Hi y’all!

How goes the planning? Does your brain hurt after last week? 😅

I should have mentioned that these questions are important for everyone, not just folks planning to start a new novel. If you’re in the middle of drafting or revising, these questions are just as relevant and answering them can help you gain clarity. So don’t skip them just because you’re already in the thick of things.

I promised some easier questions this week, so let’s get to it.

What’s your genre?

This question can seem simple, but can also send folks into a tailspin because they don’t want to pigeonhole their book into one category.

I’m here to tell you not to worry. Many books contain elements of more than one genre—for example, there might be a romantic subplot playing out within the confines of a thriller or a murder setting off the plot of your novel set in 1830s Spain. Declaring a genre doesn’t mean that you have to eliminate these other elements, far from it!

What it does do is help you and eventually your readers (and perhaps agents and editors in between) determine where your book fits into the greater world. Where does it belong on a library or bookstore shelf? What expectations can and should a reader have when they pick up your book?

A thriller reader is not going to chuck your book out a window because of a romantic subplot. A romance reader, however, will be upset (and rightly so) if they were promised a romantic novel and what you deliver is said thriller.

Think about the primary elements of your story. What’s driving it? You can also think about the ideal reader that you identified last week. You’re writing with them in mind, so what section of the bookstore do they go to first? Where will they go to find your book?

There’s a lot more that can be said about genre. If you have questions about how to figure out your primary genre, drop me a line!

What’s the plot? Where do things start and where do they end?

Write a synopsis, anywhere from 50-250 words, describing the plot of your novel from a ten-thousand foot view.

If you’ve only got a kernel of an idea, now is the time to start expanding upon that. Is it a ‘what if’? There’s your starting point. Think about where you want to end up. How will you answer your question?

Do not get too precious and don’t let yourself get in the weeds on this one—you’ll be fleshing this out a bit and no matter how detailed of an outline you develop, things will change as you get into the drafting.

Try to stay within that word count. It will keep you focused on the key moments and identifying the overall narrative arc. It will also anchor you in time, which will help with the next question.

What’s the timeline?

Are you working on a novel that will span years or even decades? Or does everything happen in just a few days?

The scope of your timeline can help you figure out how tightly paced things will be or whether you’ll need to consider jumping through huge gaps in order to keep your epic to within a reasonable word count (a critical consideration if your aim is traditional publishing).

Similarly...

Where does the narrator stand in time?

Has the story already happened and the narrator is reflecting on it? Or are you taking the reader on a journey with the narrator, experiencing the story events as they happen and seeing the MC reacting and make meaning of the events ‘in real time’?

One of the things I see most frequently in manuscripts that I review is a switch between past and present tense. On the surface, it’s a relatively simple fix to make once the writer has put a stake in the ground about which they want to use.

But if there isn’t an intentional choice made, it shows. It’s a kind of whiplash to read because our reader brains settle in and make meaning of one choice, only to be confronted with another. We’re not sure what to take away from that, what the writer is trying to tell us (because trust me, readers read in good faith that the author has solid reasons for the choices they make and when we find evidence that they don’t, well, that’s when faith is lost and books are put down for good).

There’s no ‘right’ answer; it depends on the voice and style you’re going for. There is a wrong answer, though, and that is, “I don’t know.”

Finally, I will leave you this week with a big but usually fun one…

What is the world?

If you are writing fantasy or sci-fi, you’ve probably already started thinking about this, how the world that you’ll be immersing your readers in differs from the one we live in. It might be that there is only one element that’s different (something magical in the mundane) or you’ve created something completely new and need to acclimate your reader, to explain (without info dumps) what the rules and expectations are for this world.

If you’re writing historical, what is the period you’re writing in? How familiar are you with this period and why have you chosen it? Is there any research you need to do about the language, customs, politics, etc.?

(Side note, someone said not long ago that anything earlier than the 90s could be considered historical fiction. Sob. I wasn’t ready for that, but I guess once the Internet started to blossom we did enter a whole new world.)

Even if you’re writing a contemporary novel, it’s good to set down the parameters. It’s hard to remember now that smartphones weren’t a thing until about 2007. (Yes, this depends on how you define smartphone. I’m an Apple girl and I will not be taking questions at this time. 😜). Our world changed quite a bit in March 2020. What contemporary events has your protagonist experienced? How were they affected by them?

Next week, our last pre-NaNo installment will focus on character and nailing down their arc. Be prepared to do some more hard (but fun) thinking! You’ll be grateful you did on the other side of the frenzy to come.

In other news

My book is going out to betas this week! Thanks to everyone who volunteered to read this latest (and hopefully final, albeit with adjustments based on their feedback) version.

I’m thinking of doing some daily co-writing sessions during NaNoWriMo to keep myself on track. You do not have to be drafting or doing a “typical” NaNo in order to participate. Just show up with a goal and get to work!

We won’t talk at the start, though you can feel free to drop a goal in the chat. You’re welcome to keep your camera on or off. (Mine is usually off because I make weird faces when I write. 😅) Come and go whenever you please. I’ll wrap us up about 5 minutes before the hour and ask how things went; you can answer or not!

Here’s the schedule. All times are ET but I’m doing a variety in hopes that folks from all time zones that want to join will be able to. (Thursday November 23 and Friday November 24 will not have sessions.)

Monday: 9 AM - 11 AM

Tuesday: 3 PM -5 PM

Wednesday: 1 PM - 3 PM

Thursday: 5 PM -7 PM

Friday: 11 AM - 1 PM

I’ll send out a Zoom link with next week’s post but if you’d like to get these sessions on your calendar shoot me a note and I’ll add you to a shared calendar.

Happy planning, friends! You’ve got this.

Cheers! ♥️

Kerry