by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: February 16, 2009

Why do people read a novel? Why do you read a novel? There are probably a variety of reasons, most of which depend upon the type of novel to which we are referring, but I would suggest that in all instances, people read a novel to be entertained. They want essentially to escape from reality in to a fantasy world of some sort which the novelist has created, and read perhaps about far away places, interesting characters or exciting events. This varies of course from genre to genre but loosely applies in most instances.

How, therefore, is the novel reader going to feel if they are given all that they seek and more in the first half of the novel and then suddenly, they reach the latter half of the novel and the plot falls as flat as a cake taken too soon from the oven? They are initially going to feel badly let down. They may thereafter feel angry and cheated, especially if they have forked out good money to buy the novel rather than borrow it from a lending library. How likely do you think they are ever to read a novel by that author again?

It is imperative therefore that an author has the basic structure of any novel prepared prior to beginning writing it. There is no point getting half way through it and running out of ideas. Every good story should have a beginning, a middle and an end is often said but it is very true. Consider a builder building a house. What is the use of starting if he only has enough bricks to build half the house?

The author should therefore make brief notes for each chapter prior to beginning writing his novel. Knowing where he is going with the plot, each sub-plot, each aspect of character development need not be specified exactly but the general concepts of each have to be determined in advance. It will always be the case when it comes to writing the novel that characters will develop a life of their own, new ways to describe places and events will come in to the author's head and he may change his ideas from the way he detailed them in note form. This is a good thing, not a bad thing, but at least we are still providing fresh information and building the various excitements and plots within our novel and not running out of ideas.

These tips will certainly ensure that the writer ahs the material to complete his novel but he also has to be aware of the freshness of his writing. Avoid writing when overly tired or experiencing negative emotions as this may make your work repetitive and stale. Read through each chapter as you complete and revise and update where necessary. Hopefully in this way, the finished novel will start off well and only get better, all the way to the very end.

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