Once the reader has accepted your premise, what follows must be logical. Effective research is key to adding the specificity necessary to make this work. When my character uses a weapon, I learn everything I can about it. Add specifics the way you would add seasoning to food. The perspective from which you write your novel can be complicated because it encompasses so much. The cardinal rule is one perspective character per scene , but I prefer only one per chapter, and ideally one per novel.
No hopping into the heads of other characters. What your POV character sees, hears, touches, smells, tastes, and thinks is all you can convey. Most novels are written in Third Person Limited. That means limited to one perspective character at a time, and that character ought to be the one with the most at stake. Writing your novel in First Person makes is easiest to limit yourself to that one perspective character, but Third-Person Limited is most popular for a reason. One example: the main character hears what another character says, reads his tone and his expression and his body language, and comes to a conclusion.
Then he finds out that person told someone else something entirely different, and his actions prove he was lying to both. It means avoiding too much scene setting and description and getting to the good stuff—the guts of the story. The goal of every sentence, in fact of every word , is to force the reader to read the next.
Your job as a writer is not to make readers imagine things as you see them, but to trigger the theaters of their minds. Want to download this step guide to reference whenever you wish? Click here. They give a private eye a nice car, weapon, girlfriend, apartment, office, rich client. Rather, you should pull out from under him anything that makes his life easy. Have his car break down, his weapon stolen, his girlfriend leave, he gets evicted, his office burns, his client is broke.
Now thrust him into a dangerous case. Conflict is the engine of fiction. He can have weaknesses, foibles, flaws, but they should be identifiable, redeemable, not annoying or repulsive. The once-reprobate lover who has become a changed man, loving fiance, falls off the wagon the night before the wedding. Caught red-handed doing drugs and drinking and cavorting with another woman, he sees his true love storm off, vowing to never speak to him again. Imagine the nadir, the low point, the bleakest moment for your lead character.
Your ability to do this will make or break you as a novelist. This is not easy, believe me. The Bleakest Moment forces your hero to take action, to use every new muscle and technique gained from facing a book full of obstacles and prove that things only appeared beyond repair. The more hopeless the situation, the more powerful your climax and end will be. Darian writes: A good book is more than just a well-written story. A good book is a treasure trove of humanity so that no matter how often you open a page and start reading, there is still something new to be discovered.
A good book is great literature. Experts that consist of writers, sociologists, psychologists, and others with a special sense for the literary text are qualified to determine great literature.
Popular opinion is important in terms of relevance to society at large. Amy writes: A good book is one that makes the reader feel. It takes the reader on a compelling journey.
I believe that a book can be considered good if it is a great story with average writing. A great story with many struggles and ultimate success can be told even when the writing is average.
Some storylines are not compelling, but they are so well written that people will recommend them. The criteria I use to gauge whether a book is worth reading relate to the subject, the genre, and the author. However, I can read outside of these criteria if someone convinces me. I loved it and recommended it to others.
However, a book need only be good to the reader to make a difference in his life. Katie writes: That is a tough question, to put into words the reasons why you pick a certain book to read.
But what makes a book good? Whatever you want to call it — rising action and falling action or build-up and climax — tension and release keeps readers invested in the outcome of your novel. Because balancing action and tension release is key:. Many of the landmark novels of the last few centuries have built on their predecessors but also offered something new.
In doing so, Rhys recombines existing characters and existing worlds into something entirely her own. Many writers use anti-climax to subtle effect. Need help writing a better book? Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. Good article with useful reminders. Thank you. Thanks for posting this — I found it really interesting and helpful, especially the strong opening point. Thanks for reading and for the feedback. I once heard some pretty interesting advice.
Sometimes people like to read about nothing. I think as long as you have a well planed character, you could have them crossing the desert, throw in a camel and a cactus, and people will still want to turn the pages.
Skilled writers often do get away with the most unlikely narrative arcs and situations. I like your desert example. Five and seven FTW. Strong internal logic is what keeps me from careening the book out the nearest window. Nothing spoils a story more for me than annoying bloody flashbacks. Hate them in movies too. They slow down the pace of the story and confuse the reader.
As a writer myself, I always try to avoid using them. Dude, that is YOUR opinion. I think that a well placed flash back is always useful in telling a good story…. Indeed, that IS my opinion, and I am sticking to it. Boring bloody flashbacks! Thanks to all. It is very good discussion. Software Company in Dehradun.
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