This is the second part of a blog on approaching a book like a writer. The first part can be found here.
The best way to learn how to write a novel is to pull some apart and analyze how they were put together. Here is the second part of things to look at during your dissection:
Motivation and Reaction
This is a writer way of saying cause and effect. Something happens in the story and the characters react. In acting, this often carries an admonition to avoid anticipation. In other words, you wouldn’t have your character answering a phone without it ringing first or crossing the room to answer a door that no one has knocked on. Every character needs motivation to move throughout the story. Most often that motivation is a reaction to something that has occurred. Or they have an internal motivation and the rest of the characters react. It is a direct causal relationship.
Can you identify the motivation and reaction within specific scenes in the book you are analyzing? Since this makes up story logic on a small scale (i.e., within the beat of a scene), it is important to recognize when it is happening.
Beyond identification, though, you need to make sure motivation and reaction are happening in the correct order. The knife goes in before blood appears. The character raises anchor before sailing off.
Make sure your sentences are ordered correctly too. Knife first then blood. Phone ringing before answering. Don’t flip the sentences, such as: she answered when it rang. In the mind, we focus on the first thing mentioned and while you provide the cause after, it sounds wrong and could confuse your reader, especially if you are focusing on something more complex than a ringing phone. Maintain the order even at the smallest level to keep things ordered and understandable.
Language
Break down how the author uses language. Do they write in a conversational manner or a more formal voice? Do they use literary devices, such as simile, metaphor, or personification? Do the characters speak in a way that matches their situation and background? Or do they all sound alike? Does the author use strong verbs or weak adjectives? How could the language have been better? More descriptive? More grammatical? Stronger?
POV
What POV did the author use? Was it effective? Did you feel like you knew all the characters or did the POV get in the way? Did the author use deep POV? How did the POV affect how the story was told? Would another POV have worked better? Try writing a scene in another POV to play with it. See if you can figure out why the author chose the POV she did. This will help you get a better handle on choosing POV for your stories. Each choice has its consequences on the story. The best one to use is the one that best serves your story.
Character Arcs
Do the characters change through the course of the story? Do they grow, learn or remain stagnant? Is there an evolution from where they started the story to where it ended? Did it make you care more about them? Were they full characters or superficial tropes? Can you identify their particular traits and motivations?
Characters are the point of any story. They are how readers engage with a story. We need strong characters to hook us and keep us reading. Dissect the books you read to discover who these characters are. Are they weak or strong? Do they have a backstory? Do they have a goal? A challenge or antagonist? What are the obstacles they encounter? Is there tension? How much? Great characters need to be real, strong, fully developed, face high risk situations, and have realistic dialogue for them. Heroes need to be flawed and villains have to have some redeeming qualities. All good or all evil is boring and flat.
Pacing
How did the author use pacing to get you turning pages? Was it a fast-paced story or a slower burn? How did the author make the pacing work or not? The best books have a pace that matches the story. Thrillers are fast-paced, while historical novels can be slow (though not always). The pacing should be in keeping with the voice, story and time period.
Theme
Was there a theme that held the story together? Was there an underlying message or subtext running below the plot that was separate from the theme? Did you see any use of symbolism in the story that enriched your experience reading it? Theme can help hold a story together, especially complex stories with lots of characters, subplots or active scenes. It should be organic to the story and grow from the story itself. Most of the time authors don’t even realize the theme until the first draft is complete. Others insert it into the plot early on. It depends on the author. Was the theme obvious? Was it preachy or did it feel natural to the story and characters? Why?
Analyzing books to reveal their basic parts is immensely helpful for writers. It is worth the time to break apart those books and authors you love and those you don’t. Find out why you want to throw the book across the room or read it every year like clockwork. Discover why you feel that way. Look at how the authors create their stories and tuck those lessons away to use in your own writing.