Hi there, hello!
What’s this?
I made the story tree because I want to share the process of writing a novel. Let me clarify - not how to write any novel, or your novel, but how I’m writing this novel.
And so, the story tree gives me a visual. It started as a black outline, seen above. As the story takes shape, I colour in another section, write in some of the details I’ve uncovered along the way.
I’ve got to put down roots, first of all. That’s all the parts that don’t go in actual story itself. I’ve got seven main branches within the root system there. What do you think is in there?
World building items, character building, whatever level of outline I choose to use? Yep, sure all of that. Also the genre, the working title, ideas for the tagline that will go on the front cover, the blurb for the back cover.
But that's all publishing and marketing stuff, isn't it? Isn't that putting the cart before the horse? Nope! Not to me. (We’ll chat more about those items soon enough.)
Root 1: First off, I’ve got “WHO”. Not "who" is in the story, not yet, but WH0 am I writing for?
Let me check in here: are you thinking, "well, I want to write a book that’s for everyone!" ?
Great, love the enthusiasm. But I’ve been-there-done-that and, here’s the thing: a book designed for everyone ends up being for no one. Often you end up a with a bowl of bland mush, like unflavoured, overcooked oatmeal. Other times you mix in a different story element designed to please every person you’ve ever met, and you end up with a chaotic, indecipherable mess.
(And when I say 'you', I'm really talking about me, in the not-too-distant past.)
So I want to keep one ideal reader in mind, and craft the perfect book for that one person, specifically. (It’s really helpful if I like this person. Ideally quite a lot. I'm going to be working on a book for them for months on end, right?)
Knowing this person, having a clear picture of them, is going to help with so many decisions along the way. What level of language to use, what type of humour will fit, how intense or explicit to make the violence, how am I going to treat the romance lovey-dovey stuff?
For this book, the Ideal Reader is my sister. (She was also the IR for book one in the series - I’m hoping that keeping the same Ideal Reader throughout the series will keep it feeling consistent.
One of the things this helps me define is genre. Here it is: I’m writing a cozy mystery, with a dash of paranormal magic. This gives me a whole set of rules and expectations to work with.
Anybody cringe at that idea? All the rules and expectations, I mean.
Isn’t this art, for goodness sake!? First off, I’d argue it’s craft. More to the point, the limitations of rules and expectations? They actually help the art. They keep me focused, give me a direction.
You know, I used to be a musician. I mean, I still am, but I used to be too, and people used to pay me to make music. (There's a saying that all writers wish they were musicians. What do you think about that?)
Anyway, when I was musician, no one ever said, ‘ugh, playing in tune?! keeping the beat?! Isn’t that a little…cynical, commercial?”
No, because making art means knowing the rules, being CAPABLE of following them, and then when you decide to bend or break them, you’re doing it with purpose, you’re enhancing whatever effect you’re going for.
So, in a cozy mystery, I:
keep the language clean
use a small town setting
an amateur sleuth (the main character is not a real detective; that’s a different genre)
only imply any scenes of, ahem, unbridled romance-y passion. Which is to say, they happen “off stage” (personally, I keep the romance angles to a minimum, and so far I haven’t uncovered a story that requires any racy details.)
keep the murder off-screen, and the description of the body isn’t too gory. I might need to describe its position, the setting around it, to help create a solvable mystery. I don’t need the nasty details to get a reaction from the reader; I can relay the protagonist’s emotions and physical reactions. I can portray the reactions of the townsfolk too.
Okay fine, you talked me into it. Root #2 is the title! Wordplay or alliteration are big in the cozy genre, so we’ve got a few options for working titles here: Book 1 was called Masking for Trouble, Book 2 is Ready To Fry, and options for book three include: Better Off Bread, Sugar & Shotguns, Surf & Turf War, and Baking Out the Competition.
I'm only going to use one of those, but the others help me define the story too.
When the story starts to wander off track, I can reacquaint myself with the WHO - my Ideal Reader, including their fave genre, and the title. Then, bam! It's a cinch to get that book baby back on course.
If you’re a writer, what genre are you working in? Readers: what’s your fave genre to read?
Okay! Thanks for checking out the story tree with me. We’ll do roots 3 and 4 next time, maybe even 5.
Oh yeah, there'll be a video version of this on The Common Novelist Youtube Channel as soon as I get all that figured out.
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