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This week: Three Rules Edited by: Annette  
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Three Rules
Would you like to know the three rules to write a novel?
If everything in life was this easy.
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As you can tell by the image, there are no three rules to write a novel. If it was that easy, all novels would be the same.
There are a few ways that make novels similar. It's not quite clear whom the quote is attributed to, but it was once said that there are only two plots in all of literature:
1) A person goes on a journey.
2) A stranger comes to town.
Going by this distinction, you can at least decide whether your story involves a journey or a stranger.
Now that you decided if someone arrives or leaves, you can use Freytag's Pyramid to help you get through novel writing as a little bit of a guideline.
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Exposition:
Introduce the reader to your character and the setting. In some epic books, this is a full-on information dump with several pages of passive descriptions of the landscape and the different factions. In a modern novel, you want to introduce the reader to your world and setting through the actions of your characters. Start off by showing the main or a supporting character do something active and use his/her interactions to introduce your world.
In the first Harry Potter book, this phase is everything that happens at the Dursley house until they flee their home to stay in a shack on a wind-swept island.
Inciting Incident:
This is the event that kicks off the story. With this event, the book starts for real.
Harry Potter's inciting incident is when Hagrid breaks in the door to the shack on the island and tells him that he is a wizard. Harry's life is changed from one instant to the next.
Rising Action:
The main character meets and overcomes a number of obstacles and difficulties.
In Harry Potter's case, meeting all the other wizards and witches, dealing with a bully, and finding out about Voldemort constitute those obstacles.
Climax:
The main battle of the plot happens here. Factions are clearly defined. The hero either wins or loses, discovers what he searched for, or has another big deciding event happen.
The climax in the first Harry Potter book is when he fights Professor Quirrel in the dungeon and finds out that Voldemort was living a half-life on the back of Professor Quirrel's head. They fight, Harry wins, Quirrel disintegrates, Voldemort zips off in fog/dust form.
Denouement (falling action):
Everything learned during the rising action part and the climax gets explained. Loose story strands get wrapped up.
Harry Potter wakes up in the hospital wing surrounded by his friends. The school year is nearly over and life goes back to normal.
Resolution:
During the resolution, which is not always written out, the hero finds out remaining secrets.
Harry Potter learns from Professor Dumbledore that he was able to fight and destroy Professor Quirrel because of the spell his mother put on him when she gave her life for his.
As you see, there are no three simple rules to follow. That would be like snake oil. But there are definitely some decision-making hints along the way that you can use to give your novel structure and meet readers' expectations.
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For my last newsletter "Reviews: A Main Pillar of Writing.Com" , I got the following responses:
PartyBee  wrote: Great advice on how to handle a critical review. Thanks for going over the different reviews.
Thank you for the kind words. That is a nice review of my newsletter! 
Quick-Quill  wrote: There was no payment on my side. I get paid when people buy the book. I think they make more than I do because I'm doing all the work and someone's getting paid. I bought my own PB at a hefty price and they get the the benefit of my buying my own book. Its published and I have very happy readers. I think close to 500 now. For 1.7 years I'm happy its doing that good.
This was a follow up to a conversation started in the comment section of my last For Authors Newsletter. I am glad that you have many happy readers. Here's to continued success.
GaelicQueen  wrote: Good information in this newsletter. I've been the recipient of some great reviews and a couple of less than help commentaries. But, that hasn't stopped me from writing more and hopefully, improving. WDC rocks!
Yes, WDC does rock! 
Zeke  wrote: I do at least five reviews every day. I enjoy reading the works of writers here and always try to make constructive comments. I also like the responses I get.
Zeke
That's great! Reviewing many other writers has helped me immensely in my own writing and should do the same for you.
Monty  wrote: Great advice on reviewing and worded to be a pleasant read.
What a kind assessment of my newsletter. Thank you so much.
Deborah  wrote: Thanks for this post. But I have a question to ask, is WDC only for writing stories and poetry? What of other things like writing articles, journals or maybe academic writing, does WDC have people who can review these forms of writing? Thanks once again.
You can write anything you want and anyone here can give you an opinion on that writing. However, this is not an academic site. Only a few members have English degrees and you wouldn't be able to get peer reviews for academic writing unless you found someone specifically. Most people will be able to tell you if your writing made sense and if they found it easy to read.
tebbuch  wrote: For any writers in the south of England, I have been on two excellent courses at a major printers in the area where I live. It would seem that to get the best you have to aim high and tour the printers before you make the decision.
Yes. Due diligence. Always. Never allow anyone to make off with your creation or earn off of it unless they are real and playing fair. |
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For Authors: February 22, 2017 Issue [#8139]
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