Structuring Narrative Writing
This section on structuring narrative writing probably needs some explanation. After all, plotting a novel is all about structure, isn't it? And you were supposed to be through with the planning by now!
Allow me to explain...
Narrative writing is basically writing that "tells a story" (which is precisely what a novel is).
Structuring that writing means working out how best to present the events of the story - what to focus on, what not to focus on, and so forth.
When you wrote your plot, what you basically created was a series of events, from the first one to the last one. This sequence of events forms the narrative of your novel.
But here is the thing...
Not all events in a narrative are equal. Some are critical and will form your "key scenes". Others might be important to the overall understanding of the story, but dramatically they are pretty dull and will probably bore the readers if you present them as a full-blown scene.
Let's say that a chapter in your novel concerns a man arguing with his wife and then making up with her. How are you going to choose to present these events?
Are you going to write everything that happens - the man returning home, the argument, the making up - as a full-blown scene, leaving nothing out? (It will be a long chapter if you do.)
Or will you focus on the interesting parts, when emotions are running at their highest, and skim over the rest?
Maybe you will decide that the entire thing is not that critical to the overall story and deal with it in a paragraph of narrative summary.
Assuming you do keep it as a scene, are you going to concentrate more on the dialogue or more on the action?
Will you show the readers the viewpoint character's internal thoughts or present the scene more cinematically?
These are the kinds of decisions you will be making when structuring a piece of narrative writing.
Up to now, you have been busy planning every chapter in your novel, and in quite some detail. But although you have worked out everything that happens - what is said, who does what to whom, and so on - you are still free to present this information in any way you choose.
You see, the fact of the matter is that you are not going to be able to include everything in your novel.
If you write every conversation in full and describe every tiny action, your novel will quickly grow to unwieldy proportions.
If you describe every beautiful sunset and every thought passing through the viewpoint character's mind, it will take 80,000 words just to write the first chapter.
And what that means is that you need to make choices...
- You need to decide what to focus on, what to deal with more concisely, and what to cut.
- You need to decide what to state explicitly and what to imply.
That is what writing a narrative with a solid structure is all about - choosing what to home-in on and what to deal with only briefly.
But making choices about how to structure a narrative is only half of the battle. You also need the right tools to be able to put those choices into effect. (If you decide to focus on the beginning and end of a scene, for example, and skip through the dull part in the middle, how precisely does a writer move from scene to summary and back to scene?)
The information below will provide you with everything you need to know.
(Or for an overview of the key points, you can start with The Quick Guide to Plot and Structure.)
Structuring Narrative Writing - The Articles
Writing a Narrative by Showing and Telling
Showing and telling lies at the very heart of good writing. It is mentioned, in one form or another, in all of the articles in this section. And it can truly transform your writing from amateur to professional.
More On Showing and Telling
But knowing how to show and tell effectively is only half the battle. Just as important is knowing when (and when not) to do it. This article explains all.
How to Write a Narrative with Pace
Closely related to showing and telling is the subject of pace. Get this right and you will instantly place yourself head and shoulders above the competition (simply because so many beginners have no idea about the correct pacing of a novel).
The first thing you will need to know to control your novel's pace like a pro is precisely when a novel should move fast and when it should move more slowly.
The second thing to learn is what tools to use to speed up a piece of narrative writing and what tools to use to slow it down again. You will find all the tools you need right here.
Writing Your First Novel to the Right Length
Have you ever wondered how you are meant to write a novel to pre-determined length when you have never written a novel before? The answer, as you have probably guessed, is all to do with showing and telling.
