Three important questions to ask yourself about your novel 🤔

Hello friends!

Did you make your November writing (or revising) plan? Have you blocked out time on your calendar and told your friends and family that this time is non-negotiable? If you did, AWESOME! If you didn’t, get after it. There’s still time.

As promised, this week we’re going to take a look at a tried and true planning tool that I use in both my own writing and my coaching practice: the Blueprint for a Book.

This tool was developed by my mentor Jennie Nash at Author Accelerator. She has adapted it for non-fiction and memoir and has released fantastic books that walk through each step in great detail. I highly recommend the books but they’re not a requirement. Since my focus (and great love) is fiction, that’s what we’ll be focusing on.

Specifically, we’re going to drill down on some key elements of the Blueprint that will be guideposts to you as you craft your plot and character arcs. I think of these big-picture elements as your Novel Strategy.

Why do you want to write this book?

This is a big one and might feel intimidating. Don’t let it. While I would never say that you shouldn’t want to change the world with your book (go for it!!), your ‘why’ doesn’t need to be that big.

What you’re going for is to clarify for yourself the reason(s) that you want to dedicate hundreds of hours over the next weeks, months, and honestly years to write this book.

What is your connection to the subject matter, the themes, the characters, the events that you want to write about?

What, if any, unique expertise or perspective do you bring to the subject matter? (None is not a disqualifier, but be prepared to learn. ♥️Research.)

For example, part of my ‘why’ for my pirate novel is that I don’t think there are enough stories of real women in history out in the world and I wanted to do a small thing to change that, especially about a woman who was doing things that were outside the typical gendered expectations of her time.

So what is drawing you to this story? Why do you feel compelled to tell it?

Give yourself plenty of time and space to explore this. Journal, do a mind map, dump a whole bunch of words and phrases and whatever else comes to mind onto the page. There are no right answers here.

However, I do want you to review your output when you feel like you’ve really connected with the question. In all of what you’ve written, is there a way to distill it down to one or two sentences? Write that out.

Think of this as your book’s mission statement. When your motivation is flagging or you’re not sure about which way to go with a story question, come back to this statement. Let it re-energize you and help direct you.

What’s the point?

Hehe, my book coach Dani can speak to how much writer Kerry kind of hates and resists this question but book coach Kerry believes it is REALLY important. When we worked on this for my pirate novel, there were tears. There were angry protests that I didn’t want to pigeon-hole or put labels on my book, as I am generally not a fan of labels or pigeon-holing anything. Dani gave me a lot of grace and demonstrated her patience and genius in asking me the right questions to get me to commit.

Lots of people struggle with this, especially with concerns that what they come up with sounds too ‘generic’, too trite, too simplistic. Guess what? THAT’S THE POINT. (Sorry, I went there.) This is one time when cliches are not only okay, they’re encouraged.

For example:

• Love conquers all/love triumphs over evil.

• Before you love others, you have to love yourself.

• Vulnerability does not equal weakness; it is actually a strength. (This was a point I identified for my book, though not my final one.)

Think about these examples. Are there books that you’ve read that illustrate them? What was the point of the last book you’ve read?

Another other reason folks struggle is that articulating your point forces you to put a stake in the ground. It asks you to take a stand, to assert your opinion, and sometimes that feels uncomfortable.

Here’s some good news: your point can change. You may get halfway through or finish a draft entirely and realize that your story has actually ended up with a different point. That’s fine! Take down that old sticky note and make a new one. Usually, it won’t be quite as drastic as that…the creative process has helped you to drill down on your original point and you can get more specific or tweak as needed.

Who is your ideal reader, or who are you writing for?

You know that expression, if you try to please everyone, you’ll end up pleasing no one? Or more specifically, Kurt Vonnegut said, “Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.”

Hard to put it better than that. 🤣

It is true, though—if you try to write a book that appeals to a universal audience, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be a hot mess, a hodgepodge of ideas that doesn’t come to a satisfying conclusion.

Think about the most popular books, movies, or music out there today. For every fan of said creative endeavor, I guarantee there is at least one other person who can’t stand it or thinks it’s the worst thing in the world.

This question also helps you determine where your book fits into the marketplace.

I’m a bit skeptical about drilling down too hard on demographic info for reasons, but if it feels important to defining your ideal reader, by all means, go for it. However, it might be more helpful (and more fun!) to think about:

• What is my ideal reader’s favorite book and why?

• What is their favorite TV show and why?

• What issues does my ideal reader care about?

You can also apply some of the same questions to this as with your characters:

• What do they want (in their books and/or in their lives)?

• Why do they want it?

• How is my book going to help them get this thing they want or how will it change them?

Think big here! No one needs to see this but you.

My ideal reader cares about women and wants to read stories about strong women. They will be inspired by those stories and hopefully identify with them, regardless of their own gender identity. They’re also interested in people who don’t fit the mold, who like to subvert expectations, who celebrate their own and others' individuality.

That’s pretty specific, no? This doesn’t mean that someone who might not identify themselves by the terms above can’t or won’t enjoy my book. All that is frankly beyond our control as writers. But when I have a question about plot or character arc, this is one more metric by which I can measure what the right answer may be. Does this choice serve my ideal reader?

To wrap this up…

Note that these concepts work together to make your book unique and yet relatable. We are combining elements of the universal human experience with the unique perspective that each individual writer brings to the table to create something magical—your book!

Whew! As you can tell, I feel pretty strongly about these foundational questions and I promise that time spent answering them is time well-spent.

Next week, we’ll get into some more concrete aspects of planning. Fewer brain teasers! 😜

Cheers! ♥️

Kerry