The components of a novel

MsGneiss · Jul 8, 2009

This question is prompted by the "too much dialogue" thread. I want to follow up, and see what other components you all think make up a novel.

I think there's dialogue, action (as in, people moving around doing stuff), description (of setting and people), and introspection (feelings, emotions, greater themes). There could also be some kind of agenda-pushing exposition (political/religious rhetoric from the narrator's perspective). I think that the ratio of those components depends on the particular novel, but they are all there to some degree.

What do you think?

Matera the Mad · Jul 8, 2009

Characters. Conflict. Resolution. Some kind of background. The rest is ketchup and pickles. If it reads good, that's good enough for me. I thankfully left literary analysis behind me when I left school. *whew*

Chasing the Horizon · Jul 8, 2009

The components I divide out are static description, action description, internal thoughts, sensory details, and dialogue. I think that dividing a troublesome scene out like this can help determine why it's not working correctly. Like my old opening scene, which was 22% static description (eeek!) I only do it when I feel like a scene isn't working and can't readily identify why.

GD Marks · Jul 8, 2009

I agree that there are those elements present - dialogue/action/description/introspection.

But you made me wonder, just how important do you think the 'heroic journey' is? And does this warrant a 'component' status?

I always read how character development is so important (and I know it is a good way to write, but what about another way?)

Must the protag 'go on a journey' and end up different somehow by the end? Like King Lear's realisation about love, for example. Personally I like the way Macbeth grabs his destiny and doesn't really change.

Is it bad to have static (but interesting) characters just clash and symbolically/metaphorically 'fight it out'? A novel where no character 'learns anything?

gdm.

MsGneiss · Jul 8, 2009

GD Marks said:
I agree that there are those elements present - dialogue/action/description/introspection.

But you made me wonder, just how important do you think the 'heroic journey' is? And does this warrant a 'component' status?

I always read how character development is so important (and I know it is a good way to write, but what about another way?)

Must the protag 'go on a journey' and end up different somehow by the end? Like King Lear's realisation about love, for example. Personally I like the way Macbeth grabs his destiny and doesn't really change.

Is it bad to have static (but interesting) characters just clash and symbolically/metaphorically 'fight it out'? A novel where no character 'learns anything?

gdm.

I like everything about that, all of that. Really. Heroic journey works so well, or even a non-heroic journey. I think that it's a fantastic literary device, and I can rattle off countless authors who have done it right (don't worry, I won't). My current WIP uses that journey device, and I wonder how it'll turn out, because that's just completely new ground for me.

I think a novel where characters don't learn anything could work great. If the prose is good, I'd definitely read it, be it drama or satire.

Namatu · Jul 9, 2009

Matera the Mad said:
Characters. Conflict. Resolution. Some kind of background. The rest is ketchup and pickles. If it reads good, that's good enough for me.

Tossing in my agreement with this. How much dialogue or description or introspection or whatever else an author uses is dependent on style, the demands of the particular work, and personal inclination. What's important is if it captures readers.

Charlie Horse · Jul 9, 2009

This is funny because it is so dead on the money.

Gotta, gotta compelling protaganist? Yeah? Gotta obstacle for him to overcome? Huh? Gotta story brewing there? Nice little narrative? Beginning, middle, and end? Some friends become enemies, some enemies become friends? At the end your main character is richer from the experience?

What more do you need?

Dark Angel · Jul 9, 2009

Charlie Horse said:
This is funny because it is so dead on the money.

What more do you need?

Seriously, Stewie Griffing know the score. He laid it all out so simply - I guess the problem I see is not what the ingredients to a story RATHER how much of the ingredients should you use and at what time. Do you sprinkle them at the beginning and then mix them up together at the end? Are you the kind of cook that likes to deliver small servings or large spponfuls?

Dialogue/story/characterisation etc are all important but it's more about how you use them rather than the fact that you do use them.

The Stewie and Brian dialogue:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9rv1oJ4Res

SarahMacManus · Jul 9, 2009

Story arc, sub plots, protagonist, obstacles (may be antagonist), character development, climax, theme.

Action, dialogue, inner monologue, etc. may be used in any order or not at all.

scarletpeaches · Jul 9, 2009

Stuff happens.

Then it keeps happening until it stops happening.

Wark · Jul 9, 2009

Stuff you wouldn't want to happen to you, usually.

scarletpeaches · Jul 9, 2009

Wark said:
Stuff you wouldn't want to happen to you, usually.

I write erotica. You do the math.

SarahMacManus · Jul 9, 2009

scarletpeaches said:
I write erotica. You do the math.

I've been digging my reluctant toes into romance. Yeah, I'm with you, sister.

Wark · Jul 9, 2009

Any book is just the same 26 letters repeated over and over in different patterns.

Erotic math? Hmm, my next class would have been Theory of Numbers, which I have no idea how that could cover a semester. Of course, someone will say they have been doing it with imaginary numbers for years. i!

OpheliaRevived · Jul 9, 2009

I'm surprised by the "agenda pushing" element you brought up. Is this seperate from conflict? Explain that to me, I'm a newb.

I think the elements of a good novel are determined by the ration of characters, conflict, resolution, description and narrative. If something is out of balance the book just might suck.

Shadow_Ferret · Jul 9, 2009

The components of a novel: Beginning. Middle. End.

maestrowork · Jul 9, 2009

Shadow_Ferret said:
The components of a novel: Beginning. Middle. End.

Those are structure.

To me, these are the components of fiction, regardless of length:

Tangibles:
- characters
- settings
- plot
- subplot
- scenes
- exposition/introspection
- dialogue
- narrative/prose
- descriptions

Intangibles:
- themes
- conflicts
- resolutions
- intrigue
- suspense
- mystery
- emotions (horror, sadness, joy, dread, yearning, love, hate, etc.)
- relationships
- techniques
- voice
- style
- messages/lessons... "the moral of the story is..."

Technical:
- grammar
- sentence structures
- composition
- structure
- pace
- techniques such as foreshadowing, mirrors, dramatic irony, cliffhanger, etc.

How do you put it all together? Well, that's the art part of the process, isn't it?

Shadow_Ferret · Jul 9, 2009

My mistake.

maestrowork · Jul 9, 2009

GD Marks said:
But you made me wonder, just how important do you think the 'heroic journey' is? And does this warrant a 'component' status?

The hero's journey is only one type of story, and it usually follows similar structures and uses common components (such as character archetypes, conflict and resolution (peaks and valleys), story structures, etc.). Maybe another word for such is "template."

Phaeal · Jul 9, 2009

OpheliaRevived said:
I think the elements of a good novel are determined by the ration of characters, conflict, resolution, description and narrative. If something is out of balance the book just might suck.

OMG, they're rationing characters, conflict, resolution, description and narrative now??? Well, all I can say is: If my stuff sucks, it's the government's fault.

Actually, the idea of rationing fic elements gives me a Kafkaesque bunny. Gotta go corral it.

MsGneiss · Jul 9, 2009

OpheliaRevived said:
I'm surprised by the "agenda pushing" element you brought up. Is this seperate from conflict? Explain that to me, I'm a newb.

I'm a newb too, when it comes to writing. Reading, however, there, I'm an expert.

I was thinking of books where the author uses the plot as a way to emphasize an ideological point. I guess "agenda pushing" has negative connotations, and that's not always the case, although often it is.

For example, Terry Goodkind has a strong political bias which becomes apparent in a most obvious way as the books in the Sword of Truth series progress. It doesn't always have to be as obvious as long rhetoric on the subject from the leading characters, but that is just the first example that I could think of.

Better authors do it in a much more subtle, and thus, effective way. Think of Bulgakov's Master and Margarita, where he used symbolism to address his beliefs about freedom, authority, government, innocense, truth, and various other significant themes. His politics are apparent, but subtly presented throughout the plot. Similarly, Gogol's novel Dead Souls prominently displays his political agenda, but does so through skillful use of narrative and character development.

So, it's not always a bad thing, but I think it's an element that is often there.

maestrowork · Jul 9, 2009

sleepsheep said:
So, it's not always a bad thing, but I think it's an element that is often there.

I don't think it's always there, unlike themes. To me, themes always exist even if the authors are not aware of them. But "agenda" or "message" -- not really. I've heard from a lot of writers who write to entertain. They really don't have any agenda, unless you consider the universal themes such as "good vs. evil" or be "good to others" or "love" to be agendas. To me, it's just the deeper truth of the human condition and I don't consider them agendas. More like reflections.

I think there are distinct differences between themes and agendas.

MsGneiss · Jul 9, 2009

maestrowork said:
I don't think it's always there, unlike themes. To me, themes always exist even if the authors are not aware of them. But "agenda" or "message" -- not really. I've heard from a lot of writers who write to entertain. They really don't have any agenda, unless you consider the universal themes such as "good vs. evil" or be "good to others" or "love" to be agendas. To me, it's just the deeper truth of the human condition and I don't consider them agendas. More like reflections.

I think there are distinct differences between themes and agendas.

Agreed. When I was talking about agendas, I was thinking more along the lines of "libertarianism is good" (Goodkind), "communism is bad" (Bulgakov), or "Catholicism is bad" (Pullman), and so on, but obviously, on a much more complex level.

GD Marks · Jul 9, 2009

maestrowork said:
it's just the deeper truth of the human condition and I don't consider them agendas. More like reflections.

And look where the reflections of Marx led!

One person's reflections are another person's agenda.

One person's reflections are messages to other people. Or can be seen that way anyway.

I agree about 'themes' always being there unconsciously or not, but I'd just have a stronger link between 'theme' and 'message'. I think 'message' is there unconsciously or not too.

And a great list on the components Maestro, methinks I'll be using it to analyse my work!
gdm.

Ruv Draba · Jul 10, 2009

sleepsheep said:
I think there's dialogue, action (as in, people moving around doing stuff), description (of setting and people), and introspection (feelings, emotions, greater themes). There could also be some kind of agenda-pushing exposition (political/religious rhetoric from the narrator's perspective). I think that the ratio of those components depends on the particular novel, but they are all there to some degree.

Here's how I think of it:

A dramatic novel is made up of scenes.

A scene is made up of locations and characters and situations, goals and conflicts and resolutions. Scenes can be delivered through description or dialogue, and in them you can also choose viewpoint.

Those scenes come together into story if they build through-lines that show how characters develop. If that happens then you'll get plot and themes for free. Stylistically you may choose to limit viewpoint too. Once you have through-lines then you'll also have external and internal stakes, external and internal changes which allow extraspection and introspection.

A setting is used to help the reader understand the context in which locations, situations characters and conflicts exist. In a similar way, backstory helps orient the reader against the story.

Because stories exist in the context of other literature there are also genres and tropes. Genres amass dramatic and stylistic conventions that achieve certain effects. Tropes are dramatic elements that recur in genres particularly, but in drama generally. The Hero's Journey is an assembly of tropes supporting writing about adventures -- which is a lot of fiction.

The purpose of publishing fiction can be to entertain, inform, provoke thought or persuade -- or some combination of these.

The components of a novel

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