Underlying Elements

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know, , , Leave a comment

Yes, I have written about this before, but these elements are important and deserve a second look. There are four main dramatic elements to your novel. You probably never thought about it, but if you did it right, they are there. If they’re missing, you need to revisit your work and make some adjustments.

That’s one of the nice things about writing. Nothing is set in stone, and when equipped with time and knowledge, you can change anything.

So back to the blog and the elements that I was referring to.

  1. Passion – yours not the Novels. Write something that you are passionate about. If you’re not passionate, it will come through. What’s important to you?  What are you trying to get across? What do you want to be the takeaway?
  2. Theme – what your reader takes away from reading your story.  Yes, the theme and passion can be the same thing and probably are in a great many cases. Examples of theme would be, belief in yourself or all things work for the good of those who serve the Lord. 
  3. Flaws – your character must have flaws. They don’t have to be exaggerated or grotesque but face it, nobody is perfect. Talk about a boring read. The flaw could be as simple as a lack of confidence or the inability to put the past behind them.  The character doesn’t have confidence,  so the theme would probably be, believe in yourself. Note how they can work hand in hand and build on each other.
  4.  Premise – What if a (flawed character)(encounters some problem) and had to (overcome the flaw) to (solve the problem). You know your story. Fill in the blanks. Does it make sense? Is it enthralling or boring?

One of the things that the agent wrote to me after rejecting my work, was I had a great premise. It was a silver lining to a dark cloud that sprung up after the initial shock of being rejected. And while I thought the passion and theme were there, my characters were not flawed, which means that my passion and theme were probably weak.

Something to think about.

-Jan R

Underlying Elements

Read It All (Revisited)

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know, Leave a comment

I have to admit I’m a hopeless romantic. I just love stories where boy meets girl, you throw in a little conflict (okay a lot), but everything works out in the end, and of course, they live happily ever after.

There’s nothing wrong with romance and wanting the happily ever after, but if you’re only reading one genre (romance, scifi, mystery, horror) you’re limiting yourself.  I never really thought that much about it, until I read a blog on why I should be reading all genres.

From my perspective, I write romance. I need to know what’s out there and what’s selling. How do other romance authors handle the physical and emotional sides of the relationships?

All of these reasons are valid, and I should be reading romance. But you know what? That novel has a lot more than romance in it. At least it had better have, if I want to keep my readers’ attention.

I may be great at developing a romantic relationship between my hero and heroine, but I had better be able to create the mystery and suspense necessary to keep my readers’ turning the page.

Maybe you write sci-fi, but odds are there’s a romance between your two main characters, and no one can explain why the lab assistant is lying on the floor dead, and there’s a  hole in the wall leading into the parking lot.

You can’t just read sci-fi and expect to be a well rounded writer. You might find yourself creating awesome aliens, but lacking when it comes to developing a relationship between the hero and heroine. I think you’re getting the picture.

Reading different genres will make you a stronger writer. You’ll be introduced to new worlds and situations that you would have never experienced if you limited your reading to one genre. Reading different genres will open your mind and encourage you to take risks that you may have never considered. If that’s not enough, reading different genres will also allow you to read as a reader. Instead of focusing on the author’s style, you can simply enjoy the experience of reading 🙂

Hope this helped.

-Jan R

Read It All (Revisited)

From The Heart

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know7 Comments

About a six months ago I wrote a blog on biting the bullet. I had done everything I knew to do to get a novel that I had put years of blood, sweat, and tears into, published. It was a great story. I even had that confirmed by a literary agent, who gave it more attention than it deserved. It was time to get some help.

I had run into a brick wall and placed the piece of work to the side to gather dust. Maybe it was never suppose to get published. Maybe it was just a platform for me to sharpen my writing skills and produce the novel that was screaming to get out. As much as I tried to move on, I kept coming back to my flagship.

I finally turned it over to an editor not knowing what to expect. She started feeding me a couple chapters at a time with revisions and suggestions to make my work more marketable. She cleaned up the numerous structural and grammatical errors that I as well as friends had overlooked.

One thing that I learned through this process, is you can’t write in a vacuum. I produced a great story, but it wasn’t publishable. I couldn’t see the mistakes. I put years into editing, revising, and just trying to do everything myself. I did eventually reach out and pull in a couple of my closest friends, but they didn’t have the trained eye of an editor. They caught quite a bit, but they missed even more.

I should be submitting the story to literary agents again in the next few months. I have to admit, I’m both excited and anxious. But however it goes, if you follow my blog, you will hear about it.

Thanks for your continued support. I hope that the blogs I share help you to avoid some of my mistakes and are worthy of the time put into reading them.

-Jan R

From The Heart