How to Write a Brilliant Novel: The Easy Step-By-Step Method of Crafting a Powerful Story (Go! Write Something Brilliant) (4 page)

Let’s start with the Big Picture:
The Theme or the Story Question

What is a Theme or Story Question?

Theme:
Theme is the overall idea of a book or story.
The Hunt for Red October
is about
betrayal
and
loyalty,
about
freedom.
Return
to
Me
is
about
eternal
love
and
second chances.
Sweet Home Alabama
is about forgiveness and discovering
your heart. But none of these really answer a question about life.

A
Story Question
asks
what if
? Most great stories start out with a “what if”
question.
What if
a Russian nuclear submarine disappeared and you thought you
knew why? (
The Hunt for Red October
)
What if
your wife died, and her heart was
donated,
and
you
fell
in
love
with
the
new
recipient
without
knowing
it?
(
Return
to
Me
)
What if
you returned home
to divorce your
first love, only to discover you still
loved
him?
(Sweet
Home
Alabama
)

A Story Question, however, isn’t
just
the momentary “what if.” A Story Question answers a deeper question for us all, a question of the heart or mind. It’s the
great
“what if.”

The
Hunt
for
Red
October
:
Can
a
man
from
one
country
know
the
heart
and
mind
of
a man from
another?

Return to Me
: Is it possible for a “heart” to pick its recipient and attract the same man twice?

Sweet Home Alabama
: Can you find your soul mate at the age of six?

These are the questions that drive a story and resonate with readers, making
them turn pages.

The most important thing in a work of art is that it should have a kind of focus, that is, there should be some place where all the rays meet or from which they issue.

Leo Tolstoy

Ask:

• What is my subject matter? Love, greed, betrayal, loyalty?
  
• What am I saying about my subject? Maybe I’m saying love doesn’t end at death, or loyalty to self trumps loyalty to country.
  

Turn your statement into a question and make it specific to your character
,
and thus, to the reader.

Does love end at death, or is it possible to follow the “body” of your loved one, unknown to you, by a sort of cosmic fate? Is it possible to know someone through outside analysis, enough to predict their movements and decision?

The answer to these questions will be portrayed through the drama and the plot of your story. Your characters shouldn’t have to explain your story at the end. They should be showing the answer.

Every author should identify their Story Question at some point in their story, and definitely before they pitch to an editor. Sometimes I don’t discover my Story Question until half-way through writing the story, and then I have to go back and adjust everything. So I definitely encourage you to find your Story Question before you get too far into your manuscript. Print your Story Question out and post it on your computer. It will be essential when you develop your synopsis and query letter, so fix your Story Question firmly in your mind.

"You don't write because you want to say something; you write because you've got something to say."

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Ask:

What are some of your favorite movies and can you define their Story Question?

What is
your
novel’s Story Question?

So now you what kind of book you’re writing, and you know the Big Picture, or Story Question. However, regardless, of which genre you’re writing, all plots have the same foundational elements. So, let’s take a closer look at the basics of a plot.

THE BASIC PLOT

Because I’m a gal who loves lists, I’ve come up with an acrostic to help you keep your plot straight. And, hey, let’s have a little fun and dance our way through discovery.

The Lindy Hop

Every book has a three-act structure, with the first being the introductory and set-up, the middle being the “guts” and the final act being the “glory,” or Big Finale. Here’s how it breaks down. I promise, we’ll go through
all
these in more detail as we get deeper into Discovery.:

Act 1: Lindy Hop

• Life or Normal World
  – This is the world in which your character normally lives.
  Their
  challenges,
  their
  status
  quo.
  Sometimes
  this
  is
  a
  chapter
  long,
  maybe
  longer,
  although
  more
  and
  more,
  it’s
  shortening
  to
  the
  first
  few
  pages.
  It
  gives
  us
  a
  glimpse
  of their regular life.
  
• Inciting
  Incident
  –
  Something
  happens.
  Some
  writing
  classes
  call
  it
  the
  trigger,
  or ignition. But it’s the first blip in their world, big or small, that will change it and set them on the course of their
  journey.
  
• Noble
  Quest
  – The
  effect
  of theInciting Incident is
  to start
  a quest. In the
  case
  of an unpleasant Inciting Incident, the quest is to return to the normal world. In a positive Inciting Incident, the quest is to increase that pleasure. In either quest, the hero must recognize what’s at stake. The higher the stakes, to person, family, community, country, or world, the bigger the story, the broader the reader base.
  

Act 2:

• Disappointment
  s
  –
  These
  are
  the
  obstacles
  and
  conflicts
  the
  hero
  encounters;
  even positive events can rumple the advancement of the plot. It may be caused by a revelation
  of
  information,
  or
  because
  of
  a
  choice,
  or
  because
  of
  outside
  forces.
  But the Disappointment has to contain two
  elements:
  
• Unexpectedness
  – Don’t foreshadow the surprise too much or you will disappoint your reader.
  
• Plausibility
  –
  It
  has
  to
  be
  in
  the
  bounds
  of
  credibility.
  
• Y
  in
  the
  Road
  –
  Or
  “What
  am
  I
  going
  to
  do
  now?”
  Every
  character
  reaches
  a
  point where they have to make a choice about their actions. Do they quit? Is it worth the cost? Do they go forward? Often, the best stories include two equally worthy
  choices, and the character is forced to choose between external goals and internal goals. (We’ll get to this.) Their choice, however, will spark new conflicts, and at some point they reach the point of no return. A good Y in the Road must involve:
  
• Consequences
  – A plot must allow for a character’s choices, and then consequences for those choices. Preferably, the character’s choice lands them in a worse situation and leads to their darkest point. We’ll be talking about character desires, and how a character makes these choices later in the book.
  
• Surprises –
  These come up as the character continues to make choices in the middle act of the story, each one testing their mettle more and more.
  

Act 3:

• HELP!
  Or
  Climax
  – This is the final challenge, the event that the book has been building to. The character’s goal is usually in jeopardy, and everything they’ve worked for is at stake. There is
  no hope
  . This is the Black Moment, where it seems that it can’t get any worse. Often a character’s Epiphany occurs right before or right after the Climax. (We’ll talk about Epiphanies in the Character section.)
  
• Overhaul
  -- This is the change that occurs in the character, something internal or external, something that redefines them, and something logical that is derived from the journey.
  
• Perfect Ending Resolution
  – The new status quo, the new normal. This is when the character reaches the goal. As you write, keep in mind there must be an end game, something definable to the reader, and the character.
  

A
Note
about
the
Hero’s
Journey:
So, you’re saying…Wait! What about Joseph Campbell and his famous
The Hero’s Journey,
that is the foundation for all novels?
The Hero’s Journey
is an
expansion
on
this
basic
plot.
So,
let’s
get
this
nailed
down
first,
and
then
we
can
move into advanced dance
steps!

Life…
Once Upon a Time

Inciting Incident…
Something out of the ordina
r
y happens

Noble Quest…
Causing the protagonist to seek something

Disappointment…
But things don’t go as expected

Y in the Road…
Forcing the protagonist to make a difficult decision

Help!...
Which has consequences

Overhaul…
The result in which is a change in status

Perfect Ending…
And they all lived happi
l
y ever after (or didn’t!)

Ask:

Can you identify the Lindy Hop in your favorite book or movie?

• Life
  
• Inciting
  Incident
  
• Noble Quest
  
• Disappointment
  
• Y in the
  Road
  
• Help!
  
• Overhaul
  
• Perfect Ending
  

Now identify the Lindy Hop in
your
book. It’s okay if you don’t know all the specifics, or even if you get it wrong. What ideas might you have for any of these plot points?

By the way: Later on, as you write your synopsis, I’ll ask you to refer back to this exercise, and then go through the summary or synopsis of your story and identify (even, highlight!) each of these elements.

Okay, we’re on to Characters
. Before you can put one word on to paper, you need to know
who
you are writing about. When you think of a novel, the first thing that comes to mind should be the main character in the story. After all, what would be a James Bond book without James Bond? Or a Clancy novel without Jack Ryan? Even if it’s the plot that stands out in your mind, your plot needs to happen to
someone
for the reader to connect to the story. So, we’re going to talk about creating that special someone you’ll be spending the next three (or more) months with—at least in your mind!

But first, I want to identify a few terms for you so we’re on the same page. You will be working with each of these as you flesh out your characters.

• Goals
  – All characters will have external and internal goals that drive them through the story.
  
• Motivation
  – This will be the something behind their goals that is compelling enough to produce in them a desire for change and a desire to interact with the plot choices.
  
• Conflict
  – These are the people, events, and issues that stand in the characters’ way, internally or externally, to keep them from accomplishing their goals.