NaNoWriMo is in full swing. Many people are discovering that writing is much more work than they realize. Some have fallen by the way already, and others will falter along for a few more days. Then they too will disappear, and their work will lie forgotten until the urge to write resurfaces, like the sneaky shark that creativity is.
However, a few people new to the craft are developing a passion for the dirty habit of writing every day. They are joining the ranks of the old pros, the people who “do NaNo” every year whether they expect to be published or not.
But all writers begin as readers. As we read, we see an arc to the overall novel consisting of:
- Exposition, where we introduce our characters and their situation.
- Rising action, where we introduce complications for the protagonist
- Climax, the high point of the action, the turning point of the narrative
- Falling action, the regrouping, and unfolding of events that will lead to the conclusion
- The resolution, in which the protagonist’s problems are resolved, providing the reader with closure.
Scenes are mini stories that support the overall arc. They come together to create the all-encompassing drama that is the novel. The way the narrative unfolds keeps our readers interested until the end of the book. Each scene has a job and must lead to the next. If we do it right, the novel will succeed.
The main difference in the arc of the scene vs. the overall arc of the novel is this: the end of the scene is the platform from which your next scene launches. This means each scene begins at a slightly higher point on the novel’s plot arc than the previous scene, driving the narrative.
In my mind, novels are like Gothic Cathedrals–arcs of stone supporting other arches until you have a structure that can withstand the centuries. Each scene is a tiny arc that supports and strengthens the construct that is our plot.
These small arcs of action, reaction, and calm push the plot and ensure it doesn’t stall. This tension increases the overall conflict that drives the story.
My writing style in the first stages may be different than yours. I lay down the skeleton of the tale, fleshing out what I can as I go. But there are large gaps in this iteration of the narrative.
So, once the first draft is finished, I flesh out the story with visuals and action. These are things I can’t focus on in the first draft, but I do insert notes to myself, such as:
- Fend off attack here. Bandits wound Lenn. I don’t know how.
Or my notes might say something like:
- Contrast tranquil scenery with turbulent emotions here.
For me, the first draft is always rough, more like a series of events and conversations than a novel. In the second draft, I stitch it all together and fill in the plot holes.
In the first draft, most scenes I write are conversations interspersed with actions. Conversations between our characters should have an arc that supports the cathedral of the novel. They begin, rise to a peak, and ebb.
They inform us of something we must know to understand the forthcoming action. Conversations propel the story forward to the next scene.
A good conversation is about a thing or idea and builds toward some other thing or idea. Dialogue must have a premise and move toward a conclusion of some sort. Otherwise, it’s is a waste of words.
A scene that is all action is confusing if it has no context, no frame. A properly placed conversation can give the reader perspective when there is no silent witness (an omniscient presence). This view is needed to understand the reason for events.
A certain amount of context can arrive through internal monologue. But we don’t want the reader to face a wall of italics. I have two problems with long mental conversations:
- Italics are daunting in large chunks.
- Internal dialogue is frequently a thinly veiled cover for an info dump.
Plot points are driven by the characters who have critical knowledge. The fact that some characters are working with limited information creates tension.
This inequality of knowledge is called asymmetric information. We see this all the time in the corporate world.
- One party in a business transaction has more or superior information compared to another.
- This individual’s drive and pursuit of pure self-interest can prevent others from entering and competing in an industry or market.
- This person has the critical knowledge the competitors don’t have.
- That inequality of information effectively eliminates his competition.
In other words, he has a monopoly and rises to the top.
In literary terms, a monopoly of information creates a crisis. In the novel, a conversation scene should be driven by the fact that one person has knowledge the others need. An idle conversation will bore your reader to tears, so only discuss things that advance the plot.
The reader must get answers at the same time as the other characters, gradually over the length of a novel.
I struggle with this too. Dispersing small but necessary bits of info at just the right moment is tricky. Hopefully, by the end of my second draft, all these bumps will have been smoothed out.
Now that we are a week into NaNoWriMo, I have written 20,000 words into my outline, which is gradually becoming a novel. Already many things have changed from the original plan.
Whether it will be an engaging story for a reader (or not) is something I can’t predict, but I’m enjoying writing it.
And that is what writing should be about—writing the story you want to read.
Reblogged this on Kim's Musings.
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Kim, thank you so much for the reblog! 😀
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Congratulations on writing 20,000 words already! That is impressive.
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Hello, Marlee! At this point, they aren’t good words – but they’re getting the basics of the story down. For me, that is what this month of hard writing is all about–getting the basic story down. The real work begins when I get to the second draft.
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I’m often at odds as to how to handle monologue. To italic or not to italic, and not all authors use italics. Use the show-not-tell or just get it out there through dialogue with or without another person receiving and responding to it. I feel monologue is often important in a story so I can’t just ignore it either.
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Hello! I agree, internal monologues, conversations–these are essential ways to get information across. The difficult part for me as a reader is italics (my vision is not good anymore) so as my own style has evolved, I have moved away from them. That raises the problem of ensuring the reader knows it’s an internal conversation and isn’t spoken aloud. This is what I struggle with, anyway.
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I wonder if it would be kosher to use parentheses.
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Ah … parentheses are not really used in genre fiction. I would go with the italics unless they are doing a lot of thinking. Most of the books I have read lately in the fantasy genre have the characters thinking without italics, and in normal font. It works because they manage to make it clear that the character is carrying on a mental dialogue. That is what I am working on, myself.
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Using dialogue tags would keep the reader from being confused. Something like: …’ she said to herself. Or She wondered “…
Still, because the writing craft is an art, ways to handle this are going to vary and change through time. I’m sure it was different back when Charles Dickens was writing.
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Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
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Chris, thank you so much! 😀 ❤ 😀
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My pleasure, Connie 🤗
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Came here from Chris’s blog 😀 … my first drafts tend to be a combination of ‘notes to self’, (lots of these) scene outlines, waaay too much dialogue between characters, and world-building info-dumps … all of which are thrown into the woodchipper of a second draft. 😀 and something useable comes out the other end. 🙂
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Hello, and thank you for coming by! I have the same method, lol!
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Reblogged this on NEW BLOG HERE >> https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
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Daily writing is a real challenge, and the cure is flattening regularely. Congratulations to reaching your goal, Connie! I am working on it. And so around 2030 i will have also reached the goal. Lol Best wishes, Michael
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Hello Michael – don’t be so hard on yourself. Write when you want–and when you have something that must be written. Writing should make you happy. 😀 And thank you for the reblog ❤
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Thanks for empowering me, Connie! I should write more, for better knowledge of grammar and the language itself. 😉 It will go on! best wishes, Michael
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