Finding a novel's core
Before I get to today's blog topic, a quick ooops/sorry about the downtime yesterday afternoon through the evening. According to Webmaster Todd, apparently an application on our server used too many resources (probably high traffic) and we blew a fuse. If it happens again, we'll look at possible upgrades. I noticed in my website stats that we had a lot of new visitors yesterday -- welcome! I blog every day during the week and post Fun Pics on Saturdays. In my blog I talk about writing and publishing from a newbie author's point of view: Stuff I know, things I've found out, and crap I've learned the hard way.
Since The Trouble With Demons (Raine Benares #3) is finished and with my editor, and I'm gearing up to write Raine's fourth adventure, Bewitched & Betrayed (aka B&B), I thought I'd tell you all about an exercise I'm doing this week to find the core of that book -- the plot element/event/situation around which everything else revolves. I've discovered (the hard way), that if you don't have that core, you have a 300-page collection of scenes, not a novel.
To find the core of B&B, I did a bulleted list of the characters & their plotlines that I want to include in the book. As of yesterday, I have 12. That's going to be too many. As you may have noticed, I tend to have rather complex plots, but I have to draw the line at how much is too much. The ones that don't support the story core of B&B, get pushed to the next book. BTW -- If you all continue to buy my books, come next spring, I just might have a contract for Books 5 & 6. : ) When I have the plot elements that support the book's core, I ask myself what Raine will do about each one of them. That's the thing about main characters (at least my main characters), they have to be pro-active. They can't stand passively by and react to the events happening around them -- Raine has to act; she has to do something to solve the problems and fight the bad guys that I throw her way. And if she can do that with brain rather than magic, all the better.
Once you've found you book's core, you get to ask yourself the fun question -- How can I make it worse for my main character? Of course, whatever you get them into, you have to think of a way that they can get out of it. In my case, the solution has to be clever, cool, and/or funny with plenty of snark, action, and death-defying danger. Yeah, no pressure there. ; ) Occasionally I'm too mean to Raine for my own good, and have no clue how to get her out of the mess she's in. But I tell myself: "You got her there, Lisa. You gotta get her out. Good luck with that." And when I do that (or work out any plot point), I "talk" my way through it by typing out my thoughts in my "Plot" Word document. Since my plots are complex, there's no way I can do all of that in my head.
Coming up this week and next: Character backstory, worldbuilding, doing rewrites, how to push through and complete a novel, and more.
Have a great day; and again, welcome to the new visitors!
Lisa
Since The Trouble With Demons (Raine Benares #3) is finished and with my editor, and I'm gearing up to write Raine's fourth adventure, Bewitched & Betrayed (aka B&B), I thought I'd tell you all about an exercise I'm doing this week to find the core of that book -- the plot element/event/situation around which everything else revolves. I've discovered (the hard way), that if you don't have that core, you have a 300-page collection of scenes, not a novel.
To find the core of B&B, I did a bulleted list of the characters & their plotlines that I want to include in the book. As of yesterday, I have 12. That's going to be too many. As you may have noticed, I tend to have rather complex plots, but I have to draw the line at how much is too much. The ones that don't support the story core of B&B, get pushed to the next book. BTW -- If you all continue to buy my books, come next spring, I just might have a contract for Books 5 & 6. : ) When I have the plot elements that support the book's core, I ask myself what Raine will do about each one of them. That's the thing about main characters (at least my main characters), they have to be pro-active. They can't stand passively by and react to the events happening around them -- Raine has to act; she has to do something to solve the problems and fight the bad guys that I throw her way. And if she can do that with brain rather than magic, all the better.
Once you've found you book's core, you get to ask yourself the fun question -- How can I make it worse for my main character? Of course, whatever you get them into, you have to think of a way that they can get out of it. In my case, the solution has to be clever, cool, and/or funny with plenty of snark, action, and death-defying danger. Yeah, no pressure there. ; ) Occasionally I'm too mean to Raine for my own good, and have no clue how to get her out of the mess she's in. But I tell myself: "You got her there, Lisa. You gotta get her out. Good luck with that." And when I do that (or work out any plot point), I "talk" my way through it by typing out my thoughts in my "Plot" Word document. Since my plots are complex, there's no way I can do all of that in my head.
Coming up this week and next: Character backstory, worldbuilding, doing rewrites, how to push through and complete a novel, and more.
Have a great day; and again, welcome to the new visitors!
Lisa
posted by Lisa Shearin at
9:07 AM
2 Comments:
Excellent. I'll give this a try, before I plunge into another novel with no planning at all.
The planning part isn't easy; in fact, it's probably the most difficult part of the process, but I think it's worth it. Saves a lot of hair pulling later on. ; )
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home