Craft Book of the Month: June 2011--How to Write a Damn Good Novel, II

The Seven Deadly Mistakes

James N. Frey is the type of writer who calls a spade a spade. He also isn't afraid of showing himself up. Which is why the penultimate chapter of How to Write a Damn Good Novel II should be the type of thing a writer reads to him or herself every year. Perhaps a New Year's reminder, to keep the ship steered straight.

Here are Frey's Seven Deadlies, and a comment from him on each:

1. Timidity: "Receiving criticism is often painful. It's hard to read something to a group of fellow writers and then listen to them tell you that your prose is limp or muddled or your characters are flat. But it's really the only way to learn.... It takes guts to be a writer. You've got to overcome your timidity and face up to a solid writers' group."

2. Trying to be Literary: "The problem with literati is this: Instead of attempting to master the principles of creative writing, instead of learning how to make their literary creations fresh and dramatic, literati choose a literary god and seek to emulate him or her... If you are going to be one of the literati, pleeeeeeeze first become a good storyteller..." (Frey then goes on to say that he spent his early writing years "trying to be literary instead of trying to be damn good."

3. Ego-Writing:

Craft Book of the Month: June 2011--How to Write a Damn Good Novel, II

Premise

James N. Frey claims that "there's no more powerful concept in fiction writing than that of premise. If you structure your stories with a strong premise in mind, your novel will be well focused and dramatically powerful, and it will hold your readers from beginning to end."

So what is "premise"? Frey defines it as "a statement of what happens to the characters as a result of the core conflict of the story."

The first step in finding the premise, Frey claims, is asking "what is this story about?

"Once you know what the story is about, you will be able to say, "Here is my truth: Human nature is such that, given a particular set of characters tested by a particular set of conflicts, the course of events will change human beings in this particular way."

To demonstrate what he means, Frey shows the process in action:

"Okay, say it's a story of love. The only love worth writing about is some kind of powerful love, whether it's filial, brotherly, romantic, lustful, obsessive, whatever. The answer to the question of what the story is about will give you the first part of your premise. What happens to the character, as a result, will give you the rest of it. In a story of obsessive love, say, the love becomes overbearing to the protagonist's lover and the protagonist loses her in the end and kills himself. Obsessive love leads to suicide is the premise of the story."

It's a meaty couple of chapters, and for me to do it justice I'd have to copy it out verbatim. Frey shows you how to step-by-step "prove" your premise, and the hard questions to ask ("are there ironies and surprises? Do characters grow and develop?") to see if the premise works and thus whether the story is worth writing.

Please get your hands on this book to see Frey's "premise-making" in action. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.


And now, totally off topic.... Do you remember me writing last month about the competition to find TV's greatest Dad? Well they're down to the last two, one of whom is a dark horse. If you want to vote for the winner, you can find all the shenanigans at The World’s Greatest TV Dad.

Craft Book of the Month: June 2011--How to Write a Damn Good Novel, II

Here's the title of Frey's Chapter Two. (I love his chapter headings; they give you a sense of his wit.)

All About Suspense--Or Pass the Mustard, I'm Biting My Nails.

Frey's steps to creating suspense:

1. Create sympathetic characters.
2. Provide a story question, to make the reader "worry and wonder."
3. "Light the fuse": "Something terrible is going to happen, usually at an appointed time, and the characters must stop it from happening and that ain't easy.

Here are some of his examples:

Effective: "It was well after midnight when the rector heard a loud banging on the door. (The question: Who might be knocking so late at night, and why?)

"When her husband called at four o'clock and said he was bringing the boss to dinner, Lydia was in the middle of doing a valve job on their '56 Buick." (Question: How will she bring the dinner off?)

"His Ma told Jeb not to strap the old Colt on his hip when he went into Tombstone, but Jeb never did listen to nobody." (Question: What dire thing will happen when he brings this gun to town?)

Ineffective:

Craft Book of the Month: June 2011--How to Write a Damn Good Novel, II

It's been a bit quiet on the blogging front lately. (Happy Belated Memorial Day, everyone!) I've been immersed in reading, both for my book group and for my infant blog, Middle Grade Mafioso.

And, of course, I have had my eye out for a new craft book. Here, courtesy of James N. Frey, it is. (I must add that this James Frey is not the one who hoodwinked Oprah a few years back, with a "memoir" that turned out to be fiction. I wonder if James N. Frey got some mileage out of that fracas.)

Being me, I have to do everything backwards and begin with How to Write a Damn Good Novel II. Why II, you may wonder. Because I couldn't get my hands on #1 (too many library holds) before I got myself sucked into #2. This guy is, pardon my French, a damn good writer.

Chapter One is titled The Fictive Dream and How to Induce It. Frey lays it all out here and, if you are starting out on a writer's journey, I urge you to read this chapter. Transporting your reader into this fictive dream is what you, as a writer, need to accomplish. You will find all the answers here: