How to Write a Brilliant Novel: The Easy Step-By-Step Method of Crafting a Powerful Story (Go! Write Something Brilliant) Read Online Free Page A

Ryan , and even Amazing Race .
Home Again, Home Again – Stories about people leaving the world they know, being changed by the experience, then taking those changes home and adapting them to their world. Wizard of Oz, Sweet Home Alabama.
Beast to Beauty – A person is forced to go into a “prison” of some kind. They are finally redeemed, either by an outside liberator, or by personal enlightenment. Snow White, The Sound of Music, The Mighty Ducks, Gladiator.
See the Light – The stories are about people who are forced to re-examinewho they are, or are in the middle of a misunderstanding, and they must find anew perspective to come through it and see the light. The Devil Wears Prada, Return to Me, Chasing Liberty.
    A Tragedy is a takeoff of this type of plot without the happy ending. Macbeth or A Beautiful Mind shows what happens when the hero is sucked into a spell of darkness, the power of the ego. They initially might enjoy a dreamlike success, but in the end the dream turns to nightmare, and they are destroyed.
    Ask:
What is your favorite movie or book? Does it fit into one of the Six Basic Plots?
Study these plots. What makes them different from each other? What makes them the same?
     
    Now, think about your idea. What plot does it fit? Answering this question will help you as you learn the structure of your novel.
Don’t all books have essentially the same basic elements?
    Yes, actually they do.
    So, let’s start with: What makes a great book?
     
    The Four Things all Stories must have:
Theme – What is the story about? What can we learn about ourselves or humanity or life or even God?
Plot – What happens in the story? What choices do the characters make or respond to? What is accomplished or lost?
Characters – Who are the players in the story? They are the ones who live out the story. I’m a firm believer in starting here with the development of your story. We’ll get to this in a minute.
Setting – Where does the story take place? Setting can be a character too. It adds tone, and theme, and can even be a protagonist. And if your novel is a historical book, that is a part of the setting as well.
    Let’s start with the Big Picture: The Theme or the Story Question
     
     

What is a Theme or Story Question?
     
    Theme: Theme is the overall idea of a book or story. The Hunt for Red October is about betrayal and loyalty, about freedom. Return to Me is about eternal love and second chances. Sweet Home Alabama is about forgiveness and discovering your heart. But none of these really answer a question about life.
    A Story Question asks what if ? Most great stories start out with a “what if” question. What if a Russian nuclear submarine disappeared and you thought you knew why? ( The Hunt for Red October ) What if your wife died, and her heart was donated, and you fell in love with the new recipient without knowing it? ( Return to Me ) What if you returned home to divorce your first love, only to discover you still loved him? (Sweet Home Alabama )
    A Story Question, however, isn’t just the momentary “what if.” A Story Question answers a deeper question for us all, a question of the heart or mind. It’s the great “what if.”
    The Hunt for Red October : Can a man from one country know the heart and mind of a man from another?
    Return to Me : Is it possible for a “heart” to pick its recipient and attract the same man twice?
    Sweet Home Alabama : Can you find your soul mate at the age of six?
    These are the questions that drive a story and resonate with readers, making them turn pages.
     
     
    The most important thing in a work of art is that it should have a kind of focus, that is, there should be some place where all the rays meet or from which they issue.
     
    Leo Tolstoy
     
     

So, how do you develop a Story Question?
    Ask:
What is my subject matter? Love, greed, betrayal, loyalty?
What am I saying about my subject? Maybe I’m saying love doesn’t end at death, or loyalty to self trumps