Creating the World of the Novel

To begin with here’s an update on our running total of money raised for Medicins sans Frontieres. The current total stands at £693.08. My hopes of reaching £1000 by end of year have suffered something of a blow as I’m unlikely to be able to deliver some workshops that I’d planned due to uncertainty about a second eye operation. C’est la vie. There may be other opportunities. I hope so. In the meantime thank you so much to all my paid subscribers. You continue to make it happen and I’m truly grateful.

If you’re not a paid subscriber, but would like to help us reach the goal of £1000 you can subscribe by clicking the link below. (You can easily limit your subscription by unsubscribing whenever you choose) Single month donations are welcome.

Here is a link to my original post, The Difference Between Doing Something and Doing Nothing is Everything about wanting to do something this year and how that came about.

Well, I have to admit not a great deal of work has been done here in the last couple of weeks. It has been almost too hot to write. It has been too hot to do anything much and it’s been heartbreaking to watch my garden suffer as a result and be reminded of the seriousness of the challenges we face. I have been very grateful for the rain.

Despite the heat I have managed to make some progress on my novella mainly by changing my routines and writing a little in the evening when things have cooled down. I am now 2000 words in, so I am still at the point of creating the world which my characters will inhabit.

How does a novelist create the world of a novel? If you’re a writer interested in the answer to this question, or if you’re a reader who’s read The Silent Women, then you may be interested in the You Tube below where I explore this subject with my editor Lynn Michel

Also at 2000 words in, my characters are beginning to come to life. I know more about them especially as I put words into their mouths.

One of the most important things any writer has to do is to create complex, authentic characters that begin in one place and end in another. That is to say there must be change, transformation of some kind. The events that cause that change are what constitute our story and the reason why we read.

As writers we have to hook our readers on our characters. Readers have to care. They may not always like the character but they have to feel for them. Without feeling there can be no meaningful change.

There is always conflict in character development, but it can be subtle and nuanced. Stories don’t have to be elaborate, convoluted or difficult. The most elegant storylines are often simplest, and with a novella - longer than a short story but shorter than a novel generally falling between 20,000 and 50,000 words - the story often features a single central conflict and a streamlined plot. Nevertheless readers must engage with our characters. It’s crucial to the success of our story.

I recently read a novella submission by a very talented writer where I was forced to conclude that no matter how good the writing was I couldn’t engage with or care about the protagonist and so for me it was unsuccessful.

As it happens, something this novella and other submissions I’ve read lacked was dialogue.

Here is Walter Mosley on dialogue in the novel

‘Every time characters in your novel speak, they should be:

1 - ‘Telling us something about themselves.’ This might merely be that they are irritable or sad, we understand this by their tone, the odd word.

2 - ‘Conveying information that may advance the storyline or plot.’

3 - ‘Adding to the music or the mood of the scene story or novel.’

4 - ‘Giving us a scene from a different point of view especially if the character who is speaking is not directly connected to the narrative voice.’

5 - ‘Giving the novel a pedestrian feel.’ By which he means the language of the dialogue should be ordinary and prosaic. Not overly formal.

If this seems daunting, I understand. It’s a tall order and dialogue is where many writers who are just starting out fall down. It is however worth remembering that dialogue creates space and is one of the things that readers rarely skip, that’s how important it is. My top tip for improving your dialogue is to notice what works when you’re reading other writers and you’ll find some of the best dialogue in good crime fiction.

Still on the subject of creating good characters and good dialogue, as well as a terrific sense of place and time, though it’s early days, so far I’m very much enjoying, Greater Sins, by Gabrielle Griffiths.

Lately, I’ve had rather a lean time when it comes to finding good fiction to read so if you have any recommendations please do put them in the comments below.

Likewise if you have any suggestions of ways I can add to our MSF total - workshops you might be interested in, consultations or anything else that comes to mind please do contact me so I can consider them

As always thanks for reading

and thank you for your support

Avril x