The 4 Cornerstones Of A Novel
When I began writing I could not pinpoint and name the inner workings of a novel. I started to study story building, and I saw that there are 4 main elements used in nearly every novel. They are the cornerstones of a great story.
Character
Find the essence of your character. What is the one thing people would notice about them when they walk into a room? How do they carry themselves? If their personality was described by someone in one word, what word would it be?
Let them have something they’re good at, and give them a flaw. Give them a past trial and/or triumph that influenced who they are today.
Give them a meaningful goal, something they want badly, and set them on the path toward achieving it. Show us what they have to overcome to reach that goal or attain that desire. Characters put into conflict and action are the most engaging.
Above all, make your reader care.
The Struggle
The struggle of your character is what keeps them from reaching their goal up until the end of the story. Give the story an internal conflict to work alongside the external. Your character doesn’t have to be aware of the internal tension at first, or ever, but as the writer you do.
Giving the character a deadline or making them confront a fear increases the tension of the struggle.
The struggle needs to be resolved in some way by the end of the story. Don’t make us care and go the distance only to leave us without a resolution. It doesn’t have to be a happy ending, but give us an ending.
Dialogue
It is a rare story that doesn’t have dialogue. Conversation moves scenes along faster than long streams of narration. Intersperse active description with conversation.
Give your characters their own voice. Let the way they see the world enter their speech.
If your character’s emotional state or beliefs change over the course of the story, show it in how they talk.
The Transformation
A story needs to have transformations, and not just in the overarching plot. Having characters’ relationships with one another change over time is also important.
Give a reason, a ‘why’, behind every change. Don’t give your readers a reason to question if they believe it or not.
The struggle to attain the transformation of character, relationship, and/or environment is the core of a story. Without a transformation your story is stagnant.
Just B. Jordan is an award-winning author of fantasy and sci-fi. She graduated high school a year early and received her first publishing contract at the age of 18. To Ashes We Run is her most recent novel. Find it here.
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