My Magna Carta

Chris Baty, in his novel writing instruction book, "No Plot? No Problem!" discusses creating a “Magna Carta” of novel writing. A list that can act as a guide during Nanowrimo. While we are outside of Nanowrimo at the moment, I realize that I have never made a Magna Carta for myself.

To start, I went through a list of my favourite novels and looked for themes and commonalities. My shortened list looks like this:

• A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
• Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
• The Saratine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay
• I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
• The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
• Dune by Frank Herbert
• Neverness by David Zindell
• Perfume by Patrick Süskind
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Quarantine by Greg Egan
• On My Way to Paradise by Dave Wolverton
• Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
• Hyperion by Dan Simmons

And I pull out the following:

• This is largely science-fiction/fantasy list
• There is a theme of children/students and learning
• 3^rd person omniscient narration
• Good endings (believable and non-obvious) or large reveals, sometimes, the entire novel is written around the ending
• The writing style is sophisticated without being flowery or over the top
• There is a show, don't tell focus as well as implying without saying things directly
• It feels like the author has through about every detail and developed a complete history/backstory, which gives the novel depth. The author doesn't need to go into all the details however.
• The characters are multi-faceted, three dimensional and have clear and sometimes conflicting motivations. They typically learn something about their place in the universe or make the hero's journey (“Hero with a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell)
• Most are one-off novels without sequels or series OR can be read in isolation
• Many have no clear heroes of villains, but merely people on opposite sides

This sounds like a list that anyone would have with any good novel. In a way, all I really want is good story, good writing skills, good characters etc...

I realize that in a way, a list like this could potentially lock me in a box. However, I always keep in mind that some of my favorite novels can break any of the rules at any time and still succeed. It's "whatever works" in my ways and I have to keep that in mind. Still, a reminder of what I like while I'm writing is a good idea and I have it here.

It always starts with Nano

Chris Baty's National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo) , founded in 1999, now has about 200,000 participants in 2010.

That's a lot of words being pumped out each year. While there are naysayers, there is little bad to say about an activity that gets people out of their mundane lives, off their asses and writing something. I don't believe that a finished first draft HAS to be a masterpiece for Nano to be worthwhile.

I learn a lot each time I sit down to do Nano or SoCNoC. The biggest point is that writing requires one to sit down and write. You have to put in the hours or nothing will get done. It is that simple, yet many, many young writers believe it is otherwise. A round of Nanowrimo will get you over that mindset and get you putting in the hours writing.

I know it's been said before. I know it will be said again, but that is the only bit of noveling that absolutely must be said. Everything else happens after that step, so it is absolutely required first and foremost for anything else (like finishing a publishable first draft, to getting it published and getting it read and critiqued and on the New York Times bestseller list etc...).