Flow State
Writing and Editing for Manuscript Flow
Welcome to your friendly neighborhood Shelf Life. This is a safe space. If you’ve always wanted to know what “manuscript flow” meant, but were afraid to ask, you can ask here. This is a judgment-free zone. I mean, I won’t judge you. You’re free to judge me. This is America. You can do what you want.
I often talk about developmental or line editors versus copyeditors versus proofreaders and what responsibilities each has for a manuscript. In those discussions, I mention manuscript or overall “flow” and which types of editors work on it. Today I’m take a deeper dive into what I mean when I say manuscript “flow,” how flow differs between nonfiction and fiction writing, how I make sure my writing flows, and how I edit for flow.
In the broadest sense, flow in the context of manuscript writing means that ideas flow logically at the sentence, paragraph, scene, chapter, and book levels. It means that a sentence proceeds logically from the one before it and leads logically into the sentence that follows. It means that a reader, as they proceed through the book, receives information in a logical order to make sense of the manuscript.
I will note this does not mean that everything must appear in chronological order. Storytelling out of order does not disrupt flow. You don’t need to know how the One Ring got to the Shire to enjoy The Fellowship of the Ring. Instead, it means that readers receive information in the order they need to understand that information. In fiction, when the reader is given information they can’t use or understand yet, manuscript flow ensures the reader feels comfortable that their questions will be answered in due time.
Like the flow of water through a stream bed, manuscript flow forms a current that carries the reader forward through the text. In Tenterhooks, I talked about how dramatic tension propels a reader through your story. Dramatic tension is the plot or story factor in how this happens. The wordcrafting aspect of how you do it is by creating efficient manuscript flow.
Flow in Nonfiction Writing
Manuscript flow is created differently in nonfiction than fiction, and I’m tackling nonfiction first because excellent manuscript flow is easier to execute in nonfiction writing. This is for the simple fact of: Headings. A lot of nonfiction writing uses them—multiple levels of headings in hierarchy to organize the information on a logical way.
An example might be a nonfiction book that is organized into three parts: Say the topic is the American economy. Part I might handle the history of the American economy; Part II the present; and Part III the future. Each part will be divided into chapters; for instance, Part I might be divided into chapters by decade. Each chapter is then further divided into top-level subheads describing the major economic events of that decade, in chronological order. Second-level subheads, and even third- and fourth-level heads, can further subdivide the information.
Establishing flow in a nonfiction manuscript is as straightforward as grouping all the text on one concept into a unified section and then organizing the information within that section so that it proceeds logically for the reader to take it in. Logically might mean:
Chronologically, from beginning to end.
In order of complexity, with simpler concepts leading to more complex ones.
Inverted pyramid–style, beginning with a summary and then proceeding to a more detailed explanation.
Another item to note about nonfiction is it can include an introduction that describes the organization of the text; this is not something you usually see in novels.
Flow in Fiction Writing
Manuscript flow in fiction writing—from micro flash fiction up to epic novels—is a different animal than in nonfiction. Most fiction, for one thing, (excepting experimental formats) won’t have a dedicated hierarchy of headers to let readers follow the author’s organization plan. It all has to happen in the text. Further, fiction is often told nonchronologically or holds back information from the reader (and/or character[s]) and so the tried-and-true nonfiction tactic of putting one concept before the next doesn’t always work.
After consideration, I’m prepared to say the key to flow in fiction writing is largely about momentum and balance: The momentum of the plot moving the story forward, and the balance between showing (action and dialogue) and telling (exposition). Fiction is driven by character perspective, whether it’s a first-person perspective, close or distant third, or even third omniscient. (Or second-person I guess but we don’t talk about second-person.) Flow in fiction is all about moving forward through the perspective character’s umwelt with them.
Side note: I am always trying to find a way to work the word umwelt into everything and today you—the Shelf Life reader—are a victim of that. Umwelt refers to the world as it is experienced or perceived by a specific organism—the world according to that organism. In this case the organism is the perspective (or point-of-view) character.
The point of view character, setting, and time may change but the author can maintain a smooth flow by shifting to the new perspective and moving forward through that perspective.
People have reveries. Their thoughts go on tangents sometimes. Storytelling doesn’t have to be linear to maintain a solid flow.
Writing for Smooth Flow
Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, I have some universal tips to help you write a text that flows well. Keep in mind—the next section is on editing for flow, and I kicked off today’s Shelf Life with a statement about editing for flow, which is to say: Flow is something that can be edited for during revision. You don’t have to nail it in the draft. That said, the closer you get to ideal organization or flow during the first draft, the less of a lift your revision will be.
First tip: Make sure paragraphs transition smoothly. A paragraph should end, and a new one start, whenever a line of thought changes, a speaker (in dialogue) changes, action changes, or the idea changes. So whatever is happening in your paragraph, when the state changes, that’s the time to change the paragraph.
If your character, Betsy, is thinking about what she wants to have for dinner, those thoughts can all go into one paragraph. When she moves to approach the fridge to see what ingredients she has, that’s a state change—from thought to action—and needs a new paragraph. When Betsy calls out to her husband, Bob, “Hey do you want lasagna for dinner?” That’s a new paragraph (state changed from action to speech). When Bob replies, “No, I want Arby’s” that’s a new speaker and, thus, a new paragraph.
Don’t have Betsy thinking about what she wants to have for dinner and then hop in the car to go get the oil changed without some kind of indication for the reader of why there was such a drastic change in the character’s thoughts and motivations. If she’s thinking she’s hungry now but she needs to get the oil changed before the shop closes, and then she’ll have dinner, that flows logically. If she’s thinking about what to make for dinner, and that sparks the action of going to get the oil changed, and then sparks the dialogue of asking Bob if he remembered to pay the electric bill—that doesn’t flow. The reader will have difficulty following the perspective character’s motivation and understanding how one thought or action leads to the next.
The scene should change whenever the setting—place or time—or the configuration of characters present changes. If someone joins or leaves the scene, it’s a new scene. If the action moves to somewhere or somewhen else—future or past—it’s a new scene. If your changing the point of view character, that should at least be a scene change, if not a chapter change.
Properly ending paragraphs, scenes, and chapters clues in the reader that something is about to change and they should prepare to move on to something new.
Final word on writing for flow in fiction: Sprinkle hints throughout for your reader. Give them light forewarning of how the story will move forward and at what pace. That expectation in the back of their mind about what might be coming next makes the story feel like it is flowing very logically.
Editing for Flow
Here’s my big editing secret: It’s in my eyebrows. No, really. If I’m reading along in any text, fiction or nonfiction, and I feel my eyebrows furrow together even a little bit, I stop and ask: What happened here? Oftentimes if there’s not an obvious misspelling or grammar error, my eyebrows pulled together because of a flow issue.
Okay I realize this is not helpful advice—“pay attention to your eyebrows in case they do what my eyebrows do.” Here’s the actionable part: If you find yourself lost, confused, slightly discombobulated, or wondering “how did I get here?” like the Talking Heads, there’s probably a flow issue. Text didn’t flow smoothly from one part to the next and your brain snagged on the jagged transition.
If you’re editing, you fix it on the spot if you can. A lot of times when I am editing, I don’t see the optimal way to fix something the first moment I notice it’s wrong. That’s fine and normal—if I see something wrong and I don’t know the obvious fix off the top of my head, I just insert a comment in the text there about what the problem is, and I move on. I’ll come through and attend to my comments after reading the whole thing through once.
This is especially useful when you identify a flow issue because it might be a one-off or it might be a recurring problem. If it’s recurring, the fix may be different than if it’s a one-off. A one-off flow issue might be fixed by the insertion of a transition paragraph or a bit of dialogue. A recurring flow issue may require reorganizing the text.
Don’t be afraid to hack and slash. Work in a copy of your manuscript or chapter. Move things around. Juggle paragraphs within the scene. Find the organization of sentences and paragraphs that works. Send your reader into a flow state: The one where they can’t put your book down and finish it in one sitting.
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