
sion returning
Should we have
left? Confused –
scared
In swamp – find
Molly…

47. Big-Picture Revision
SCBWI-NY 2020
@KateMessner
www.katemessner.com