I’m sure a lot of people are plunging into novel-writing… it’s January, after all. Resolution season. “This is the year I (finish the novel, start the novel, write another novel)…”
You get the picture.
This often also leads to pulling out whatever notes they might have, opening up a document, and diving in, whether that’s outlining or leaping into the draft itself.
But whether you’re plotting beforehand or doing a discovery draft, you might find yourself getting stuck.
Here are five questions that can help give you some traction and forward momentum — and, if nothing else, will test the underlying bones of your novel.
Note: because I primarily work with genre fiction, and because it’s my first passion, these questions apply to traditional three-act structured genre novels.
1. What does your protagonist want?
This is a test for goal.
If your protagonist doesn’t want something, but is simply bouncing off of events and external characters’ actions like a pinball, then you may have a lot of episodes, but you’re going to have trouble creating a through-line. Readers want protagonists with a clear, urgent desire, even if they don’t agree with the goal. If you can’t tell me what your protagonist wants, then you’re going to wind up stuck somewhere around the middle of your novel.
You want the goal to be something tangible. This is the external goal, the story driver. So to clarify even further, a secondary question would be: how will your protagonist know when he/she has it?
2. What happens if your protagonist doesn’t get what he/she wants?
This is a test for motivation and stakes.
If your protagonist “will be unhappy” or “feel disappointed,” then your goal isn’t strong enough. You want the protagonist to have a clear consequence if the goal isn’t achieved. It will be more than just upsetting. It needs to create a problem of some sort. Preferably with a clear pain attached.
As a secondary check, you might see if the pain can be escalated. If the protagonist is going for a job, say, the consequence may be that if he doesn’t get the job, he won’t be able to afford the house his family needs. It can then be escalated if he loses his current job, or if his wife threatens to leave him if he doesn’t get it, or they lose their current housing. Check for the possibilities of making the stakes higher and the motivation stronger.
3. What’s standing in his/her way?
This is a test for conflict.
If your conflict is “he’s not sure if he really wants it” or “she keeps getting distracted” then you don’t have conflict, and your motivation is weak. A character who is truly driven towards a goal won’t waffle about it, which means you’ve got to throw some fairly solid, and escalating, conflict in the way or you’re going to have a very short and unsatisfying novel.
Using the above example, escalating conflict is more than just “he has to go on a series of interviews” with more interviews being added. It can be his car being repossessed, which makes getting to the job site more difficult. It can be the introduction of an antagonist, a rival for the job. It can be a “final jeopardy” interview which requires him to sell a million dollars worth of widgets in a one-week period. It can mean moving to Antarctica (and away from his family/new house) for a year. Again, think in terms of “how can I make this worse?”
4. How is your protagonist different at the end of the book?
This is a test for story arc. To be a true protagonist, your character needs to develop as a result of facing the challenges of the novel. If you’re wondering about “how should I end this story?” this question is usually the key to the resolution.
This means more than “your protagonist has faced the challenge and won.” He or she needs to have grown, in a visible way.
5. Why does your reader care?
Note that I didn’t say “the reader.” This is your reader, the one you’re tailoring your work toward.
I get clients who ask “but don’t readers want more action? More suspense? A likeable protagonist?” The result is usually a hodge-podge of humor, thrilling chases or superfluous murder, with a pandering “he may be a bastard, but he rescues puppies” scene shoehorned in.
Don’t do that.
Look at your character. Will your audience understand his/her goal, and the motivation behind it? Will they be able to relate, even if it isn’t a goal they’d particularly want? Is your character compelling enough to keep the reader along for the ride? Characters don’t have to be “likable.” They can’t be boring, though. Avoid generic.
Pull out these questions whenever you get off track.
Nine times out of ten, when I’m working with an author who is stuck, it’s because they’ve strayed from one or more of the above five questions. Just asking themselves these questions usually gets them unstuck in a hurry. Give it a try, and see if these questions work for you.