Category: Writing

Dialogue, Pace, and Genre

The genre of a novel affects its pace, which in turn changes the way the dialogue is written.

I saw these effects recently in how members of my book group reacted to our latest book choice. I felt impatient with the dialogue. In fact, I skimmed most of it. To me, the pace was too slow. Not enough happened (in the dialogue or in the book as a whole).

Other members of the book group loved the dialogue. And an editorial review praised the novel, Lucinda Riley’s The Seven Sisters, as a page-turner.

Not only that, the series has been optioned for a television miniseries deal.

So what’s going on?

Genre And Pacing

I’m a fan of mystery, suspense, and thrillers. Those are the genres I read the most, and all the fiction I write falls at least loosely under those umbrellas.

The plots in these types of books move fast.

Amazon lists The Seven Sisters under the genres of Historical Fiction (with a sub-category of 20th-Century Historical Romance) and Women’s Fiction.

Historical and women’s fiction both usually focus on describing and developing relationships among the characters. And historical fiction typically includes detailed descriptions of settings and extensive historical context (and sometimes real historical events).

For those reasons, such books are often called “sweeping” or “epic” — as is The Seven Sisters in reviews.

While pacing varies among books of the same genre, the quietest, most cerebral mystery or suspense novel almost always moves more quickly, and is more plot driven, then the fastest historical fiction novel.

Dialogue reflects these genre differences.

A Tale Of Two Books

The first conversations that appear in the two books I talk about below illustrate these differences in pacing and dialogue.

Phantom Prey Seven Sisters
In The Seven Sisters, Marina (“Ma”), the housekeeper who raised six daughters, calls to tell the protagonist, Maia, that her father died.

In Phantom Prey, by one of my favorite suspense authors, John Sandford, a woman named Fran goes into her house and finds blood. She calls the emergency police line to report it.

The dialogue (minus any description or other text around it) for each book is below:

The Seven Sisters

Maia: Hello, Ma, how are you?

Ma: Maia, I…

Maia: What is it?

Ma: There’s no other way to tell you this, but your father had a heart attack here at home yesterday afternoon, and in the early hours of this morning, he… passed away.

(Silence)

Ma: You are the first of the sisters I’ve told, Maia, as you are the oldest. And I wanted to ask you whether you would prefer to tell the rest of your sisters yourself, or leave it to me.

Maia: I…

Ma: Maia, please, tell me you are all right. This really is the most dreadful phone call I’ve ever had to make, but what else could I do? God only knows how the other girls are going to take it.

Phantom Prey

Operator: Is this an emergency?

Fran: There’s blood in my house.

Operator: Are you in danger?

Fran: No, I don’t… I don’t…

Operator: Is this Mrs. Austin?

Fran: Yes. I just came home.

Operator: Go someplace safe, close by.

Fran: I need the police.

Operator: We are already on the way. Officers will be there in about a minute. Are you safe?

Fran: I, uh…don’t know. Tell them….Tell them I’m going to the garage. I’m going to lock myself in the car. The garage door is up.

Both conversations convey tragedy and a certain amount of mystery. Also, the use of ellipses, “uh,” and repetition show us that that Fran and Maia are confused and in shock.

But word usage, content, and references to physical action all reflect the differences in the genres, as I talk about below.

Back Story, Action, Language

How much back story we get and how much action is suggested vary widely.

In Phantom Prey:

  • The operator expresses concern that Fran may be in immediate physical danger.
  • The dialogue includes the actions Fran will take to be sure she’s safe.
  • The conversation lacks any character back story. (There is some in the surrounding text, but not much.) We don’t learn anything about the operator. We don’t know if Fran has siblings or children.
  • Fran and the operator don’t have a pre-existing relationship.

The main questions the dialogue raises are (1) what happened that led to the blood in the house and (2) whether Fran will be physically safe.

In The Seven Sisters:

  • There’s no immediate physical danger.
  • No physical action is discussed.
  • Back story is conveyed, including that Maia is the oldest child and has multiple sisters.
  • Ma and Maia have a long relationship, as Ma raised Maia and her sisters.

The main questions the dialogue raises are (1) how Maia will deal with this loss and (2) how it will affect her sisters.

The number of syllables, words, and lines in each dialogue section also reflect pacing differences in the genres.

In Phantom Prey, each character’s dialogue usually takes up a line or less on the page. The longest speech above is two sentences.

The words themselves also are short. Most are one syllable. And many sentences consist of only a few words.

The sentences in The Seven Sisters are longer and more complex. Ma often uses complete sentences, speaks in formal language, and includes back story that Maia already knows, but the reader doesn’t.

Ma’s dialogue also often consists of three lines (and sentences).

These differences account for why I found the dialogue in The Seven Sisters slow but my friends who read historical fiction were quite comfortable with it. They want to get that back story, and understand those complex relationships, early on.

If getting that information makes the dialogue sound less realistic and means we wait longer to find out what happens, that’s okay. It’s more important to delve in depth into the relationships.

I want to know what happens. Character and relationships matter, too, but I like both to be revealed through action and plot.

How Should You Write Your Dialogue?

The best way to hone your dialogue is to read widely in the genre of the type of book you plan to write.

You don’t need to mimic the style of your favorite author (though sometimes that can be helpful as an exercise). But reading and studying the dialogue of your genre will help you understand what readers expect.

That way, you’ll be aware if you’re departing significantly from your genre.

You’ll be prepared if some readers turn away because of it. Other readers, however, may love the way you shake up genre conventions.

That’s all for today. Until next Friday, when I’ll talk about how character influences dialogue (using examples from the same two books) —

L.M. Lilly

P.S. For tips on writing realistic-sounding dialogue, check out 3 Things To Leave Out Of Your Dialogue.

One-Year Novelist Goes Wide

This summer I decided make my guide for those who want to a write a novel in a year available on multiple ebook platforms.

In other words, I’m opting for wide digital distribution rather than keeping the book in the Kindle Unlimited program.

(Until now, it’s only been available for Kindle or in a workbook edition.)

A Novel In A Year

Some writers pen and publish multiple novels per year. If you’re where I was for most of my career, though, you’re fitting writing in around other significant responsibilities or work.

With that kind of schedule, finishing a novel in a year is a big achievement.

But it’s a doable one. The One-Year Novelist aims to help you write a novel in a year without shortchanging other important parts of life.

Customize To Fit Your Writing Style Or Schedule

The book breaks down the steps from idea to a finished draft on a week-by-week basis. But it’s not one-size-fits-all.

Instead, it’s adjustable so it works for your life or way of writing.

For example, if you’ve already plotted your novel, or you’d rather start writing without planning first, you can skip right to the sections on writing the draft. (Though I suggest at least skimming the plotting section as it may help you figure out where you want to go.)

You can also go through the weeks more quickly or slowly if you want to finish faster or you feel you need more time.

Finally, breaks are built in: Times to catch your breath, catch up on other things, or reward yourself for a job well done.

 The workbook edition is available on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases made through this site, but that doesn’t add any cost to the buyer.

A Boost When You Need It

On the subject of rewards, The One-Year Novelist includes more than a plot framework or step-by-step writing process.

It also includes quick exercises to help you stay motivated and meet your goals. And it encourages you to reward yourself when you reach a milestone.

All are designed to help you stay on track and feel good about your writing.

In short, the One-Year Novelist is for you if:

  • You have a great idea for a novel and aren’t sure you have time to write it
  • You’ve started a novel and want help getting to the finish line
  • You’ve written novels before but are looking for a way to streamline your process

Get started by ordering the workbook edition today or downloading the ebook edition:

Kindle
Kobo
Nook
Apple
Google Play

That’s all for today. Until next Friday when we’ll talk about things to beware of when you change the prices of your books–

L.M. Lilly

P.S. For more on offering your books wide or exclusive to Amazon, you may want to check out Marketing Your Novel: Wide vs. Exclusive.

A Podcast That Could Help You Start Your Novel

When you start your novel, ideally your first chapter will do some or all of these things:

  • Open With Conflict
  • Signal The Genre
  • Introduce Compelling Characters
  • Raise Story Questions
  • Provide The Necessary Backstory/Exposition

You can read more about some techniques for doing so in Writing The First Lines Of Your Novel.

I also recently found a fun podcast that can help you figure out how to do this.

What The Audience Wants

I’ve always loved learning about story construction by taking apart films and novels that work or don’t work for me. It’s part of why I love seeing movies with other writers.

Finally A Podcast does something similar with TV series, but from an audience perspective.

So far as I know, the hosts aren’t writers. To me, that makes their insight more valuable. They’re responding as audience members, not story creators.

As a writer, my first goal is for my audience (readers) to be engaged enough with my novels to keep reading and to return to my work again and again.

The Beginning And The End

The two hosts are brothers. They start by watching the pilot of a TV show they’ve never seen and share their insights.

Their reactions include what they think the show is about, how they feel about the characters, whether they find the conflicts compelling, what they understand and don’t about the story, and where they think the story will go.

On the story prediction side, they often guess at which characters will become romantically involved and which might die.

After doing that, they watch the finale of the show, skipping everything in between.

Along with a guest who knows the whole series, the hosts talk about what surprised them, whether their initial take was accurate, and whether they recommend the show.

Helping You Start Your Novel

I find this show so helpful for thinking about starting my stories. It’s most useful to me when the hosts talk about a series I know and love. (I’ve listened to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Mad Men episodes, for instance.)

Seeing what they don’t get about the show from the pilot is particularly striking.

It brings home to me that what might be obvious to the writer or to someone already excited about the show (maybe because a friend recommended it) could be completely unclear to a brand new viewer.

Also, when predictions are accurate, it highlights examples of excellent foreshadowing and character development.

So far, I see only twenty episodes, the last one in late 2018. It’s unclear whether Finally A Podcast will continue. But I strongly suggest checking out the existing episode list.

It’s a wonderful, fun way to examine what works and doesn’t at the beginning of a long-form story.

That’s all for this week. Until next Friday, when The One-Year Novelist goes wide.

L.M. Lilly

Extreme Productivity (Part 4 – Less Stress)

Lowering stress is one reason I transitioned from practicing law full-time to writing full-time. But the path to a successful independent author business is less clearly defined than the one for building a law practice.

As a result of that lack of clarity, my list of things to do (or that I “should” be doing) sometimes seems endless.

Which is why I’ve been writing about a step I learned from Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours. That step is to write down next to each task on your calendar what your purpose is in doing it.

This is my fourth and the last article on the topic.

But it might be the most important one because stress has so much to do with our happiness and health.

Not Knowing What Works

The more articles I read, podcasts I listen to, and authors I talk to the more possible paths to success (or lack thereof) I find.

Unfortunately, a strategy that works for one author might not work for me.

For example, if a romance author who publishes a book a month earns a lot of royalties by running Amazon ads, that doesn’t mean my new mystery/suspense series will benefit from the same approach. Not only is it a different genre, I’ve only written 2 novels in the series so far. In addition, right now I’m still aspiring to publish a novel every six months, let alone one per month.

To add to the difficulty of deciding whether to adopt another author’s strategy, it’s not always easy to tell how well a particular book or set of books is selling.

A book that ranks in the Top 5,000 on Amazon regularly is probably selling well on that platform. A different book that rarely ranks above 40,000 on Amazon might, however, be earning its author more money.

How?

If the book is sold on multiple platforms in addition to Amazon (such as Kobo and Apple), and in multiple formats (paperback, hardback, e-book, audiobook), and the Top 5,000 book is sold only for Kindle, the lower-ranked booked may earn more money overall.

Because of these differences, comparing ourselves to another author won’t always help us figure out which tasks will help us.

Comparison Shopping For Less Stress

As I wrote about last week, noting the purpose of each task when you add it to your calendar helps eliminate unnecessary tasks. Taking the unnecessary items off the To Do list helps with stress management right there.

But it also lowers stress in another way.

By adding a purpose, we are grouping the tasks in a logical way. Now instead of choosing 2 or 3 tasks to do in an afternoon out of a list of 50 that serve multiple purposes, we’re choosing among the smaller number of tasks all intended to accomplish the same purpose.

(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made through this site, but that doesn’t add any cost to the buyer.) 

That makes it a lot easier to compare one task to another and decide which one is most worth doing.

To use a shopping analogy, I’m deciding which fruit to buy among a handful of oranges, apples, and pears rather than which food to buy from the whole grocery store.

What Works Best

Let’s say my purpose in writing this article about stress management is to encourage readers to buy my most recent nonfiction release, Happiness, Anxiety, and Writing: Using Your Creativity To Live A Calmer, Happier Life. (While I’m happy if you check it out, that’s not the purpose. My goal is to connect with other writers by providing useful content.) Once I define that purpose I can now compare to everything else on my task list that might increase sales of that book.

Based on how much time or money each task would cost, I can decide which is the most worth doing.

For instance, if it takes me three hours to write an article, it might make more sense to instead run a sale on the book and spend an extra $35 advertising it.

Which one I choose will depend in part on whether I have more time than money, what I enjoy doing, and whether the article (or the ad) might serve more than one purpose.

An added plus of comparing similar tasks is that it’s easier to decide afterward which was more effective. In the beginning, I might try both of the above approaches on different weeks. I can then compare the sales of the book and decide which task resulted in more sales.

When I didn’t group tasks by purpose, I was less likely to check my results–because often I didn’t know what I’d been aiming for.

Knowing When To Stop Working

To bring this article back to feeling less stress, comparing similar tasks helps me choose which ones to do, but that’s not the only benefit. It also helps me feel I have accomplished something when I complete each item on my list.

Before, no matter how much I did or how many items I crossed off, I always ended the day feeling uncertain whether I had moved toward my goals or not. That question often led me to do just one more thing.

Or, if I did stop working for the day, I kept thinking I should have done something more.

Now when I finish the items I’ve put into my calendar, I feel that my day is finished. I’m more able to relax and so have less stress.

That’s because even if each task doesn’t turn out to move me toward my goal, I know how to evaluate whether it was helpful or not. So at least in the future I’ll be able to choose more valuable tasks.

Eventually, everything on my calendar will help me reach my goals.

That’s all for today. Until next Friday, when I’ll talk about a podcast I recently discovered. It’s not about writing, but it nonetheless could help you figure out by example what’s working and not as you start your novel —

L.M. Lilly

Extreme Productivity (Part 3 – Work Less, Achieve More)

Is it possible to work less and get more done?

Writing what I aim to accomplish next to each task in my calendar (learned from Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours by Robert C. Pozen) is helping me do just that.

Creating The To Do List

Most of us who create To Do lists or include tasks on a calendar every day do it because it helps us get things done. In addition to keeping me on track, crossing something off a list gives me a feeling of accomplishment.

But that feeling can fool us.

If the thing you crossed off doesn’t serve a purpose, you spent time working for nothing.

But wait, I can hear you say, at work you get paid to get things done. So we are not working for nothing.

It’s true. When you work for someone else, that person or company usually creates your To Do list. And rewards you for crossing things off.

When you work for yourself, though, or pursue a project like writing a novel because you’ve chosen to do it, no one is paying you based on finishing tasks.

A task only has value if it helps you reach a goal. If not, you’re better off doing something else (or taking a break).

Getting To The Goal

As one example, if your goal is to write a novel, you might include on your calendar participating in a writers critique group (in person or online). Let’s say the group requires all five participants, including you, to circulate 10 pages of writing 2 days before your meeting.

Everyone reads and critiques one another’s work. You meet weekly to discuss the comments.

You’re hoping the group will help you reach your goal of finishing your novel.

But will it? And are the tasks relating to it truly necessary?

Necessary Or Not?

There is no one answer to whether a critique group is necessary or not. So let’s look at how you figure that out by adding your purpose into your calendar.

First, think about your overall goal in attending the group. If the goal is to finish your novel, write that down.

Second, look at each separate task.

Writing your pages serves the purpose of getting you closer to finishing a novel. That one seems easy, and we’d probably keep it on our calendar regardless of the critique group.

The reason to read other people’s writing seems obvious: fair is fair. If you want group members to critique your work, in turn you need to critique theirs.

That reason, however, doesn’t tell us if staying in the group serves a purpose.

The question is whether the group causes you to write more pages than you would if you freed up the hours it takes to read other people’s work and to attend meetings. If without a group you won’t write, or you’ll write a whole lot less, then the group-related tasks serve their purpose. I’d keep them on my calendar.

But let’s say that you generally write whether or not you attend a critique group.

If so, the group is not serving the purpose of helping you finish the novel. In fact, it might be getting in the way of it because the hours you spend critiquing other people’s work and at meetings could be spent on your own book.

Before crossing all the critique group tasks off your calendar, though, it’s worth looking at whether you have any other purpose in attending.

For instance, you might attend because you want to improve your writing skills. If that’s so, likewise you need to look at each task related to the group and ask yourself if it accomplishes that purpose.

Writing Your Purpose Every Week

Once you decide a critique group (or anything else) is worth your time, you might be tempted to block it into your calendar for the entire year.

Including the purpose each week, though, is key to spotting tasks that no longer serve a purpose.

Going back to the critique group example, I typically write whether or not I attend a group. But for a long time I attended a writers group for a different purpose. Reading and critiquing the pages of other people helped me become a better novelist.

That was so because I could often see things in their writing that I didn’t recognize in my own, which helped me improve my novels.

As I wrote more and more, though, critiquing group members’ pages helped less. I often gave comments on basic grammar or sentence structure. While I’m not a perfect writer, I felt pretty confident about those skills. And what I needed to work on most–overall plot and character development–wasn’t covered because we read only small sections, not entire novels.

Nonetheless I kept attending for years because I thought going to writers groups was a good thing.

Had I started writing down the purpose for each task earlier, I would have realized much sooner that I was spending time on things that weren’t helping me reach my goals.

Now I am focusing particularly on things I do for marketing and promotion. I’m continuing with many of them, but already dropped three or four that didn’t truly serve a purpose. Which means I’m working less.

If you’d like to work less, too, try looking at the tasks on your own calendar.

Write your purpose next to each one. I’m betting you’ll discover a number that you can drop. Let me know!

That’s all for today. Until next Friday when we’ll talk about accomplishing more with less stress—

L.M. Lilly

P.S. Writing down a purpose for each task also helped me stop putting things off, as I wrote about last week, and increase my energy and motivation.

Extreme Productivity (Part 2 – Motivation)

Today’s post is about motivation. Last week I wrote about a simple step I learned from Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours by Robert C. Pozen that made my life as an author so much easier. That step is to write in your calendar next to each task what you aim to accomplish by doing it.

Not only can doing so help you stop putting things off, as I wrote about last week, it can increase your energy and motivation.

When Short Stories Are Like Vegetables

Knowing exactly what I want to accomplish with each task gets me a lot more excited about it.

For example, while I love to write novels, I tend to put off short story writing. I just don’t enjoy it the way I do writing novels, and I don’t read as many short stories as I do books.

For me, writing a short story has always been like eating vegetables. I do it because I know it’s good for me, not because I like it. (Sorry to all who love veggies, I am just not a fan.)

Reasons Are Not The Same As Purpose

Following Pozen’s approach of figuring out and listing my purpose for a goal or task, I thought about why I want to write short stories.

One reason is that I know from experience that writing short stories helps hone my craft. It’s easier to see what’s working and isn’t with the plot. I’m also more apt to focus on one character and make sure that person’s motivations and growth are clear.

As important, because I don’t release multiple novels a year (I’m still aiming to get to two per year), short stories can be a way to bridge the gap in between.

In that sense, short stories are a form of marketing.

Readers are reminded that the characters they remember and love from a series are out there.

Writing Short Stories
When writing feels like eating your vegetables

Also relating to readers, it’s a chance to explore side stories that don’t quite fit into the novels but that add depth to the characters. Because I release the stories initially exclusively to my email subscribers, it’s a sort of inside scoop that they get about the world of my Q.C. Davis mystery/suspense series and the people who live there.

With all those reasons, you’d think I’d be diving into getting those stories written. And yet, until recently, I didn’t.

Because reasons are not the same as purpose.

Purpose = Energy And Motivation

Because I had all those reasons to write short stories, I dutifully reserved time in my calendar this year to write the second short story, the one I wanted to release after Book 2 (The Charming Man), which came out in December, 2018. (I wrote the first short story last year after pushing myself to do it for about 6 months.)

That task appeared on my calendar at least 2 or 3 times a month this entire year.

Yet, almost every time it was the thing that got pushed to the end of the day, then the week, then the month.

As I read Extreme Productivity, I set aside all the reasons writing short stories was a good idea and asked myself what I truly wanted to accomplish by doing it.

I realized I wanted to do something nice for my subscribers. In other words, to improve my relationship with them.

When I thought of it that way instead of feeling I was working to check off a box, I felt excited about sending my readers a gift they’d enjoy. Not only did I finish a draft in a week, I added layers and further developed the characters in ways I hadn’t thought of before.

And it was fun.

Next week I’ll be sending No New Beginnings to my subscribers.

That’s all for today. Until next Friday, when we’ll talk about eliminating unnecessary tasks (that you previously felt sure you needed to do)–

L.M. Lilly

Extreme Productivity (Part 1 – How To Stop Putting Things Off)

While I was on a long vacation, I started reading the book Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours by Robert C. Pozen. (I know, I know, that doesn’t sound very vacation-like. But I did spend most of my days having fun. See photos below.)

What I read led me to examine the way I schedule tasks and how much I focus on the amount of time to spend on each.

As a result, I discovered that while I no doubt got more done compared to simply winging it, I could increase my productivity and feel less stressed by adding one simple step Pozen suggested.

That step benefited my writing and my publishing business tremendously, including in these four ways:

I’ll talk about the first one today and the rest over the coming weeks.

The added step is to identify the purpose of each task. Seems pretty basic, right? Well, it is and it’s not.

Knowing What You Plan To Accomplish

Under Pozen’s approach, when you schedule any task or event in your calendar you list next to it what you intend to accomplish by doing it.

At first that struck me as waste of time.

For most things, I thought my goal too obvious to bother thinking about. For instance, the purpose of advertising books on Amazon or BookBub is to increase sales.

Why spend time writing that down?

The other downside I saw is that my calendar has limited space. I use a paper appointment book because it helps limit my screen time and it’s easier for me to get organized on paper than any other way. I don’t have a lot of room on it to put in extra info.

To my surprise, though, forcing myself to define what I hoped to accomplish made my entire week more productive, and I felt full of energy, despite that I’m still struggling a bit with jet lag.

Beating Procrastination

Keeping my bookkeeping up to date for my author business, which includes balancing my accounts and paying bills, is a task I often put off. I do so despite that in my calendar I set aside one morning each month for it.

My purpose in scheduling the task seemed obvious.

Good bookkeeping is just good business so you pay bills on time, avoid overdrafts, and gain a good sense of your finances. So this task in particular seemed like a silly one for writing out what I hoped to accomplish.

But when I made myself think about exactly why I wanted to update my bookkeeping every month, immediately what came to mind was the end of last year. I hadn’t balanced my accounts in over 6 months. (Though I did pay my bills. I wasn’t that much of a procrastinator).

Productivity And Time

Because I waited so long, the time it took for each bank statement tripled due to how much more difficult it was to track down missing entries. A month after an expense or of receiving income, I usually remember what a $35 payment was for.

Or I can easily find an email about it.

Finding the same charge or royalty payment 6 months later is much harder. Especially if, for example, the company to which I made the payment, or that paid me, has a different name from the brand names it uses on its products or platforms.

All that extra time spent on bookkeeping is time I can’t spend finishing a novel, creating a large print edition of a book, or practicing law and getting paid an hourly rate.

In short, spending more time on bookkeeping costs me money.

Time Off In Paris
I really did go on vacation.

Putting off bookkeeping tasks cost me money in another way, too.

Productivity And Money

My mental picture of what I’m earning in royalties versus my expenses is usually overoptimistic. (For more on that, see A Major Mistake Using Amazon Ads To Sell Paperbacks.)

Balancing my books makes me take a good look at the actual numbers. If it’s 6 months down the road, it’s too late to get back 6 months of spending on an ad that’s costing too much. It’s also often too late to double down on an ad with great returns. Things change quickly, and reader interests may already have shifted.

In contrast, a monthly snapshot of spending and earning means I can quickly adjust.

The Purpose

So what purpose did I list in my calendar next to my bookkeeping task? Increase income.

Seeing that purpose this past Wednesday prompted me to pull out my bank account statements and balance my books first thing in the morning. And I felt great doing it.

That’s all for today. Until next Friday when we’ll talk about increasing motivation and energy—

L.M. Lilly

Plot And The Hunger Games (Part 2)

Last week in Plot Structure and The Hunger Games we talked about how The Hunger Games, the novel, illustrates opening conflict and the first 3 of the 5 plot points below:

  • Story Spark
  • One-Quarter Twist
  • Mid-Point
  • Three-Quarter Turn
  • Climax

Today I’ll cover the Three-Quarter Turn, the Climax, and the action following the climax.

Warning: As before, spoilers below. If somehow you haven’t read The Hunger Games or seen the film, do that first and come back. I’ll still be here. Or the article will at least.

Moving On From The Mid-Point

As we talked about last week, at the Mid-Point of the novel Katniss suffers a serious reversal. Badly injured, she climbs a tree to evade her enemies. But all they need to do is wait her out. So she drops a hive of tracker jacker hornets on them.

This action results in her first kill in the games and serves as her Mid-Point action to commit and go all in.

Further, as it should, Katniss’ action at the Mid-Point propels the story forward.

Because of it, Katniss allies herself with Rue. Rue helped Katniss spot the tracker jacker hive. She also helps heal Katniss heal from tracker jacker stings. The two form a plan to go after the supplies of the group of tributes who trapped and tried to kill Katniss.

The Mid-Point also leaves Katniss confused about Peeta’s allegiances.

She pretends for the camera that she and Peeta have a secret pact, but she doesn’t know if he played along with the other tributes to try to protect her somehow or if he truly wants to eliminate her. After all, only one of them can win.

These feelings are the perfect set up for the next plot point at the three-quarter mark.

One Possible Three-Quarter Turn

Like the One-Quarter Twist (discussed last week), the Three-Quarter Turn once again sends the story in a new direction. This time, though, rather than being an outside force the turn grows directly from the protagonist’s action the Mid-Point.

I see two possible Three-Quarter Turns in the novel The Hunger Games.

The first happens on page 244, which is about 20 pages before the actual three-quarter point in the book. The gamemakers announce that two tributes can win this year’s game so long as they are from the same district.

This world change opens the chance that both Katniss and Peeta can survive. Katniss immediately sets out to find him.

At first this twist seems to come from outside because it is the gamemakers who make the decision. Katniss, however, prompted that decision.

More on plotting your novel in Super Simple Story Structure

First, she survived her reversal. Second, she acted as if she and Peeta were still allies, despite that she didn’t know herself if that was true.

Also, while we don’t know for certain because the book is told from Katniss’ point of view, it’s likely that her care and concern for Rue when the girl was dying moved viewers so much that they began clamoring for Katniss to have a chance to be happy with Peeta.

From the turn on Katniss struggles to find and heal Peeta and to ensure his survival along with her own.

The Alternative

If we go by page count, at the actual three-quarter point in the book the gamemakers have already changed the rules. When Katniss finds him, Peeta is badly injured and dying.

The Capitol, however, announces that there will be a “feast” where each tribute can get something desperately needed. Katniss is sure there will be medicine for Peeta. Equally sure it’s a trap, Peeta makes her promise not to go there. He doesn’t want her to die.

But Katniss will not simply let him die.

When her sponsors send sleeping syrup, she mixes it in berries and feeds it to him. That way she is able to leave without him knowing it to fight for the medicine.

I like this development as the Three-Quarter Turn because Katniss makes a choice, making it more clearly a turn due to her own actions.

Whichever part you see as the turn, though, it drives the rest of the story toward the Climax.

The Climax

As we approach the climax of The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta fight the last tributes to the death.

But the true payoff is less about a physical fight and more about winning the battle against the Capitol.

When only Katniss and Peeta are left, the Capital changes the rules again so that only one can win. This switch brings together all the previous parts of the plot and the main characters’ arcs.

Peeta never believed he could win on his own. He did his best to survive but his main goal was to help Katniss win and get back home to help care for her little sister.

Katniss shared that goal, but once she knew Peeta also could survive she put the two of them winning together above her personal survival.

Now, in the climax, the gamemakers try to pit the two against one another again by reversing the rule change. Once again, only one can win.

Though once she strove to emerge as the sole survivor, Katniss is now determined to outwit the Capitol so both can live. That change occurs due to everything that happened in the games, her choices throughout, her growing feelings for Peeta, and her building outrage against the Capitol.

As a result, she refuses to accept the limits of the games. Instead, she encourages Peeta to (at least appear to) commit suicide with her. The Capitol stops them and declares both winners.

The awful choice Katniss faces and her quick-witted, determined response provide much more drama that a physical fight alone could.

The Falling Action

After the Climax, every good story includes falling action, which is what it sounds like — the results or fallout of the Climax.

The Climax and Falling Action together should resolve all the major plot points and show the consequences to the protagonist. It’s okay to leave a few open questions for the reader to ponder, but too many and you’ll leave readers unhappy and unsatisfied.

How long the section is depends upon how much needs to be resolved.

In The Hunger Games, it’s 27 pages.

Katniss discovers the Capitol now sees her as a threat because she outwitted the gamemakers. She also must deal with Peeta’s sadness when he realizes she exaggerated her feelings for him and with her own internal confusion over what was real and what wasn’t. Most important, she realizes the games really never end. She must play a part forever to avoid inciting a rebellion and risking the lives of the people she loves.

If you plan a sequel, it’s also a good idea to plant a few seeds for the next book in the falling action section.

The falling action in The Hunger Games works for it as a standalone novel and as Book 1 in a trilogy.

Katniss and Peeta survive the games, resolving the main plot. If the book was a standalone, that they will need to be mindful and play parts forever would be enough of a resolution, and the readers would be left to imagine how their personal relationship might or might not develop.

But these same points set up a sequel well.

In the next book, the reader can find out exactly what happens as they try to conform with the Capitol’s expectations, as well as how Katniss’ mixed feelings for Peeta change her life.

That’s all for today. Until next Friday–

L.M. Lilly

Plot Structure And The Hunger Games (Part 1)

When I plan a novel, rather than creating a detailed outline I use a five-point story structure. In this article I’ll talk about how the book The Hunger Games illustrates the first three points.

I’ll cover the last two in next week’s article, but here’s a list of all five:

  • Story Spark
  • One-Quarter Twist
  • Mid-Point
  • Three-Quarter Turn
  • Climax

Warning: Spoilers below. So if somehow you haven’t read The Hunger Games or seen the film, do that first.

Conflict On Page 1

Before we get to the plot points, almost every good book starts with conflict on page 1. Sometimes that conflict relates directly to the main plot, sometimes not.

In The Hunger Games it does.

In the very first paragraph, Katniss realizes her little sister, Prim, has climbed into bed with their Mom. Katniss guesses Prim’s having bad dreams and isn’t surprised because, as she tells us: “This is the day of the reaping.”

While we don’t find out until later what the reaping means, we know from the very first lines that it gives Prim nightmares and worries Katniss. That conflict draws the reader into the story.

Volunteering And The Story Spark

In the beginning of a novel, the protagonist is going along with her normal life when something major changes. That change usually comes from outside and sets the entire story in motion.

That’s the Story Spark, also known as the Inciting Incident.

In The Hunger Games, while we know right away that it’s the reaping day, we still see Katniss hunting in the woods as she normally does and selling her game. Also, as awful as the reaping is, the ceremony is an annual part of life in District 12 where Katniss lives.

During the reaping ceremony the name of one girl and one boy from the district are chosen to fight in an arena to the death.

The Story Spark occurs when the name of Katniss’ little sister, Prim, is called. That happens the end of Chapter 1 on page 20, about 5% through the book.

(I’m using a paperback edition of The Hunger Games that is 374 pages long. The story doesn’t start until page 3 and the last page includes very little text, so that’s about 371 pages of story.)

The Tributes And The One Quarter Twist

Everything after the Story Spark flows logically from it. At the One-Quarter Twist (which happens, not surprisingly, right around the first quarter of the book), something outside the protagonist raises the stakes and sends the plot in a new direction.

Because of it, the protagonist must change course as well.

In The Hunger Games, responding to the Story Spark, Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place. She then says goodbye to her family and friends and takes a train to the Capitol (the governing city) with the boy tribute from her district. We learn some of the back story between the two. Together, both grapple to understand what’s happening and take in the new and overwhelming world.

While they are wary of one another because only one tribute can survive the games, they stick close together. The team of people assigned to help them presents them as a united front.

On page 92, one-quarter of the way through the book, though, the story shifts.

Katniss meets the other tributes and begins training to beat not only them but Peeta. She can no longer afford to think of him as an ally, though they still present a united front to try to get sponsors.

The story now focuses on Katniss winning sponsors, learning survival skills, impressing the game makers, and finding safety, food, and water during the early part of the game.

More conflict occurs between her and Peeta. She mistrusts him and questions his every move. He asks to be trained separately.

The Mid-Point Reversal And/Or Commitment

At the midpoint of a well-plotted story the protagonist makes of vow or commitment to the cause, often throwing caution to the wind. The protagonist also may suffer a major reversal of fortune.

Page 183, halfway through the book, finds Katniss literally up a tree.

She climbed up to get away from the career tributes (young people who have trained all their lives to fight in the arena). She is badly injured, hungry, in pain, exhausted, and sees no way out.

This desperate situation is her mid-point reversal.

Over the next few pages, she also throws caution to the wind and commits when future ally, Rue, points out a hornets’ nest. It contains hornets whose sting, at best, causes hallucinations. Swarms of them kill.

Despite the danger to herself, Katniss saws off a branch, sending the nest plummeting to the ground.

Releasing the swarm causes two deaths, marking the first time Katniss kills anyone in the games.

This midpoint propels the story forward, which I’ll discuss more next week.

That’s all for today. Until next Friday when I’ll finish this discussion of plot and The Hunger Games—

L.M. Lilly

P.S. If you’d like to know more about the five-point plot structure, or want to try applying it to an outline or rewrite of your novel, check out these Free Story Structure Worksheets.

Listening For Ideas

Finding ideas for your novel often presents a challenge. But whether you are starting a new story, are stuck in the middle, or are looking for a new plot twist listening can help.

Sounds Inside And Out

I earned a Writing/English degree from Columbia College in Chicago. During our fiction writing classes our professors often had us sit in a circle in complete silence.

The professor directed us to listen first to sounds inside the classroom and the building. Next, because our windows opened onto Wabash Avenue, a busy street, we listened for sounds from outside.

Eventually as we kept listening the city noises and sounds prompted us to imagine scenes. After 15 minutes or so of quiet the professor had us describe each of our scenes to one another. We were pushed to include not only what we saw and heard but what we (or our characters) smelled, tasted, and felt.

The last step was to write as fast as we could in our notebooks the scenes we’d imagined.

Some of the scenes sparked new stories. Others became part of ongoing projects. Still others (probably most of them) I forgot.

I admit that when I was in college this exercise struck me as being as much about filling class time (our class sessions were over 4 hours long) as about generating ideas. Since then, though, when I’ve gotten stuck I often try this exercise and it helps.

It’s also pretty relaxing.

Your Friends, Foes, And Family

Another great place to find ideas is through day-to-day conversations.

The next time you talk to a friend, family member, or coworker, practice really listening. So often during a conversation we rush to say what’s on our minds. (Now that I spend most of my time alone writing, I notice even more of a tendency to do this.)

Instead, try setting aside your own concerns and hearing what the other person says. Ask questions to encourage that person to share more about the issue, the feelings it prompts, and the circumstances around it.

You can also try taking a breath after you think the other person has finished talking and before you speak. That may allow the other person to finish a thought or elaborate on an idea. And if your conversation partner has truly finished, it will make the conversation more relaxed and comfortable for both of you.

I’m not in any way suggesting that you put these conversations directly into one of your novels. That’s an almost certain way to get people angry at you.

If you’re like me, however, you’ll find that bits and pieces of what you hear from others spark ideas about conflicts that could become novels or scenes. You can take day-to-day issues and exaggerate them or put them in other worlds, whether that literally means on another planet or simply in another profession or family situation.

Also, the more people whose points of view you truly listen to and understand the more diverse characters and situations you can create.

Listening To Strangers

I’m also a fan of listening to conversations of strangers out on the street, on the train, or in a crowded coffee shop.

I don’t sneak up on people and eavesdrop (though I admit sometimes I’m tempted). But these days given how crowded Chicago sidewalks are and how often people talk on the phone right behind me outside, on public transportation, in stores, or in restaurants, it’s often impossible not to hear. So rather than feeling constantly annoyed by it, I listen.

As with day-to-day conversations you have with people you know, overheard conversations are great sources of ideas for novels. You’ll also gradually develop a better and better sense of other people’s speech patterns.

So next time you are walking down the street, rather than putting in earbuds and listening to audio or making a phone call yourself, pay attention to what is going on around you. It may just spark a great idea for your next novel.

That’s all for today. Until next Friday —

L.M. Lilly