Writing the Breakout Novel

Writing the Breakout Novel

by Donald Maass
Writing the Breakout Novel

Writing the Breakout Novel

by Donald Maass

Paperback(1ST)

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Overview

Take your fiction to the next level!

Maybe you're a first-time novelist looking for practical guidance. Maybe you've already been published, but your latest effort is stuck in mid-list limbo. Whatever the case may be, author and literary agent Donald Maass can show you how to take your prose to the next level and write a breakout novel - one that rises out of obscurity and hits the best-seller lists.

Maass details the elements that all breakout novels share - regardless of genre - then shows you writing techniques that can make your own books stand out and succeed in a crowded marketplace.

You'll learn to:

 • establish a powerful and sweeping sense of time and place
 • weave subplots into the main action for a complex, engrossing story
 • create larger-than-life characters that step right off the page
 • explore universal themes that will interest a broad audience of readers
 • sustain a high degree of narrative tension from start to finish
 • develop an inspired premise that sets your novel apart from the competition


Then, using examples from the recent works of several best-selling authors - including novelist Anne Perry - Maass illustrates methods for upping the ante in every aspect of your novel writing. You'll capture the eye of an agent, generate publisher interest and lay the foundation for a promising career.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781582971827
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date: 08/15/2002
Edition description: 1ST
Pages: 272
Sales rank: 205,454
Product dimensions: 5.85(w) x 8.97(h) x 0.70(d)

Table of Contents

Foreword1
Introduction5
You Have the Power to Break Out
How to Use This Book
Chapter 1Why Write the Breakout Novel?15
The Truth About Book Publishing
The Truth About Authors
The Myths of Success
The E-Revolution
Where to Go From Here
Chapter 2Premise33
The Stories That You Love
Four Facets of Three Great Novels
The Little Components of Big Ideas
Build It and the Breakout Premise Will Come
Brainstorming the Breakout Premise
Chapter 3Stakes59
Creating High Human Worth
Public Stakes
Personal Stakes
Escalating Stakes
Your Own Stakes
Chapter 4Time and Place81
The Psychology of Place
Keeping Up With the Times
Working With Historical Forces and Social Trends
God at Work in the World
The Secret Ingredient
Chapter 5Characters103
Real People vs. Larger-Than-Life Figures
What Makes a Character Larger-Than-Life?
Dark Protagonists
The Highest Character Qualities
Building a Cast
Advanced Character Relationships
Sidekics and Narrators
Depth and Differentiation of Character
Chapter 6Plot133
Conflict
The Five Basic Plot Elements
Bridging Conflict
What is the Worst That Can Happen?
High Moments, Turning Corners, Killing Characters
Structuring Plot
Larger Plot Structures
Chapter 7Contemporary Plot Techniques163
The New Shape of the Novel
The Character-Driven Story
Self-Discovery in the Plot-Driven Novel
Nonlinear Narrative
Tension on Every Page
Chapter 8Multiple Viewpoints, Subplots, Pace, Voice, Endings181
Multiple Points of View
Successful Subplots
Narrative Pace
Voice
Endings
Chapter 9Advanced Plot Structures199
Families, Groups, Generations
Thrillers
Crossover Fiction
Whole Life
Historicals
Out-of-Category Romance
Linked Short Stories
Inventing Your Own Advanced Plot Structure
Chapter 10Theme229
Having Something to Say
Step-by-Step Theme Building
Symbols
Becoming Passionate
Right and Wrong in the Novel
The Protagonist's Declaration of Purpose
What Makes a Theme Universal?
Discovering Theme
Chapter 11Breaking Out247
Agent and Editor
The Pitch
Outlines
Breakout Publishing, Breakout Living
Success, Sequels, Series and Beyond
Index261
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