The Breakout Novel Notes

Don't have time to work through Donal Maass' phenominal work book, Writing The Breakout Novel? Here are cliff (Therese?) notes on the book Writing the Breakout Novel workbook. I highly recommend you buy the workbook and work through his fabulous writing exercises, but in the mean time here are the highlights.

Therese Stenzel

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

1. Create a Protagonist who is identifiable and likeable-you need at least one of these in opening scene
1. show something that admirable and heroic
2. a glimmer of humor
3. a dab of ironic self-regard
4. show a special quality

1. Show multi-dimensions to your characters—conflicting sides, make them a study in contrasts. What is your character’s defining characteristic then show them doing the opposite
2. Show your character wanting two opposites (which are mutually exclusive) and tear the character in two directions.
3. Larger than life characters do/say/think what we never would--especially what they swore they never would. On their speech--play up against the prevailing mood of the scene/make sayings bigger, more shocking, more insightful, more romantic, moreover the top, MAKE YOUR PROTAGONIST EXAGGERATED
4. Try a different approach—reverse character motives--often the first reaction is safe and predictable try a reaction that is completely out of character
5. Raise the inner/personal stakes -the reason why the character cares about something, and make the stakes rise throughout the story. Show why (inward motives) he cares and why he cares even more
6. Let your protagonists’ commitment to his goal infuse and underlie all his actions. Let him be driven
7. How does your protagonist regard herself--show some self reflecting thoughts—an honest evaluation of oneself
8. A well-rounded antagonist does not believe they are in the wrong—make them have a good reason for what they do, allow them to justify their actions as working for the good. A sincere antagonist is more powerful--create one that resembles you
9. Use your secondary characters in multiple roles in your story

PLOT DEVELOPMENT

1. Keep the ending in doubt by making failure possible and make some failures happen. Make each problem your protagonist faces worse and worse and worse
2. Your protagonist should have three plot layers—three problems they are facing while trying to reach their goals
3. A node of conjunction is when you weave plot layers together
4. Turning points are pronounced steps moving a story forward. Exaggerate a character’s turning point with a dramatic outward action. Unchanging characters cannot surprise us
5. Life can change in a moment. Show your character’s inner transformation with careful, rich details giving the same focus that you would give to descriptive passages. Your characters need a rich inner life
6. For a story to feel big, big things must happen-- irrevocable changes, hearts opening/breaking, saying farewell to a loved one—create these moments. High moments are what make a story dramatic and memorable
7. The number one reason manuscripts are rejected is lack of tension in the opening pages
8. Watch for kitchen, living room, cars driving, taking baths, drinking tea scenes in the first 50 pages—each scene/page must contain tension by:
1. Subtract allies
2. Deepen conflict
3. Open new dimensions of character

1. Got through each scene in your story and add more tension
2. Describe the physical attributes of a character with things that tell us who they are

GENERAL STORY TECHNIQUES

1. Weather, description, scene setting never make for good first lines/last lines. All first/last lines must contain intrigue
2. Take a single moment in your story and illuminate it’s emotional details and or capture the mood of one moment in the time period of your novel—freezing a moment in time is a highly effective way to heighten the reality of your story
3. Show your characters growing and changing by having other characters stop and notice the change
4. Setting should reveal how the character feels about a place--age, income, personality all affect how they feel about a place
5. Are the voices of your characters ordinary or are they highly colored and specific? Do they each sounds, act, think differently? Give each character a distinct way of speaking to distinguish one character from another