Remember what we said about the three parts of a novel? We won’t get too technical
here, but some things should happen by the end of the three parts. Briefly, these
are -
Beginning - all characters introduced and ‘fleshed out’. Main character’s crisis
fully understood - his or her adversary (be it a person or situation) - be evident.
The sub-plot should be established (this involves the ‘story within a story’ that
almost all novels contain - for example Chief Brody wasn’t just interested in killing
the shark in Jaws - he had marriage problems as well). At the end of the beginning
there should also be a big surprise. This is usually in the form of a setback for
the main character (he thought he’d caught the shark but boy! Was he mistaken!) This
shock event should also make it that much worse for your main character in terms
of achieving his or her goal!
The middle section of your story can be daunting - it’s half the book, after all
- and it’s important that it doesn’t flag or fizzle out. This is where good, tight
plotting will pay you back in spades. Start the middle section by having the main
character reflecting on how he or she has failed - and then start to point them in
the direction of success. They may have to adopt a different approach to the problem,
enlist help from elsewhere, get a bigger gun or hire a shark-catching boat - that’s
up to you, it’s your story! The things to remember are your surprises. There’s generally
another one just about in the middle of the middle (if you get my meaning) and it
should be a worse shock for your main character than the first. But there’s always
one at the end of the middle section - and it’s always a big, big shock. In fact,
it should be so bad that your readers will say to themselves ‘No way is this guy
going to come out of this!’ It should make it look virtually impossible for your
main character to come out on top.
Now for the end. Here’s where you tie up all the loose ends, squeeze your lead character’s
options down to virtually nil - and, just before he or she wins out, have the worst
disaster of all happen (the shark sinks the boat!). How can your character win? This,
in the terminology of writing, is the Point Of Hopelessness. It’s where your main
character is saying ‘game over - I’m finished!’ Until, that is, the Saving Act. (The
final bullet hits the oxygen cylinder in the shark’s teeth!). Cue cheers from the
reader who sits back and says ‘That was one hell of a good book!’
And that’s it!
Only, of course, it isn’t.
These brief outlines are just that - ideas to get you started along the way. Over
the next couple of pages we’ll have a look at some other aspects of the writer’s
life. The first of these are writer’s groups, the second are writing competitions.
So now click here to go to the next step!
Another great aid for the writer is produced by Rachel Plummer in her book How To Write And Publish Your Novel . If
you want a no-nonsense, objective look at how to do just that, then this publication
is definitely for you!
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