Author Interviews
Interview with Laurel Dewey, author of "Protector"
That appeared online at Visual Thesauras
That appeared online at Visual Thesauras
Word Count
Writers Talk About Writing
June 13, 2007
Writing Method: Charting Your Novel
A few weeks ago we spoke to novelist Laurel Dewey about her approach to
creating the lead character of her acclaimed suspense novel, Protector. That
interview got us thinking about the bigger picture: How did Laurel develop
her can't-put-it-down, page-turning story? We discovered that Laurel trained
as a screenwriter -- and had applied techniques for writing for the silver
screen to writing her novel. We asked Laurel to tell us about that, and she
graciously shared this detailed -- and invaluable -- conversation with us:
VT: How does screenwriting relate to writing a novel?
Laurel: When I studied screenwriting at the California State University at
Northridge, I had incredible professors who wrote Hollywood movies and
television docudramas from the 1950's to 1960's. Back then screenwriters
were schooled in the narrative of great fiction writing. They had a real
understanding of how to tell a story. It was a different reference point than
most of today's screenwriters, who are schooled in the conventions of
television.
I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be writing novels. My goal was to
be a screenwriter. But I've been able to successfully put to work the
screenwriting techniques my great professors taught me to writing novels. To
explain them, though, I'm going to have to use the dreaded "F" word.
VT: The "F" word?
Laurel: Yes, "Formula." Formula definitely plays into what I'm going to talk
about. But this formula works. It might sound like "writing by the numbers"
but it's not. It's about "charting a novel" to help the writer make sure the
story keeps moving and the reader stays interested.
This is not cookie cutter. In essence, it becomes the vessel into which you
pour your creativity. It becomes the framework for your story. People often
say they read novels that just keep going on and on and on, there's no
point. Well using this technique, which I adapted from screenwriting, you can
avoid that.
VT: How does it work?
Laurel: Just like with a screenplay, you break your book down into Act One,
Act Two, and Act Three. This creates clear sections for containing the
character development and the story arc.
VT: Sounds like you're creating a system to organize your story.
Laurel: Look at any really good classic story, whether it's a novel, a theatre
play or a screenplay, and you will see this system in place. Writers who
understand how to tell a story might unconsciously utilize the formula.
Writers who are struggling with organizing the story peaks and so on can
avoid all that by adapting this system to their novel.
When you read a novel that just goes on and on and on and on, then
there's no, what I call, "spike points." My approach solves this.
First of all, you have to break Act One, Act Two, and Act Three into
percentages. The rule I came up with is 25/55/20. That means, 25% of the
story is Act One, 55% of your book is Act Two, and the final 20 % is Act
Three. This may be a little off here and there - it's not an exact formula --
but I've found the "25/55/20 rule" really helps me create a strong box to
hold my story.
If you use a 400-page manuscript as an example, applying the 25/55/20
rule would mean 100 pages for Act One. One hundred pages is your "magic
number," by the way.
VT: Magic number?
Laurel: The first 100 pages are critical since most publishers judge a book
on those pages. If you don't grab them within those first 100 pages, they
are not going to want to read the rest of the book.
In a 400-page manuscript, Act Two would be 220 pages, and Act Three
would come to about 80 pages. I have found that this approach really does
work. If your novel's Act Three is around 80 to 90 pages long, you can really
kick it into gear and get the reader going, "yeah, yeah" -- and take them
on a ride to the end of the book.
There's wiggle room here, give or take 10 or 15 pages either side, but you
don't want to go past these marks because it really does make a difference
in how people are going to react to your book.
VT: What's next?
Laurel: Okay, Act One must establish your story. You MUST have a person
with a problem. That's Number One. I learned this from screenwriting. If you
don't have a character with a problem to solve you don't have a story. You
establish the main character or the characters in the first ten pages if
possible. Look at books that you really like and you'll see that they do this.
They establish the main character and they establish that character's
problems. It may not be the main problem of the book, it may not be the
main focus of the book, but you've got to introduce what that character is
trying to solve.
As for the protagonist's central problem, you have to establish that or at
least introduce the problem in some way in the first 25 pages of the
manuscript. If you're not introducing what this book's about in the first 25
pages, why are you writing it? And whatever this problem is, it HAS to be
resolved by the end of the story.
You should outline your story so the main character must have either other
characters and/or situations -- preferably both -- that complicate solving
their problem. Without the hills to climb, your story will be flat and pointless.
Challenges create intrigue and demonstrate the cleverness and/or
determination of the protagonist.
Act One establishes the main character, their problem, and creates the
obstacles. It lays the groundwork for the entire book. You have to end Act
One with a springboard into Act Two because you need to catapult the
reader from the section that establishes your story into the meat of the
book. The meat is Act Two.
VT: What's the springboard?
Laurel: The springboard is not the major obstacle but a "wow moment" -- a
twist or complication or something that propels the main character and the
reader into solving the issue at hand. This brings you into Act Two, the core
of your story, where everything important takes place. Act Two is where you
delve deeper into the main character, creating obstacle after obstacle for
them to overcome. You peel away the proverbial onion layer by layer until
you hit the center, which is the "sting" or the end of Act Two. You start Act
Two at around 40 mph, but you want to end it at 70 mph.
VT: Can you explain "the sting?"
Laurel: It's the "Oh My God moment." It's the guy hanging, literally, off a
cliff. It's the character in jeopardy. It's the make or break moment that
carries you into Act Three -- and that Act starts at 70 mph. You MUST keep
that momentum going. You want to keep those pages turning and turning
because what happens -- as we all know from novels we've read -- is the
story often falls apart in the last 80 pages. How many times have you heard
this: "I loved the book but the writer didn't know how to end it." Well, that's
because the book was poorly conceived and poorly outlined. But if you chart
your novel, this won't happen -- and it won't take away from your creativity.
You still have to write creatively. You still have to know what you're doing as
a writer.
VT: It boils down to a good story in the end.
Laurel: Right. Charting your novel works and what's great about it is that
once you have this vessel, as I like to call it, then you have the freedom to
create. You pour your structured creativity into that vessel.
Writers Talk About Writing
June 13, 2007
Writing Method: Charting Your Novel
A few weeks ago we spoke to novelist Laurel Dewey about her approach to
creating the lead character of her acclaimed suspense novel, Protector. That
interview got us thinking about the bigger picture: How did Laurel develop
her can't-put-it-down, page-turning story? We discovered that Laurel trained
as a screenwriter -- and had applied techniques for writing for the silver
screen to writing her novel. We asked Laurel to tell us about that, and she
graciously shared this detailed -- and invaluable -- conversation with us:
VT: How does screenwriting relate to writing a novel?
Laurel: When I studied screenwriting at the California State University at
Northridge, I had incredible professors who wrote Hollywood movies and
television docudramas from the 1950's to 1960's. Back then screenwriters
were schooled in the narrative of great fiction writing. They had a real
understanding of how to tell a story. It was a different reference point than
most of today's screenwriters, who are schooled in the conventions of
television.
I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be writing novels. My goal was to
be a screenwriter. But I've been able to successfully put to work the
screenwriting techniques my great professors taught me to writing novels. To
explain them, though, I'm going to have to use the dreaded "F" word.
VT: The "F" word?
Laurel: Yes, "Formula." Formula definitely plays into what I'm going to talk
about. But this formula works. It might sound like "writing by the numbers"
but it's not. It's about "charting a novel" to help the writer make sure the
story keeps moving and the reader stays interested.
This is not cookie cutter. In essence, it becomes the vessel into which you
pour your creativity. It becomes the framework for your story. People often
say they read novels that just keep going on and on and on, there's no
point. Well using this technique, which I adapted from screenwriting, you can
avoid that.
VT: How does it work?
Laurel: Just like with a screenplay, you break your book down into Act One,
Act Two, and Act Three. This creates clear sections for containing the
character development and the story arc.
VT: Sounds like you're creating a system to organize your story.
Laurel: Look at any really good classic story, whether it's a novel, a theatre
play or a screenplay, and you will see this system in place. Writers who
understand how to tell a story might unconsciously utilize the formula.
Writers who are struggling with organizing the story peaks and so on can
avoid all that by adapting this system to their novel.
When you read a novel that just goes on and on and on and on, then
there's no, what I call, "spike points." My approach solves this.
First of all, you have to break Act One, Act Two, and Act Three into
percentages. The rule I came up with is 25/55/20. That means, 25% of the
story is Act One, 55% of your book is Act Two, and the final 20 % is Act
Three. This may be a little off here and there - it's not an exact formula --
but I've found the "25/55/20 rule" really helps me create a strong box to
hold my story.
If you use a 400-page manuscript as an example, applying the 25/55/20
rule would mean 100 pages for Act One. One hundred pages is your "magic
number," by the way.
VT: Magic number?
Laurel: The first 100 pages are critical since most publishers judge a book
on those pages. If you don't grab them within those first 100 pages, they
are not going to want to read the rest of the book.
In a 400-page manuscript, Act Two would be 220 pages, and Act Three
would come to about 80 pages. I have found that this approach really does
work. If your novel's Act Three is around 80 to 90 pages long, you can really
kick it into gear and get the reader going, "yeah, yeah" -- and take them
on a ride to the end of the book.
There's wiggle room here, give or take 10 or 15 pages either side, but you
don't want to go past these marks because it really does make a difference
in how people are going to react to your book.
VT: What's next?
Laurel: Okay, Act One must establish your story. You MUST have a person
with a problem. That's Number One. I learned this from screenwriting. If you
don't have a character with a problem to solve you don't have a story. You
establish the main character or the characters in the first ten pages if
possible. Look at books that you really like and you'll see that they do this.
They establish the main character and they establish that character's
problems. It may not be the main problem of the book, it may not be the
main focus of the book, but you've got to introduce what that character is
trying to solve.
As for the protagonist's central problem, you have to establish that or at
least introduce the problem in some way in the first 25 pages of the
manuscript. If you're not introducing what this book's about in the first 25
pages, why are you writing it? And whatever this problem is, it HAS to be
resolved by the end of the story.
You should outline your story so the main character must have either other
characters and/or situations -- preferably both -- that complicate solving
their problem. Without the hills to climb, your story will be flat and pointless.
Challenges create intrigue and demonstrate the cleverness and/or
determination of the protagonist.
Act One establishes the main character, their problem, and creates the
obstacles. It lays the groundwork for the entire book. You have to end Act
One with a springboard into Act Two because you need to catapult the
reader from the section that establishes your story into the meat of the
book. The meat is Act Two.
VT: What's the springboard?
Laurel: The springboard is not the major obstacle but a "wow moment" -- a
twist or complication or something that propels the main character and the
reader into solving the issue at hand. This brings you into Act Two, the core
of your story, where everything important takes place. Act Two is where you
delve deeper into the main character, creating obstacle after obstacle for
them to overcome. You peel away the proverbial onion layer by layer until
you hit the center, which is the "sting" or the end of Act Two. You start Act
Two at around 40 mph, but you want to end it at 70 mph.
VT: Can you explain "the sting?"
Laurel: It's the "Oh My God moment." It's the guy hanging, literally, off a
cliff. It's the character in jeopardy. It's the make or break moment that
carries you into Act Three -- and that Act starts at 70 mph. You MUST keep
that momentum going. You want to keep those pages turning and turning
because what happens -- as we all know from novels we've read -- is the
story often falls apart in the last 80 pages. How many times have you heard
this: "I loved the book but the writer didn't know how to end it." Well, that's
because the book was poorly conceived and poorly outlined. But if you chart
your novel, this won't happen -- and it won't take away from your creativity.
You still have to write creatively. You still have to know what you're doing as
a writer.
VT: It boils down to a good story in the end.
Laurel: Right. Charting your novel works and what's great about it is that
once you have this vessel, as I like to call it, then you have the freedom to
create. You pour your structured creativity into that vessel.
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Protector
This title can be
purchased here on our
site.
This title can be
purchased here on our
site.
If You liked this book
you may also like
2012 Airborne
Prophesy by
Nina Anderson
you may also like
2012 Airborne
Prophesy by
Nina Anderson