STRUCTURE YOUR NOVEL FIVE WAYS
#1: START WITH A HOOK
The hook pulls the reader into the story. You have about
20-50 pages in a novel. Actually, agents and readers might give you one page,
so make sure the hook is a good one.
#2: INTRODUCE YOUR HERO
Establish your hero early. It might be your POV narrator.
The reader must connect with your hero and other story characters and identify
with them in some universal way. Make certain your hero is flawed in some way
but capable of surprising and startling things.
#3: ESTABLISH THE STAKES
If the hero has nothing to lose, who cares? To keep the
story interesting, make sure the reader understands what's at stake from the
beginning. Make the stakes dramatic and important to the hero. High stakes will
force your hero to do something and move the story forward.
#4: FORESHADOW EVENTS
When revising, be sure to hint of things that come later in
the story. If the reader suspects impending doom or imminent change, he or she
will keep turning pages.
#5: CREATE CONFLICT FOR CHANGE
Story is conflict. Without conflict, there's no change. Nothing
in a story should remain static. It's a character's response to conflict that reveals
his or her character and brings about change in the plot, establishes a
character arc, and perhaps offers a surprising result in the end.
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