You want to win literary awards.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\nThe list is endless, and it’s pretty clear you’ll be making very different decisions depending on the core purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I always make a “purpose sheet” when I start a new book. I physically write down the purpose, the genre, the core values at stake, the core theme, the main conflict, the audience, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being clear about these things is much more important than it first looks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Use<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I don’t care how many books you’ve written, you’ll probably get stuck at some point. One of the best things to get going again is to look at your purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It serves as both motivation and guidance for what types of scenes should occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is why every successful business has a core mission statement. If every choice you make consistently aligns with your purpose, then you’ll be writing the best book you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As soon as you start adding themes or characters or plot elements that don’t align with your purpose, you’ll get a disorganized, confusing mess. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is why first novels are often bad. You can’t cram everything you’ve ever thought of in a novel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Experienced novelists stick to their core purpose, and this is how great authors get the compliment of a “tightly constructed” novel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They trust their purpose and don’t stray. It takes a lot of maturity and restraint to do this, but the results speak for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How Not to Use<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I know I’m going to get pushback on this one, so let me point out what this is not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m not saying to pick a theme and make a preachy novel that keeps pushing this in every scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, one of the best ways to let your theme emerge with the appropriate amount of subtlety is to never be overt about it while consistently making decisions that keep the theme in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can also have a lot of subsidiary elements. Maybe the novel is cross-genre or it’s an action thriller with some deep philosophical moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These can be done, but it’s important to have one or two purposes stick out as the most important. This way you have a clear way to make decisions and choices as they come up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your novel can’t be all things to all people. When you try to make several things be equally important, it will often come off as a hodge-podge mess. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s usually an accident when a novel achieves more than one thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle <\/em>became a bestseller, but he couldn’t have written that novel with this as its purpose or it would have been an unsuccessful flop in all ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\nConcluding Remarks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
These are just three of many creative writing strategies for fiction writers that I use in writing a novel. I might do some more if people like it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As usual, hopefully, this finds someone and helps them. If you disagree, feel free to disregard it. Everyone’s process is different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n