novel completion plan

There is a rhyme and reason to story building and meaningful content development. A year can seem like a long time. However, when you consider the life changing effects of a well written novel on a reader it becomes critical.

The Intensity and concentration necessary for well written development shown indicates the first 6 months entails most of the work. Later in the year as we move to completion it gets easier. Now your work moves beyond Hemingway's disparaging opinion of a first draft to the pleasure of fine-tuning and revising your work. It's more easy to work with revising a model that's out there.

1. First is the basic premise. Much of the time a novelist puts this information in a half chapter sized forward. In other instances like short stories this information can be fitted on the back or inside cover of the relevant book.

2. Story formulation follows. Often the who, what, when, where how and description of progress is first defined at this stage.

3. A synopsis of facts or opinions developed so far is next worked on. It begins with the basic plot and then moves on to the movers of the story, the characters involved.

4. Setting the scene and then the theme. This gives your novel a unique brand of action. The board is set and the characters are ready to march on it like chess pieces.

5. Drafts. There are 3 drafts to every literary work. First where we get through the Hemingway challenge, revised and final. Here the job intensity becomes corrective for the most part. The process becomes enjoyable as you are in charge of your own work!

6. Final wrap ups and adjustments. Elevating your victorious protagonist. Killing your darlings for effect. Incarcerating and/or containing your antagonists, and putting issues to rest in a way that answers all questions and settles mysteries.

7. If you feel inclined setting the stage for a continuation novel. Many novels lend well to serialization especially if a continuous message can be driven in for maximum effect on the reader.

A different style of persuasion is required in commercial or copywiting literature. I will deal more with this in future posts.