The A, B, C's of Writing

Crafting a novel is more than simply having an idea. The parts of a good story arrive in order, so as the reader enjoys the novel, there’s a logical beginning, middle, and end. A person might say, Writing 101. Yet, I’ve read novels that fail to deliver what should be obvious. I call such novels, 'meanderers.' They get lost in the depths of the story, where they circle around themselves. Sometimes, a meandering novel shows its ugly self in the first few pages. They show the author didn’t consider how to stage the story, so it moves along in a way that keeps the reader interested.  

To avoid that, I build stories in terms of the alphabet. I think of the first letter of my writer’s alphabet as ‘a’ for action. A good story always begins with action. It’s called the ‘hook’ in writer jargon. When I read a novel, if the author engages me right out of the gate with action, I want to turn the pages and see what’s next. Occasionally in place of action, I may elect to use mystery as the hook. In the Golden Goose, I presented the reader with a mystery when a woman shows a letter to a Nazi hunter written by Hitler’s private secretary, Martin Bormann. The letter suggests the war criminal may have safety left Berlin before it fell to the Russians. The letter also suggests where he may have gone. It creates a mystery that should intrigue the reader.

The second letter of the alphabet is ‘B’ or what I call background or basis. The first chapter introduces the main character, whose point of view will guide the reader through the tale, but I believe it’s better to hold off bringing background information and/or basis for the novel until the second chapter, maybe also within the third chapter. It’s not a steadfast rule, but action needs pacing and background information often slows progress. For instance, in The Woman of a Thousand Veils, the reader doesn’t know why the book’s title mentions a woman who adorns herself with colorful scarves until the second chapter. The reason being the first chapter begins with a monumental battle. It’s key to the future of the main character and how he’ll have access in solving the mystery of the woman and her colorful burqa.

The alphabet continues. Step by step, the author leads the reader to the eventual climax. I like to have the ‘X’ be the climax, it allows me ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ for the conclusion. However, each novel I write informs me when the climax should happen. For instance, The Sacrifice’s conclusion is also the climax. It worked best to put them together. The only exception to staging the climax and conclusion at the end of a string of actions and activities is when I plan to write a series. The Cuckoo Bird novels needed conclusions that lead the reader to the next book. In that series, things that happen in book two may not get resolved until book four. I must do a great deal of story planning to space things out over multiple novels. It’s fun for me to leave the reader wondering what happened with the incremental parts of the alphabet that push the story in the middle. As an example, the FBI becomes a problem for the main characters in book three of Cuckoo Bird. The reader doesn’t know how I resolve the character’s problem until book five.

Whether using an analogy of stating the pieces of a story like the alphabet, or some other writer’s mechanism, the fact is, a delightful novel pulls the reader along step by step until the end. All elements along the way must lead toward the conclusion. For instance, in The Woman of a Thousand Veils, the main character must serve the sultan first above all things, but he never takes his eyes off solving the mystery of the woman and her reason for wearing the veils and who she is within the veils. Therefore, the actions of the main character must coincide with his official duties and his desire to solve the mystery, which offers insight into his life as a former slave and what freedom means to him. And her.

Ultimately, the reader is the priority. Whatever method is used to create an entertaining book, the reader is the key to it all. A, B, C, one, two, three, whatever the means, the story must engage the reader. If I’ve learned nothing else from all my projects, write for the reader.