A novel is not just a collection of 33 letters and a handful of punctuation marks. It has a purpose - to make the reader plunge into the world created by the author, to feel things, places and worlds that he did not know about. Kindle in the reader a thirst to find out what will happen next, make him turn the page and find that reading the novel not only brought pleasure, but made him change a little and opened something new for him.
The most popular genres of literature
How to start writing? Before you sit down to write a novel, the author must determine: for whom does he want to write? Who will be his readers? What interests them and what is most read today? Numerous polls have shown that today the most widely read genres are love affairs, science fiction, detective stories and classics.
Love affairs
As a rule, most of them are read by women who see in their life only washing, cleaning, work, the kitchen, and the forever busy husband. They need romance, beauty. They need beautiful names of heroes, strong characters, memorable places. They will not read about plumbing love for a cook.
But if the author dares to talk about this, then he needs to think about how to captivate his readers - to think over a touching plot. Understand how to write love scenes in a novel so that the most unattractive at first glance the hero “plays”, stands out. Throughout the work, note how the feelings of the heroes changed them, through what difficulties they had to go through to prove or show their love.
Fantasy
The fantasy genre is mainly preferred by teenagers or computer geniuses. In terms of genre diversity, there is where to turn around. It can be an adventure story with incredible decorations: transformations and unusual tricks, unusual places and technical “bells and whistles”.
The fantastic genre is good because here you can come up with a name that will intrigue the reader, create a fascinating story, taking as a basis a folk tale with its monsters, wizards and brave knights or cyber-fiction with its electronic innovations.
Fantasy is a rather popular genre because there is an unlimited “field of activity” for the author. And how to write a fantasy novel, in what vein, depends only on his imagination. The main set of science fiction is the main character, the subject of his love, powerful patrons or associates. And of course, the opposing side: the main villain is treacherous and invincible.
Detectives
Novels of this genre have always read, are reading and will be reading. Why are they popular? First of all, the reader wants to have fun, to escape from reality. He likes to solve the crime like a rebus. The beginning of the novel is a puzzle that baffles you. And the author plays: hides evidence, leads to suspicion of a completely innocent character who behaves as if he is a criminal.
And the reader often goes the wrong way, his guesses are wrong. As a rule, the detective’s hero - the detective - surpasses the reader in quick wits and gracefully reveals the crime. To write a detective story, one puzzle, of course, is not enough. How to learn to write novels in the genre of detective? Firstly, the reader is interested in following the thoughts of the heroes, pursuing the criminal with the detective and substantiating guesses and suspicions.
The punishment of the villain is also an important detail, the reader enjoys the sight of the criminal who has received his deserts. Often the reader identifies himself with the main character, gets used to his role and increases his own significance. A well-written detective makes him confident in the reality of what is happening. And he continues to enter the role of detective again and again, reading one novel after another.
Classic
Great creations are impossible not to know. Classical literature is relevant at all times. Of course, there is no need to create a new “War and Peace”. How to write a novel that will conquer more than a dozen readers? Fill it with deep meaning, raise global urgent problems, based on eternal values. Such a work will not leave anyone indifferent, it will be interesting at all times and will be beneficial.
Exciting formula
In fact, what has not yet been written is quite a lot. It is important to come up with something original, unusual. In a word, his own. There is no general scheme for writing a novel. Yes, and never was. Therefore, there is no universal formula for how to write best-selling novels. But there’s no need to reinvent the wheel either. It’s enough for a novice master to take advantage of the general structure: the plot and composition.
In a good work, everything is logically connected: one action (event) follows from another, and everything that has nothing to do with it is removed. The basic principle is consistent, logically constructed actions of heroes. This is the plot of the work. Then you need to decide on the plot elements. What needs to be carefully considered before writing a novel?
- Exposition - characters, their relationships, time and place of action.
- An omen - hints, any signs or hints, revealing the further development of the plot.
- A tie is an important element of any work. This event, which develops, provokes conflict.
- Conflict is the basis of any work. What can underlie the conflict? A person (character) is against a person or against himself. A hero against society or nature. Man versus supernatural or technology.
- Rising action is an important condition for writing a novel that keeps the reader in constant tension. It is necessary to create a chain of events that originate from the conflict. Gradually, the action increases and reaches a peak.
- The crisis is the climax. The crisis begins immediately before the climax or simultaneously with it. This is exactly the moment when the warring parties clash, that is, meet face to face.
- The climax is the most significant moment in the novel. The most interesting, since the hero clenches his teeth and goes to the end or breaks and loses.
- Descending actions are events or actions of heroes that lead to a denouement.
- Decoupling - conflict resolution. The hero wins or reaches his goal, remains with nothing or even dies.
How to write a novel
The rules for creating the plot highlight one element - the crisis. As stated above, this is the climax in the novel. It is this moment that highlights the work, makes it exciting. What is characteristic of him? Firstly, the crisis reflects the genre of the work.
Secondly, he must literally turn the hero’s life around, disrupt the natural course of his life, change it for the worse. This point requires special attention of the author, so the whole book, the entire planned volume of the work, should go to overcome the consequences of the crisis. Otherwise, short novels are obtained that do not fully reveal the idea of the work.
Thirdly, the crisis should capture the author himself. Only in this case the book will captivate and the reader will not fall asleep in the middle of the novel. After the author has decided on the crisis, it is necessary to decide what the hero is ready to do to overcome it, what he will do to achieve his goal. He must be sure that this is the only possible way out of this situation. This will be the main goal of the hero.
Four components of the crisis
Inventing the plot, leading the character to the crisis, in no case do not have to rush. This is a kind of foundation of the work. And the author has to build on it. A poorly thought-out plan will collapse, and a masterfully created, smart tie will only give energy and strength, which help create full-fledged masterpieces, and not half-incomplete, short novels.
Possession and deliverance
The subject of possession (deliverance) can be a person, idea, feeling, information. Trying to resolve the crisis, the character must achieve this. For example, a girl wants to get married, but her relatives in every way prevent this. And she is trying to get rid of their oppression. Or the father is looking for a kidnapped child. The desire to find your child is so strong that no obstacles will stop him.
Tragic consequences
The hero could not achieve his goal, the consequences are terrible - they completely destroy his life. It is not so important how to start writing, and most importantly, to make it clear to the reader that much is at stake here. To give a feeling, to relive with the heroes all the tragedy of the situation, fear. In a word, drag out the reader, endow the characters with the feelings inherent in every person. Create a situation that just needs to be resolved. The girl, unable to overcome the oppression of the family, will remain unhappy. The father, having failed to save the child, will lose him.
High motivation
This is what always attracts the reader. If the author of the work gives his hero at least one worthy motivation to achieve the goal, readers will empathize with him, admire and the hero’s motives will find a response in their heart. What high motivations are worth reading? It can be a sense of duty, love, dignity, honor. Partnership, justice, patriotism often resonate with readers. Repentance and self-esteem are worthy, noble impulses.
It is important to highlight strengths. For example, an investigator, revealing a crime, is guided by a sense of duty. A father saving a child is guided by love. Softer - generosity or kindness - will not impress the reader properly. The negative aspects should be noted - envy, anger, hatred, pride, greed, lust.
These features usually endow antiheroes. Young writers often miss this point: creating a strong character with negative motives is quite difficult. Perhaps the only negative motivation that can grab the reader’s attention is revenge. When the hero is left with no choice and the only way to achieve justice is revenge.
Overcoming obstacles
And the last thing a hero has to do in order to achieve his goal is to overcome obstacles. The author needs to create insurmountable obstacles. It seems that the goal is unattainable. To review the created crisis, how deep and insurmountable it is. If necessary, the crisis can be aggravated: worsen the situation, make it wider, swap some elements or place of action.
Conflict Resolution
Why is plotting important? Because during the existence of literature a certain scheme of influence on the reader has been developed. If the novel does not fit into it, it will be lethargic and illogical. In voluminous works with several storylines, all of the above elements are repeated repeatedly and are subject to these rules for plot construction.
In addition, building a chain of events, the transition from complications to conflict should be believable. How to write a novel that meets these requirements? The character must have serious reasons to do one way or another. The denouement, the end of the conflict is the result of the actions of the hero of the work. In every scene, logic and common sense are needed. The reader will feel cheated if the character is just lucky. He will respect the characters only if they deserve it - they did something worthy.
Deviation from the rules
The author wants to deviate from generally accepted rules, but does not know how? Writing thrash style novels is now a pretty trendy direction. In such a work, the author deviates from the rules. He is not constrained by literary forms. It is just a stream of consciousness, relaxation, pieces of thoughts. Nevertheless, there should be an interesting storyline. There should be elements that catch the reader: humor, mood, demon, rampant craziness, etc. That will shake the reader.
You can write a work with an exciting plot, unusual places and actions that are not characteristic of the modern world if you plunge into history. Exactly. The history of any country, city, famous battle or biography of a famous person is interesting at all times. How to write a historical novel? It is possible to create a masterpiece worthy of attention, bearing historical value, only by thoroughly studying the facts and evidence. Readers are attentive to the little things.
In order to recreate the story, it is necessary to study the period of time in which the author wants to place his characters. Pay attention to clothes, homes, furnishings, utensils, habits, moral values of that period. Literally plunge at that time. Build a storyline, weave intriguing heroes, endow them with high goals.
Title
How to come up with a book title - ingenious, memorable? Read the book and think about its idea. Think of names that match the main message or the main emotions that your romance evokes. Write out your favorite phrases from the book. Maybe they will become the title of the work. Consider naming a novel after a protagonist. This is a fairly common practice. Mysterious titles intrigue the reader who is looking for something unusual. At the same time, the title should give enough information about the subject of the book, but not too much for the reader to remain interested. Be original. Come up with a name that will stand out from the mass of the likes.
The most important thing is not to be scared if it turns out that an affair with that name already exists. There are still more readers. First of all, books become famous, whose authors were able to come up with a good name, put together ideas, thoughts, facts and create an exciting, logically structured plot.