Brainstorm Your Novel

To expand a story idea into 100,000 words requires a writer to possess a meticulous attention to detail. Elements within a novel that make up the plot, characters and setting must be combed through and elaborated upon. A writer is the only one who can bring these in-depth details to the reader to create a vivid, imaginary and realistic world, without getting too off-topic.

There are elements every reader expects to find when purchasing a book:

• Characters
• Plot
• Setting
• Dialogue

Then there are the delivery concepts that bring your story to life. Is your story from the perspective hero who is old and possibly on his deathbed considering his life choices by looking into his past? (Ex; Titanic). Or is it told in present tense, as it’s actually happening? (Ex; the Hunger Games) Or is it a humorous perspective on a serious matter? When the writer begins to understand his protagonist’s needs, that’s when the imaginary world becomes real for both the author and the readers.

Timeline

In novel writing, a writer must know what happens in the story. How the events are presented is equally important. Novels like Twilight begin with the introduction of the main character. The reader must know right away who the character is, if the characters are likable or not, if they are good people, bad people, or somewhere in-between. It’s in the character’s personality that a plot begins to develop. The character must be presented with choices, and how the character responds to these choices causes a chain reaction that pushes the plot ahead, and keeps the reader immersed.

Empathy and detail will decide if the buyer wants to continue reading or not. A character, even if he or she is an anti-hero, must have a quality that the readers empathize with. This characteristic must make the readers love him (or her), feel sorry for him, or be relatable somehow. This can be learned through how he or she responds to a particular event, some trouble he or she experienced in the past, a loss of a loved one. The possibilities are limitless. For a better understanding of this empathetic moment, please consult the article Save the Cat.

It’s important to remember, too, that detail is good, but excessive detail of the character’s history or the setting, will bore the reader -especially if these details are irrelevant to the plot. Don’t waste valuable page space to excessively describe a pretty house that doesn’t have anything to do with the plot or the characters. You should be trying to connect your readers to the story and characters. A fascinating beautiful world of giants, towering trees, champagne creeks and pastel skies will bore the reader if you don’t provide empathetic characters or some plot.

The point is, don’t lose yourself in the setting. Spend equal time on creating both characters and plot.

Characters and Plot

A character must know failure and success. A plot can be riveting, edge of your seat, or completely terrifying, but without strong characters, the story will feel lop-sized. Characters will inevitably overshadow the plot, but by how much is up to you -the writer. Creating characters can be difficult for most people. Many writers want their heroic characters to be strong and adventurous, but actually, a hero must have many flaws, worries and a troubled past. Protagonists and heroes need to be frail, well balanced and possess both likable and unlikable qualities in order to be realistic enough for readers to be able to relate to them. Then, once you have created your character, you need to give them something to do. Waiting around for something to happen isn’t going to be very entertaining for your readers no matter how interesting your characters are.

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