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I’m a new author. I’ve never completed a novel, though I have started many. I’ve written and published dozens of short stories, but a novel, well that is hard work. Why is it so different? Well, I think it is down to plot and structure.
Short stories have characters, good characterisation, dialogue, descriptive passages, beats, interior dialogue, viewpoint, voice – all these different aspects of fiction writing. But they don’t need a lot of structure and their plots tend to be pretty simple.
So, embarking on a novel, what better book to get than:
‘Plot and Structure – techniques and exercises for crafting a plot that grips readers from start to finish’ by James Scott Bell
If you are attempting to write a novel, you should buy this book. Preferably in paper form, not kindle. And don’t think you’ll be passing it on to a charity shop at some point, you won’t – you’ll need it, so you can scribble and highlight away as you wish.
One of the small items tucked away in the last chapter caught my eye recently.
It’s titled ‘Inverting the Rifle Rule’.
The Russian playwright Anton Chekhov had a famous rule that said if, in the first act, you show a rifle hanging on the wall of the room where the play is set, then the rifle must be used before the end of the play, preferably in the third act. This is really a rule of expectation – if you set something up, then you need to deliver on it.
Bell suggests that, as writers, we should think of the rule in reverse. If we are going to have someone shot in the third act, then we should plant the gun somewhere in the first act. This approach greatly enhances the plausibility of the plot, since the reader is not so surprised that certain events take place.
The classic example that Bell quotes is the James Bond stories. It is the role of Q to provide the gadgets for James Bond to escape from the various traps and tortures he has to undertake. We are acquainted with these gadgets early in the story, not knowing when or where they will be used. But then, when James is trapped and apparently going to be mortally wounded, we can find the escape mechanism plausible.
Most planting needs to be more subtle than this. In the novel I am working on, my protagonist is called Emma. At a point in the story Emma faces danger requiring her to fight another person. Fist fighting does not come naturally to most people, and Emma is a journalist, so it’s not exactly part of her everyday life. But I need her to win the fight.
Having read this section of Bell’s book, I now realise that I can have Emma learn self-defence skills at her gym in an evening class, or perhaps at a training course that the paper sends her on. This will add depth to Emma’s characterisation, give her the necessary skills to win a fight, and as an added bonus, I can use that scene at the gym or training course for another purpose too – for example, to meet someone who later becomes a firm friend.
So, think about your plants and place them carefully in the early parts of your stories.
I’ve blogged before about how to structure a short story and the 8 point arc. See this previous blog post. and I’ll continue to delve into this art of novel writing that has a fair bit of science to it as well.
Your thoughts?
Yes, I have learnt we need to plant seeds in the readers mind along the way.
I’m on my second draft, very much an exercise in wading through treacle.
However, I’ve now got the opportunity to place my seeds.
Novel writing is not easy, but rewarding when it comes together.
Hi John,I’ve found afew ways to get past blocks:1) Go the Philip Pullman route Plumbers don’t get pbmuler’s block; why should writers get writer’s block? Envision yourself doing this for a living. What would you do if this had to be in to an editor in six months’ time. That generally gets me over any laziness impulses I have.2) But a barrier in front of your main character. Something. Anything. Kill someone if you have to. Make it big, and make it bad. Characters react best under pressure. Put them under pressure. Keep the pressure on. Torture them. Hound them to the brink. Then have them fight their way out of the problem and emerge victorious. That is what readers want from stories, after all and you may just find your characters improving as a result.3) Keep writing. Every day. Write something. They’re only words you can go back and change them as much as you want.4) Don’t focus too much on plot. Remember: characters come first. Look at a situation in your novel and think what each of your main characters would do in that situation. If their reactions turn out pretty much the same, then change those reactions. Your characters will change at the same time, and become more individual and vibrant. Focusing on plot too much makes a novel become a series of and then, and then, and then, and then . Focusing on characters makes it become a series of exciting encounters with thrilling people.5) Read something. Someone you admire. Spend a few days reading them, then write something OTHER than you main novel for the rest of the week. Try writing exercises: scenes composed entirely of dialogue; description exercises (minute detail, a page long, on a ball-point pen; then a single line that encapsulates it perfectly). These will flush your favourite writer’s style out of your system, but will give you the inspiration to become like him/her.6) Go visual. Draw your novel as a series of peaks and troughs for your protagonist. This will help you understand the story as their journey, not just a series of random events that happen to involve the same person.7) Plot your acts: beginning, middle, end. Just a line or two on the point of each. This will help you focus on the big picture’ of your novel, and help you envision it as a finished entity. Write. Write all you can. If it’s rubbish, go back and change it. You have the power. You can make your characters do anything. Make daring choices, and explore things you never thought of before: the bottom of the sea, the inside of a nuclear power plant you can go anywhere and do anything, because you are a writer!These are some things that help me. Hope they help you.And remember to have fun, no matter how un-fun it seems.Matt
Thanks for the feedback, Maria. After quite a few short-stories, I’m finding the transition to a novel pretty tough, but interesting and fun. Making the time is the biggest hurdle, but I’m loving the study, and the blog’s fun.
Great to make contact with you – I’m drinking more tea as a result I think.
The sexual teinson between the characters! I also like heroes who are dark and mysterious they behave cold and arrogant but they’re really vulnerable and hurt! I love how at the end, they become all loving and stuff! it makes it so much more exciting!I also like romance novels with a mystery edge or a major conflict that must be overcome!
I’m much the same Graham, I don’t find the process of writing a novel easy. I also cut my teeth on short stories, and find it very different. I’ve got into blogging too.