Writing books seem to give less attention to endings than they do to other elements of fiction. Yet a satisfying ending is a necessity. An unsatisfying ending will produce negative reviews, eliminate word-of-mouth referrals, and ruin your chances of getting repeat readers. Nobody reads a mystery to get to the …
Tag: Elements of Fiction
Don’t leave readers hanging off a cliff
Writers of series books have gotten into an ugly habit lately. They leave readers hanging, either by giving them a cliffhanger or just arbitrarily picking a stopping point for one book. You can tell by some of the one- and two-star reviews on Amazon that readers are sick of this …
Answer story questions before you get to the end
When we first started talking about plot, I mentioned the “story problem” or “major dramatic question.” A good story will raise multiple questions. They don’t all need to be—in fact, shouldn’t be—answered at once, but they do need to be answered for the ending to be satisfying. We’ll talk more …
Use a light hand with your novel’s theme
There’s a fine line between giving your novel a theme, delivering a message, and just being didactic. I’ll never tell you these things have no place in your book, because many great books have them. But when you do them, you must first of all embed them in an engaging …
For every plant, there must be a payoff
This maxim is best remembered in the words of Anton Chekhov, who gave the advice several times and in different ways, one of which is this: If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely …
Make subplots integral to the story
We’re still working on the Plot section of the Elements of Fiction Editing Checklist. ☐ Subplots arise organically and make sense as they unfold, not only in light of the ending. Done right, subplots add richness and depth to a novel. They give us a chance to see characters in different …
Avoid using coincidences to move plot
When you’re escalating the stakes and getting your protagonists into deeper and deeper trouble, a great principle to keep in mind is this one from the “Pixar Rules:” ☐ Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating. Authors of yore used …
Use surprise in your story, but realistically
Last time, I noted that stories about characters who never fail can become boring. One of the ways to keep things interesting—in addition to giving your characters the occasional setback—is with unexpected plot turns. Hence this checklist item: ☐ The plot contains elements of surprise. On the one hand, readers, …
Escalate the stakes to engage the reader
We noted before that the stakes for the protagonist should be stated early. In the best stories, though, the stakes will change as the story develops. The stakes get higher—at the outset, the heroine might have a promotion on the line, and by midway through her job, and by the …
Story tension doesn’t mean everyone fights
Last time, I noted that tension is one of the key elements that keeps readers turning pages. One mistake new writers make is confusing conflict with tension. Conflict is opposition—it’s a fight. When the hero wants one thing, and the villain wants the opposite, that’s conflict. Tension is strain—a stretching, …