For some reason novel writing appears to be incredibly hard or incredibly easy, depending on who you talk to (and how long they've been trying). The truth is that it's neither. But it is complex, especially if you hope to write a GOOD novel, one that engages readers and compels them to read on, rather than just fifty thousand words of people doing unrelated things and thinking unrelated thoughts until it ends with readers wondering exactly what it is about. And those four words are the basic truth. GOOD novels are always about something. That something is connected to something else, which is then connected to yet another something and these connections lead a reader forward until the end when the entire something is revealed. This requires writers to master four fundamental writing skills that I call The Four Pillars of Structure. These four pillars are character (who is doing the something), plot (what they are doing) scene building (how it's being done) and conflict (what stands in the way). If you have a reasonable command of these four skills you can write a reasonably decent novel. Of course, there's more. Things like word handling and rhythm and pacing and building emotional impact. Those are required to write a GREAT novel. There's always more. It's what I so enjoy about fiction writing. You can always do better, refine your skills, add new ones, and in that way each book gets better than the last. Which seems to imply that you can't learn it all in a day (or even a lifetime, if you ask me). I'm launching this page with three articles that cover plot and character and how they work together. Since all novels begin with these two skills, I hope this can set you on your way if you're a new author or help you improve the skills you have if you've written for a while. Below are links to each article file. Take them for what they're worth to you and remember that they're just two piece of the foundation. I'll add more as time goes on so please stop back There are links below to Bootcamp for Novelists and if you're interested in what I write you can find everything on the Book Page. I hope you check in and see what's up . |
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