by Mike Klaassen

Created on: March 05, 2007   Last Updated: January 29, 2009

FICTION-WRITING MODES: The Tools of a Novelist

Years ago, when I first began writing fiction, I was bewildered by the jargon and concepts that describe novels and the process of creating them. Let's face it, there's lots of information out there, and much of it is conflicting. Year by year, book by book, I've been sorting out the terms, structure, and process needed to turn an idea into a novel. It's an ongoing process, but I take heart in a quote from Ernest Hemingway: "We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master." That may be true, but each of us can improve by learning when, where, and how to utilize the basic tools of our craft.

Recently I had what was, for me, a breakthrough in understanding how fiction-writing works. I suspect we all have "ah-hah!" moments in our lives when something is revealed to us and sheds new light on how we look at things. An "ah-hah" moment for me was many years ago when I was reading The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing, by Evan Marshall.

One of the keys to successful fiction, according to Marshall, is to know what you're doing and why at all times. He noticed that many beginning novelists don't seem completely conscious of what they are writing. As a result, they misuse what he describes as fiction-writing modes-the types of writing of which all fiction is made.

Marshall listed five fiction-writing modes: action, summary, dialogue, feelings/thoughts, and background, each with its own set of conventions regarding how, when, and where it should be used. Over the years since I first read Marshall's explanation of fiction-writing modes, I've incorporated them into my writing and my thinking.

Another "ah-hah!" moment for me occurred in reading Jessica Page Morrell's Between the Lines: Mastering the Subtle Elements of Fiction Writing. She lists six delivery modes: action, exposition, description, dialogue, summary, and transition.

To the credit of both Marshall and Morrell, they have each recognized the need to identify and describe the various modes novelists utilize in the process of creating fiction. But their disparate lists raise several questions: 1. Which is the most appropriate label for the concept: writing modes, fiction-writing modes, delivery modes, or something else? 2. Are all of the terms appropriate for inclusion in a list of modes? 3. Have all of the appropriate candidates for modes been included in the list?

Let's take the question of a label first. The term delivery modes has some merit, but in

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