The Key Element Your Novel Is Probably Missing
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
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Is your story really as engaging and interesting as you think it is? As a professional book editor, I’ve worked with hundreds of authors who have gotten feedback that their story just isn’t landing with readers, and I know how difficult it can be to figure out why. Today, I’m revealing one of the top reasons why your novel might be falling flat - and offering some tactical tips you can use to transform your story into the gripping page-turner you want it to be.
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GREAT BOOKS ABOUT WRITING/PUBLISHING:
Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer / amzn.to/3VE8dtt
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody / amzn.to/3Vyk2Bn
Before and After the Book Deal by Courtney Maum / amzn.to/3Z4at03
SOME OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS:
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones / amzn.to/3vvWItt
Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips / amzn.to/3CFz4Pt
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid / amzn.to/3CjFFi5
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MORE WRITING ADVICE:
The ONLY Way to Plot a Novel (It’s Easier Than You Think!): • The ONLY Way to Plot a...
Is Your Novel Boring? Here’s How to Tell: • Is Your Novel Boring? ...
The Secret Behind EVERY Bestselling Novel: • The Secret Behind EVER...
HOW TO RAISE THE STAKES IN YOUR STORY:
01:52 - The stakes are too low
03:35 - Create a personal connection
05:47 - Make the situation dire
07:33 - Craft a secret
ABOUT ME:
My name is Alyssa Matesic, and I’m a professional book editor with nearly a decade of book publishing and editorial experience. Throughout my career, I’ve held editorial roles across both sides of the publishing industry: Big Five publishing houses and literary agencies. The goal of this channel is to help writers throughout the book writing journey-whether you're working on your manuscript or you're looking for publishing advice.
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Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. - Jak na to + styl
I can't believe I've only just discovered your channel. You give critical advice from the perspective of an industry professional without all the filler and excessive self promotion I often see. Thank you!
This is the only authortuber quite like this. It should be called publishtube
If you don't already know them, you might also like; Ellen Brock (editor), Quotidian Writer (writer), Writing For Screens (screenwriter but mostly relevant to any writer), Corey Mandell (screenwriter, writing coach), Brandon Sanderson (author) & Writing Excuses podcast (authors), Shannan E Johnson (writing coach), Script Sleuths (script/writing analysis).
She's my wife
@@AA-nx8ki hands off bub
Your dog flopping over your pillow stole the show. More doggo!
Nice advice. I particularly liked your emphasis on making the stakes personal to the protagonist.
Alyssa, I love your videos with their GREAT publishing/writing advice! Also, you are a beautiful presenter (a nice bonus), BUT I gotta say: your doggo is even cuter! Him/her being back there raised the stakes. Will it get up again? Will Alyssa acknowledge its presence? How long can it sleep? Is it Alyssa's doggo? How hungry is it? Why is there suddenly a mysterious doggo in Alyssa's video?
The only feedback I've received are form emails stating that my novels aren't for them, that publishing is subjective, and it might appeal to one of the many agents out there.
You're so right. Make it matter are the names of the veins of the novel. We're human beings. So we must be engaged - or else who cares? It's a matter of constructing and switching on reasons and feelings which make the stakes matter so much that the reader has to know how this thing pans out. And above all make sure the climax isn't an anticlimax. Hold back on playing your strongest cards. Make them wait.
😅 I had to smile when you spoke about secrets and stakes...my books title is "Secrets. .." and a bit more, but I don't want to mention it here, lol. And the stakes...oh boy, yep, they have a lot to lose if their secrets are exposed, and they are. 😅 Thanks dear Alyssa, love your channel. ❤
This video makes me want to go back through slice of life mangas to see how they keep engagement with seemingly "low" stakes. I feel like it might lie in their internalization, and we see how the events are affecting the character's emotions and view of themselves?
"Having personal stakes or a secret" - well seems like my story for sure can catch readers attention on that regard with both of them incorporated in the natural story. One less problem to solve at least. Thank you for all your knowledge. :)
Thank you for getting this out in under ten minutes.
Succinct and valid points: Thank you.
You are great❤❤❤
Thank you for making these!
Alyssa, your videos, like this one, consistently provide helpful, practical, insightful writing advice -- even if your adorable dog in the background doesn't think so!
Good stuff!
Very helpful and informative to building a story and keeping the interest of your readers. 👍
AH Alyssa, this is what I have been stuck on for eons with my book. I am so glad you validated my dilemma! I always thought it was just me being a perfectionist or over thinking things. I remember once in my 6th grade writing class, my teacher wrote what he loved about my writing is that I always included "whys." I supposed it is still with me. You see, I have it all figured out and have for a while, except this! It has always been my issue. In my novel I am trying to come up with a reason why the protagonist wants to help another person. He is a stranger, so no familial ties. Oh how I wish I had someone to hash it out with. Each time I ask my husband "Hunny, why does she want to help him so much?!" He is of no help, haha. It can't be simplistic that she is just altruistic, or bored. There has to be a legit reason. I just need to figure it out!
I know this comment was two months ago, and you probably have it figured out by now, but here are the two things that came to my mind… 1: Could someone have helped her in the past and she wants to ‘pay it forward’. Or 2: Maybe SHE should have helped someone, but didn’t, and now feels guilty. Just a thought! Good luck with your book!
@@melodygreen3978 Hi Melody! That second suggestion is exactly what I have been toying with. It actually plays in so well and feels authentic. I don't know why I am stuck with that, I think perhaps the reason that it works so well I am still hashing out if I want that reason to be there. One other thought was to maybe have some sort of intrigue. Some sort of mystery that is only tied to her (such as, maybe once she had a dream of him, or perhaps he knows something about her that no one knows, yada).
@@adelaideelfie4922 That sounds very interesting, I love intrigue!
After getting countless rejections, I had to ask around what's going on. Turns out my blurb isn't compelling to agents. I hate blurbs with a passion that I even pay someone to get it done for me but looks like to no avail. Now I have tried to rewrite it and as expected, it went from bad to worse from feedback I've gotten.
Hey Alyssa! Thank you for everything. Can you submit two separate manuscripts (not from the same series, obviously; different books) to agents as a debut author seeking agent representation? Or is it recommended to query just one?
I hear what you say that my main character must have a steak in the story, they have something to gain or lose. I write in a police procedural style and don't see personal stakes in the story. The detective's job is to solve the crime. Very rarely does a detective have a personal level other than doing his job well. I want my story to seem realistic and not a lot of baggage/drama
When are we dating?
i feel like you are grasping for straws.
like... this... is a topic that you wanted to talk about, but you can only give the vaguest possible definitions without tangible sense of your own personal accomplishment in doing this.
it seems like you are approaching this as more as an editor, reviewing other people's work, but not necessarily the craft itself.
telling people "make a personal connection to it" is, honestly, bullsugar.
it is.
seven: (i don't really remember it and only remember the story more from what other people said, so... yeah. grasping for straws) brad pitt has a wife. morgan freeman meets her. they have a nice dinner, and maybe someone will open up about something.
and SPOILER. the wife is involved at the end. you have a personal connection.
the average audience member who is ready to stop thinking when a movie starts playing or stops playing will get to go "oooohhhh, daaaaannngg, hisss wifffeee".
but, i'm like. who cares?
so what?
you wanted me to meet her. sympathize with... what? she was nice to morgan freeman? she seems like a really nice person???
PERSONAL CONNECTION.
yet i don't feel the stakes.
they're just on a hunt... and there is no particular change that makes me go... "oh, brad, buddy boy. i know you had some issues. some career trouble. some life trouble. finally maybe opened up to morgan freeman. maybe wanted to go set things right with the wife in the alternate story in my head where she was made a more important character instead of just getting FRIDGED."
but. it's. just.
flat.
for me.
again. personal connection.
still boring. still not invested. in my head... i can rewrite a few scenes, or maybe add a few to make the wife a constant sub plot of tension that is, suddenly, subverted in a shocking and gruesome way that aligns with the rest of the tone of the story.
...
your golden goose of advice, "personal connection", isn't some bullet proof hack. i would argue that it is BAD ADVICE.
because you are not, actually, addressing (let alone, seeming to recognize) why it should matter to the audience.
because you don't know.
because you're grasping for straws.
here. since i'm salty and bored and insecure about my OWN accomplishments that i feel a need to offer advice to people who don't care... or, quite frankly, even WANT to understand...
let ME... tell YOU... how an author should, quote on quote, "raise the stakes".
... you ready? is it about to be as cheesy as your own... advice... that feels like a faint wisp of wind?
have a philosophical conflict.
let's say that your protagonist believes in one perspective of the world, and then you have the antagonist who believes in another. you can have conflicting personal ideologies DRIVING their purpose in a story.
and, you, or whoever is the author, is the puppet master, making everyone talk and dance, changing scenes, controlling when the lights go on and off on the stage.
and... if we have the main character have a CENTRAL DRAMATIC QUESTION, which drives the story from the beginning, and then you have escalation of tension of RESOLVING that central dramatic question through reveals and complications...
you can then use your character's PHILOSPHICAL CONFLICT to help establish the theme reflected in the story through their character arc itself.
and, WHEN, you might ask, would you DO with this character arc that is based on a philosophical conflict?
you PROVE that your character has or has not changed with the climax, leading to a resolution... that further reflects on the deeper "theme" of life that the audience can walk away with.
THAT... is how you show PERSONAL STAKES.
as an EDITOR... you can say... "hey, have you thought about giving your character a clear philosophical conflict that helps define their character arc, which is then proven to the audience at the climax?"
i am starting to call it the "climax revelation", but it's really to help remind me my personal goal in constructing a cohesive and tightly constructed story. it's not to make waves.
the only waves i want to make is telling people who don't seem to know what they're talking about... when they are industry professionals. because you are NOT the only one.
HERE IS ANOTHER SEPARATE AND SLIGHTLY RELATED COMPLAINT:
ask ten authors what plot is? wow. look at that. ten different answers.
ask them what an act is. go on.
then a scene.
then a beat.
doesn't matter if they are authors or screenwriters. screenwriters follow a more rigid guideline because of the demands of the industry.
meanwhile, an author just gets to SPEW their ideas onto pages.
even if someone should tell them that their book needs to be trimmed to half their word count.
WHY DO INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS FAIL TO SEEM TO UNDERSTAND...
...
THE BASICS OF THEIR *OWN* CRAFT?
oh, yeah. because they're all just making it up.
so instead of your "personal connection", you can have, instead...
1. philosophical conflict
2. character arc related to philosophical conflict
3. climax that proves to the audience what kind of character arc it is
and you can have... ALL different kinds of stories... character studies... genre subversions... whatever.
but. you. have. made. the. story. efficient.
the character has purpose, whether the audience, consciously, understands it or not.
not your "PERSONAL CONNECTIONS".
jeez.
...
tldr: personal connections is just a cheesy way to try to elicit sympathy from the audience. the problem is that you are leaving it in THEIR control. when YOU are the magician. you control the details to make a lie seem like magic.
don't rely on the audience to do the emotional work. you have to lead them on bread crumbs and a roller coaster ride to distract them before they get to the end before they know it.
a tightly constructed story with a strong sense of underlying purpose that is not explicitly stated to jerk the audience out of any possible sense of immersion... is YOUR responsibility as an author.
i would say that it is YOUR job, as an editor, to remind the authors.
but, even if you seemed to know what you are talking about, i doubt that the 1) authors would care or 2) the people that pay you (i assume a company who is working with the author and assigned you to them).
i shake my head, but it's like shaking my fist at the moon for being in the sky.
of course, no one know what the fudge they are talking about.
our society and civilization is built off lies and dominance of who takes control through their lies or not.
we are trained to ignore it.
it is never about a cause. it is only about convenience.
... what am i talking about?
oh, yeah. that no one knows what they're talking about.
i'm sorry for being rude. you seem like a super nice person.
i'm sorry.
hahaha, what a troll! Seems like you didn't even understand Se7en or its characters, and here you are lecturing another channel. The one who is 'vague' here is you; thinking that complaining about one movie is equivalent to credible counterargument. The advice given is perfectly sound. It's not supposed to be a detailed breakdown of stakes and writing, but to get the writer to take a closer look at their existing characters and plot and figure out how to improve it.
"because you don't know."
The way writers get the audience to care about a character is by showing what they want, and what's important to them. That's writing 101. If you do that right, the audience is automatically invested, and the audience will forgive a lot of flaws provided you can maintain that interest. That doesn't mean that every subjective opinion is the same, since not everybody wants the same thing. People have different life experiences that they bring to situation (including entertainment and stories) so they respond in different ways. You not being able to remember Se7en properly and subjectively disliking it, isn't equal to understanding writing technique. And you claiming someone else 'doesn't know' because you don't know isn't an example of sophisticated commentary or analysis. Nowhere in the video was it claimed these three points were 'bulletproof hacks' and this is exactly the kind of lazy exaggerated accusation that the internet is full of these days.
If you tried, you could have made your post into something insightful, or at least interesting, but instead you chose to make it aggressive and accusatory, which helps nobody. Please, stop attacking channels in this way, because it doesn't help you, or anyone reading the comments.
@@Ruylopez778 you changed your username? to something more generic?
ok. too bad you don't seem to understand any of my points and you want to make yourself sound... hmm.
it's ok. it's not my problem you don't get it.
feel free to clutch onto the hollow and shallow advice from people that you want to listen to.
that's perfectly valid.
and attacking channels?
you mean, telling my honest opinion?
clearly?
in detail?
so, you can see my points and what points of the other person i am addressing?
yeah. definitely NOT insightful or interesting.
i can be a troll. and you can be a simp.
we can all be happy.
The moment you say: "This is not about creating melodrama for melodrams sake," Luca lays down behind you. Now we have his professional opinion that this is the most important thing to think about 🦮