This is the first piece of a larger puzzle I intend to put together on the craft of writing. I do not intend, by writing this, to try and pronounce myself as an expert by any means. What I do intend to accomplish with these little posts is something helpful for writers in all stages of the game. This particular piece is more for the new writer. Many writers often feel very insecure when they first begin to seek out the wheels and cogs that come together to make good writing. And often they have no idea where to look for answers. This is my attempt to help some of them out. The following are some of the most basic elements of what makes a good fictional story. I would be stupid to assume I’ve covered them all. But hopefully I’ve covered the most important to start with. Feel free to comment if you feel I’ve left any out.
Plot: Plot = story. Something has to happen. And if you hope to have any chance of keeping any readers, that something should probably be interesting. A family of four sitting and watching TV or anybody’s daily routine where nothing out of the ordinary or nothing that causes the character any tension happens does not designate a plot. Some kind of tension is necessary, be it mysterious tension, romantic tension, daily life tension, horrific tension, etc. All good fiction that keeps readers reading requires some kind of tension to pull them along. And the character has to work toward resolving that tension in order to give a plot its most basic foundation.
Prose: Well written, clean, inviting, and readable prose (or writing). I suppose you could say “well written” speaks for itself, but I’d be inclined to disagree. It takes some writers years to learn modern techniques of good writing. And there are a lot of reasons for this.
1. Not everyone agrees on what is good writing. Styles are often different. So while there may be a predominant mainstream when it comes to what sells popular fiction, that example no more simplifies defining good writing than popular cinema simplifies defining good film-making. Tastes vary.
2. Due to the complexity and nature of subjectivity to the craft, many great writers refuse to publicly pass on what they have learned while many other writers tackle the subject either prematurely or from very particular subjective points of view. To be clear: I would go as far as to say that there is no book on earth that can teach you, from point A to Z, exactly how to write well. Many books will give you hints and clues, and many authors will tell you what works for them, but no two writers are exactly the same and neither will their methods be. That’s not to say there aren’t good teachers or good books out there. There are, but no one can learn to write well by merely reading or learning about it. It takes an interactive approach that combines learning and doing.
3. Which brings us to number three. Learning to write well is a huge commitment that requires a great amount of determination and willingness to experiment as well as an insatiable thirst for reading and writing. Many people who decide one day, “Hey, I want to be a writer,” will never have enough determination to make the kind of commitment to the craft that is required.
The Hook: The Hook is the first sentence or group of sentences of your story, novella, or novel when crafted to hook the reader. Not all great books have a hook within the first paragraph per se and I would go as far as to say a hook is not always necessary. Really great writers are able to hook most of their readers purely through the power of their prose, voice, or characters. But many will argue with me, and understandably so, that today’s reader is easily distracted and has far too many choices on their real or virtual bookshelf to risk losing them on the first page. And this is true. Many readers—myself included—get distracted and jump from book to book.
