Pace & Narrative Style
The pace and narrative style of a novel is all about holding the
reader’s attention and making them want to turn the page. In Writing A
Novel, Nigel Watts tells us that the reader’s attention will be held mostly
by the author raising intriguing questions and delaying the answer. “Although a
single important question may be enough motivation for a novel, significant
questions should be raised in every chapter.” These ‘questions’ should be
automatically raised as part of the natural flow of the story and the viewpoint
of the narrative/narrator.
It doesn’t matter how good your idea for a
plot, or how charismatic your main characters, if the pace and narrative style
doesn’t hold the interest and sympathy of the publisher’s reader, then the
submission will fail.
Pace
All novels have a time-frame. From ‘A Day in the Life of … ‘ to a grand
epic like War & Peace, that charts a family saga over a number of
years. In Building Your Story: A
Guide to Structure and Plot, Kelly
Michelle Lawrence suggests that this should be one of the first
things you think about when plotting a novel because this can be one of the
easiest ways for a beginner to start. Once you do this, you have parameters to
work within. Your characters must achieve their goals and aspirations within
certain time-limits. And you can plan and pace your plot accordingly.
Many first-time novelists will begin their story much too far in advance
of the actual ‘plot’, which means that the opening impact is delayed because we
are wasting time scene-setting and working up to the real beginning of the
novel. If we are writing an epic, then we can begin at the beginning but if our
story is set within a natural time-frame, we need to cut to the chase to
maintain reader interest.
Whether you set your story over fifty years, five years, five months or
five days the pace is of paramount importance. If the pace is too fast or too
slow, then you will not hook the publisher’s reader. In truth, the passage of
time within the story is often a major problem for new writers because they
find it difficult to balance the time-frame for the beginning, the middle and
the end. Some parts become barren wastelands because there is no purposeful
action; in other parts the passage of years are crammed into a single chapter
because nothing of interest has happened to enhance the plot.
This is where we need to learn the subtle techniques of moving the plot
along. Of course, our characters need to have backgrounds, histories and pasts
to make them credible but we don’t need to clutter up the proceedings in order
to reveal these in chapter and verse.
Firstly, look with a critical eye and decide if your current plot is
really adequate for the length of time in which the story is set in terms of
action. Novels, like life, are made up of peaks and troughs but it would not be
advisable to include every trivial detail just to fill the pages. By using a
‘plotting graph’, try to contain the story within a realistic time-frame with
very little slack-water in between. Your graph should show the high points of
action (with brief notes), with the lows giving the opportunity for character
development and ‘padding’. Even in romantic women’s fiction there should still
be peaks and troughs of action and inaction. The graph enables you to plan when
certain dramatic interludes can be introduced into which chapters, and where
the reader needs a respite from the action. Plot each chapter with as much
attention to detail as the whole novel. Using the technique of introducing
peaks and troughs enables you to decide exactly when you are going to suspend
the action in order to keep the reader in suspense and encourage them to read
on.
The action is the easy part, simply because this is what drives the
story along and it is probably already well-thought out in your head. What we
need to concentrate on now is how to introduce the more intimate and! or
personal details that will flesh out our characters, without holding up the
action. The following are simple devices but they are extremely effective
for adding depth to the character without resorting to lengthy description
and/or narrative.
Flashbacks
A device for giving readers information about a person, place or event
that happened before the novel began. Here a character can have a past memory
triggered by a happening in here and now, which helps the reader to understand
his or her actions or responses to a current situation. Flashbacks enable us to
filter information in a subtle way that does not hold up the action and gives
the reader information on a need to know basis, which can only add to the
suspense — but don’t overdo the sauce and use them sparingly.
Dialogue
Dialogue should always move the story along and if it doesn’t, then it
is superfluous. Again, if you need to inform the reader of something that
happened before the start of the story, then it can be introduced in the form
of a conversation between people. Think in terms of ‘real’ dialogue and how
much information you would give away to a stranger. “Tell me about yourself”
isn’t an invitation to start a pre-school and work your way through to retirement.
Reverie
The use of a character’s thought processes allows us to convey the type
of intimate or personal details that the character may not want to reveal. Often
presented in italics, reverie can be used to express the character’s real
thoughts, while the dialogue is saying something completely different. Reverie
can also be utilised if the character is alone and running over events in their
mind prior to action. It is a method of recalling events that may have been
subtly introduced earlier in the story.
Written Word
A clever way of dispensing with pages of unnecessary scene-setting is
the employment of a letter, newspaper clipping or diary that can speak volumes
about why events have come to pass.
Narrative style
Narrative style or viewpoint is the method we choose to tell the story.
Many beginner novelists start off by writing in the first person but often find
they run out of steam, simply because everything that happens must be seen,
heard and experienced by the character telling the story. Working with ‘I’ very
quickly becomes tedious, since ‘I’ cannot be everywhere at once and commenting
on everyone and everything.
Having said that, author Nigel Watts had this to say: “Because the
readers can know only what the protagonist knows, it is easy for the author to
spring surprises on them. Suspense and tension, therefore, often work well with
a first person viewpoint.”
Third person narrative is much easier to attempt and, depending on the
length and/or structure of the story, we can chose either the third person
single viewpoint or the third person multiple viewpoint.
The third person single viewpoint can be equally as restrictive as
first person narrative. This is less personal but your principal character
needs to be strong enough to carry the whole novel on his or her shoulders. As
Nigel Watts also observes: “In order to make the character credible and authoritative,
you will need to be privy to his or her thoughts, seeing the world through
your character’s eyes. Although it is important to know all your main
characters well, you should know your viewpoint character inside out.”
If using the multi-viewpoint, it is advisable to stick to one at a time,
because the reader will quickly become bored if they are constantly trying to
work out who is doing or saying what, and to whom. Decide which of your
characters will play out a particular scene — and stick to it: the easiest way
to deal with multi-viewpoint is to utilise it chapter by chapter but do limit
the number of character-viewpoints to the main players.
Tense
Novels are normally set in the past or present tense, and alternating
tenses can often be confusing unless some clear demarcation line is
drawn. In a recent submission the author used the present tense to convey
the elderly characters’ thoughts and reflection, and the past tense to tell the
story.
The tense you choose is all part of the narrative style and if you find
that the story isn’t working in, say, the present tense, change it over to
past tense and see if it flows more easily.
Exercises – Session 4
- Describe your reasons for setting the novel
within the chosen time-frame and make a plotting graph showing the peaks
and troughs of dramatic action throughout the chapters.
- Work out a rough estimate of how many chapters
you think your novel will take, and then be honest about whether your plot
is adequate for its length.
- Are there any areas where you feel your novel
shows signs of weakness?
- How many viewpoints do you intend to use
throughout the story? How many ‘main’ characters will be involved? How
well do you know your principal character?
- Is your story to be set in the past or present
tense? Would any purpose be served for using both for added emphasis?
- Do you intend to include any form of humour in
the narrative? Are you using it for the sake of being funny, or is it
intended to be a natural part of the narrative?
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