Kick-Start the Novel – Session 5

Bones & Padding

Writing the first draft of a novel is the easy part. You’ve off-loaded all the ideas, introduced an interesting sub-plot, got all the characters going in the right direction. There have been a few unexpected developments but nothing you couldn’t han­dle — but it still doesn’t work. There’s something missing.

These flaws usually manifest in what is sometimes referred to as ‘the padding’. This is the element of the novel that adds depth and dimension to the story. This does not mean that pages of descriptive narrative can cure the problem because the solution is far more subtle than that.

Firstly, look at the characters you’ve created. Are they real enough for the reader to            em­pathise with their traumas and difficulties, their lives and loves? Have you put too much empha­sis on A’s background, so that it becomes a total cop-out for de­cent feeling? Why are you, the author, justifying B’s reaction to C, when you are condemning D for a similar mistake? Is their story believable?

Which brings us to the plot. Have you explored every­one’s motives? Nobody does anything without a reason, valid or not, so is there sufficient ex­planation for X’s behaviour to Y? Or does it sound hollow and contrived?

Going back to the points covered in Session Three, do you really care what happens to your characters? Because if you don’t, how can you expect the reader to feel anything other than indifference? It’s the interaction between charac­ters that moves the plot along and gets the reader believing in it: if it’s not working then it’s back to the drawing board, I’m afraid.

Long physical descriptions need careful pruning, especially those usually found padding out Chapter One. If your hero­ine’s eyes, instead of being ‘liquid pools of sapphire blue’ were replaced with ‘eyes that developed a slight squint when­ever she was nervous or uncomfortable’, you kill two paragraphs with one edit. Physical description should only be used to imply character (which is why those weekend colour-supplement interviews are such useful study exercises), and add depth to your story-telling. To­day’s readers are more interested in what goes on in a per­son’s head, rather than being told how beautiful the heroine is, so cut the ‘shimmering, long blonde hair’ routine and concentrate more on body language. Spend some time with Desmond Morris’s books on human be­haviour (Old favourites like Gestures, The Naked Ape, The Human Zoo, Man­watching, etc, never let you down!) and broaden your characterisation.  For example: one writer added a tantalising glimpse into her heroine’s character by revealing that her designer clothes and accessories were all expensive fakes. Nice touch because it said quite a lot about the character without saying anything at all!

If you feel your characters have enough padding on their bones to make them real and compelling, what about the location of the action? Again, pages of de­scriptive prose will not necessar­ily give the right atmosphere to draw the reader into the story. A 500-word waffle on the herba­ceous border incorporating the pride of the Sutton’s seed cata­logue, can probably be reduced to the ‘astringent, dew-sharpened scent of …’  Lists of flora and fauna do not a novel make.

Also to be avoided are the Miller’s Antiques Guide or a Pickford’s removal inventory when it comes to describing the interior of a house. Again you cannot create atmos­phere from a furnishings or arts catalogue; neither does estate agent’s parlance pass for good scene setting. Atmosphere is the key word when it comes to location, rather than tedious detail. If you can’t see your location, how can you expect your reader to?  If you’re having problems with your location, invest in a few back issues of magazines similar to Homes & Gardens, or (again) the weekend colour sup­plements. These are real family homes and often reveal the idio­syncrasies of the individual members in the way their per­sonal belongings are casually scattered about. Don’t copy – implement your own ideas. For example: in one Gothic novel the author wanted to get away from the cliché of the old crumbling country house and instead used the idea of a com­bination of styles similar to Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘Falling Water’ and ‘The Storer House’. 1930s Art Deco archi­tecture isn’t usually associated with modern gothic but – so far – it’s working!

Unless you’re familiar with your subject, make sure you have sufficient reference books to hand to fill in the gaps, or take yourself off for a weekend break to somewhere similar to what you have in mind. At one novel workshop, a writer had her story taking place at a large country house, but the biggest stumbling block was the fact that she was totally unaware of how real country families run their houses and therefore the narrative didn’t ring true. The large country house was an integral part of the plot and so I suggested that she change the background to a family-owned period country hotel to prevent any social gaffes being made. These changes also allowed for a greater diversity when it came down to the background of the characters involved.

We’ve also discussed the importance of getting the de­tails right about characters’ job descriptions. These back­ground details also provide an extra dimension and should provide useful side-roads and blind-alleys for the plot to weave along. No detail should be brought into the story unless it has some part to play in moving the story along.  In one murder mystery, the heroine was attracted to a local natural-fence maker but the only reference to this was when she arrived as his work-shop to find him making fences! There was no hint at to why this man should have chosen this pro­fession, or that he loved the out­doors and local wild-life … and he was the hero!

The padding is an important part of the novel but not when it is merely included in order to knock up the word-count. Extraneous de­tail sometimes has to be cut ruth­lessly, even if this goes against the grain of our natural prefer­ences and susceptibilities. Far from inhibiting our fine literary style, however, we could find that cutting actually improves it.  Here are a few suggestions for improving your novel:

Dispense with anything unnecessary. This sounds obvious but what is necessary? Only that which sets the scene, promotes the action, and activates the characters. The rest is ornament – though this too can play a part if used in moderation.

Avoid over-description. Understatement and/or suggestion is often more effective.

Never repeat information, unless for deliberate effect.

Tightening sentences by shortening, especially in passages of tension.

Make the dialogue racy and natural, perhaps by omitting the occasional pronoun.

Don’t sustain description for too long. Once the mood, setting or character is established (as succinctly as possible) forget it. Keep moving.

Avoid slack ‘tell all’ dialogue. Remember: dialogue has three essential functions: To pin-point and develop the character, further the action; usefully explain something previously unknown. Once any of these have been utilised there is no need to go on using the device.

Use cross-conflicts or mini-conflicts along the way.

Make full use of suspense-tension, temporary relief, then more tension.

Intrigue the readers by fresh additions. Hint subtly at things to come but make them wait.

The next stage of your novel is to now sit down and write through to the end. Remember that all the examples given are hypothetical problems, but every first novel is subject to some (if not all) of them, and every author who has ever written a novel has made the same errors in the early stages of their career. So don’t be afraid to admit yours. There is a tremendous satisfaction in completing a novel but as with every form of saleable writing, you need to be much, much more than just a good writer.  The secret is being your own sternest critic!

Exercise – Session 5

Describe briefly what you feel to be the most significant flaw in your novel at this stage of writing?  What do you need to do to put it right?  Are these major flaws, or merely ‘technical hitches’ that can be rectified at a later date as the novel progresses?

Have you put enough time and effort into researching background material for your location.  Give a brief outline, in no more than 300 words, of the principal setting for the story and state why you have chosen this particular location.

Write a reasonably accurate ‘job description’ for your principal character, including qualifications, etc., necessary for the job.  In other words, make it real.

Do you feel that you have enough material, background and focus to carry on with the first draft of the novel?  If you are unsure, describe what you see as the problem?

Roughly speaking, how long do you think it will take you to finish the novel?  Have you set yourself a deadline?  If so, have you taken your family, job, holidays, etc into account?

Are you happy with the changes, alterations, or different focus to the plot from when you first started?