Here is the golden rule when writing a novel.
Give the reader insight into the lead character’s mind. Let us know what they think and feel.
If someone were to ask you what’s the most important rule in writing what would you say? The answer is straightforward, “insight into the characters mind.” Letting us understand what they’re thinking and understand their motives.
So as we read we can compare and understand their actions to their thoughts. Having the ability to see through a character’s eyes, seeing the world as they do.
In this blog, we will be breaking down what you need to know when writing. And now Here is the golden rule when writing a novel...
HERE IS THE GOLDEN RULE WHEN WRITING A NOVEL
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A novel is different from a newspaper because a newspaper will tell you the basic information of what happened. It gives facts and numbers, but does not tell us “why”. A newspaper reporter cannot tell us because they do not have insight into anyone’s mind. But as a writer, this is where you have the advantage. You can invite the reader in the character’s mind so we can understand what they’re thinking and feeling. Bringing the character to life and not being two-dimensional. Making the novel so much more powerful.
When a crime is committed the biggest question anyone asks is “why.” A news reporter can try to answer the question but we’ll never know, leaving us longing. But a novel is not a quick news report, it’s a journey. The ability to take you places through space and time you couldn’t go in real life. The reader wants more than being told what’s happening. They want insight into the thoughts and emotions into the character’s mind. As a writer, you have the power to let the reader know what is going on behind the eyes. It’s actually disappointing when reading a novel when we do not get insight into what someone is thinking and feeling, not knowing their motivations.
THERE IS A REASON FOR EVERYTHING
As people, we do not do things out of random. There’s a reason for everything. As a reader, you want to know what the reasons are. Even the “bad guys” are motivated by something. Nobody is bad for “no reason.” The last thing you want as a writer is to have the “bad guy” doing something in which the reader has no idea why.
People speak, but they also think and feel. As a writer, if all you do is tell us what someone is saying you’ll be missing out on so much. The reader wants to know what your characters are thinking and feeling. What they are planning. How they’re reacting to events around them. Why they believe they are right in what they do.
GIVE INSIGHT INTO THE CHARACTER’S MIND
In fact, as a writer, your novel does not have to follow the protagonist. You can have the antagonist as your lead, just as long as the reader sees their point of view. The important thing to remember is giving insight into the character’s mind so we understand why they do, what they do. We can never “hover” over a character watching them; we need to see through their eyes.
As a writer, you do not have to have a likable lead character or make the reader agree with them. But we have to understand their motivations. Once we see their thoughts and beliefs we see the novel in a different light. It stops being a “newspaper” and becomes a story.
YOU NEED THE READER TO RELATE AND UNDERSTAND
The last thing you want to do as a writer is have a character who does something leaving the reader in the dark as to why. Your novel becomes a play-by-play like reading a newspaper. But as a novel writer you want your reader to feel, relate, understand, experience, and by having insight into the character’s mind you give the reader a way to see through their eyes.
A reader wants to be pulled into the novel, like a 3-D world coming to life. This is the very reason why we read in the first place, we want to see another world. We want to see, hear, touch taste and experience another world. As a writer, your job is to create that world. Not by only describing the environment, but pulling the reader into the protagonist’s mindset.
STUDYING GONE WITH THE WIND
A great example of this is in “Gone with the Wind”. A book that could’ve easily been 1037 pages of boring talk of the civil war with all the details of the battles with location and numbers. But what we got is a novel that will be read for hundreds of years to come. Why? How could a novel about civil war mean so much to so many? There have been countless books written that take place during the civil war but somehow “Gone with the Wind” still is read today and is loved.
We see Margaret Mitchell right away pulling us into the mindset of Scarlett O’Hara giving us insight into her thoughts and ideas. So we know where she’s coming from. We understand her goals. You may not agree with them, but we understand them.
WE NEED TO KNOW THEIR GOALS
The book could easily have been 1037 pages of Scarlett going about her day trying to achieve her goals and the reader not understanding why her goals mean something to her. If this had happened the book would’ve been boring. No one would have wanted to read it. It would not have been made into a movie. And would’ve been forgotten today. Countless books over the decades have fallen into this trap. Lead protagonists going about their day and the reader not having any insight into who they are or what their goals are. Leading to those books being unread and forgotten in time.
The protagonist’s goal doesn’t have to be major, like wanting to rule the world or being the richest person. A lot of writers seem to think “the goal” has to be something massive. But in “Gone with the Wind” Scarlett’s goal is wanting Ashley, that sounds very basic. In the time of the civil war, all Scarlett wanted was the love on one man who she couldn’t have. And the reader understood this so we followed her on her journey.
UNDERSTAND THEIR MOTIVES
If we had no idea Scarlett wanted Ashley everything she did would mean nothing to us. She would have her goals but as readers, we would be in the dark as to what she’s doing and why. Margaret Mitchell did an amazing job at letting us see through the eyes of Scarlett O’Hara. We feel what she feels, understand what she’s thinking. Understand her motives. We know she being friendly with Melanie because it gets her closer to Ashley. She spends time at 12 Oaks because it gets her close to Ashley. If Ashley wasn’t at 12 Oaks Scarlett wouldn’t spend a second there.
You may or not agree with Scarlett’s goal but we understand them. The funny thing about readers is you may not like the lead character or agree with their goals but you still read on wanting to see how it ends.
WE UNDERSTAND THE ONE THING SHE LOVES
There are two things famous in “Gone with the Wind, Scarlett, and Tara. There’s one thing we know Scarlett does love and that’s her childhood home, Tara. During the war, she makes her way from Atlanta back home and finds her home destroyed and the food-gone. She’s hungry, and swears as God as her witness she’ll never go hungry again.
So from that point on Scarlett does whatever she needs to do to avoid going hungry. She marries Frank Kennedy and runs the mill. She has no love for Frank and even stole him away from her own sister. Everyone in town thinks she’s cold-hearted and mean. But the reader understands her motives for money. Margaret Mitchell let us inside the mind of Scarlett letting us understand her. Even if you disagree at least you can understand.
SCARLETT’S EYES LIGHT UP
There’s a scene in the movie when visiting 12 Oaks she finally tells Ashley she loves him but he says he’s with Melanie and leaves to fight in the war. While disappointed Melanie’s brother Charles Hamilton asks for her hand in marriage, to his surprise she says yes, not because she loves him but she wants to be close with Ashley. After a few months off fighting in the Civil War Charles is killed. She now has to wear all black in grieving. She doesn’t want to wear all black because she doesn’t think it looks good on her. While talking with Mammy she says she wants to be with Ashley and stop grieving for someone she never loved.
A moment later her mother walks past the bedroom and sees Scarlett sad, she believes Scarlett is unhappy because she lost her husband, she says Scarlett should visit 12 Oaks and stay with Melanie. Scarlett’s eyes light up knowing she can now be in the same house with Ashley. She agrees with her mother saying visiting Melanie to overcome her loss is a good idea.
LEAVING THE SCENE MEANINGLESS
The audience knows the truth. They know what Scarlett’s true intensions are, but her mother sees it differently. The scene could’ve played out differently. We could never have been shown the part of Scarlett being sad from having to wear black. The scene could’ve started off with her mother walking past the bedroom seeing Scarlett sad and saying you should go to 12 oaks to be with Melanie with Scarlett saying yes. But the audience would never have seen the bigger picture. The audience would’ve been excluded from Scarlett’s inner thoughts, motives and true intentions. Leaving the scene meaningless.
Sadly, countless stories have this problem. We do not see through the protagonist’s eyes. We see what they do and how they react, but we do not know or care “why” they act the way they do. It doesn’t mean all stories have to be told in “first-person point of view.” Third-person point of view is just fine, but we need to know their motives so we understand.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO AGREE WITH THEM
It doesn’t matter what story you’re writing, be it science fiction, horror, humor, drama. We need to understand the lead characters’ motives and insights into their thoughts and reasons. You don’t have to agree with them but have an understanding of what they are doing.
Reading, “Gone with the Wind” will teach you how to write a story. It’s a long novel but you care about each page. You care about what happens to Scarlett whether you like her or not. If all writers followed this golden rule, books would be selling in the millions each day. But sadly so many novels make the reader feel a mile apart from the protagonist. Leaving reading feeling bored. But when you pull the reader into the novel, and into the mind of the characters you change the book completely. It becomes alive, like stepping into another world.
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