So how do you decide the point of your book?
Excellent question, thank you for asking.
There are three ways to approach it (well, probably more than three, but three that I came up with).
The first is to ask yourself: What do I get out of my book?
For example, perhaps you want to write in a new genre. I started a whole series like this. I wanted to explore the idea of writing sci-fi fairy tales, so I did. Perhaps you want to learn something about yourself or parse out a question you have about life or the universe or everything. Memoir or biography are great ways to explore your own life; or perhaps you are curious about exploring the idea of truth, so you write about a character that only tells lies.
The second method is to ask yourself: What does my character get out of it?
This is especially excellent if you’re interested in writing character-driven stories. If you want your character to grow or change in a particular way, then the question becomes—how are they going to change throughout the course of this story?
For example, in Book 3 of my Land of Szornyek series, my first draft was focused much the same as Book 1 had been: it was really about exploring the widening universe filled with monsters, and looking at the different ways that people were surviving. But something felt off to me, so I went back to review the plot—only to discover that my main character had yet to change. So I shifted the focus and the purpose of my plot. Instead of it being entirely about monsters and survival, it became about her dealing with the consequences of the trauma she experienced in Book 2. Throughout the second draft, I realized that I needed a new endgame: it was no longer about the monsters, it was about Askari. I needed her to come to a particular realization, which is a spoiler and so I won’t say any more. 😊
The third method is to ask yourself: What does the reader get out of it?
It is of course helpful for you to have at least a vague idea of who your ideal reader is if you choose this approach, but even if you don’t, you can still use it as a springboard.
I think romance is an excellent example of this, particularly HEA Romances (Happily Ever After). When writing an HEA, the entire point is to leave the reader with a warm, fuzzy satisfaction at the end of the story. It’s to create a story in which the reader feels connected to the characters, roots for them to succeed in their romantic endeavors, and then feels satisfied when it all works out in the end.
Perhaps your goal is to provide your reader with an escape. Or to take you reader on a wild ride of insanity. To make your reader scared or hopeful or excited. To make them think. You can absolutely start here when choosing your endgame.
Ultimately, the endgame or the purpose of your book can be absolutely anything you want it to be. You can have multiple purposes if you want. You can change your mind about it at any point during the writing and revision process. There really aren’t any rules here, so whatever works for you can also work for your story!
Objectives
I put this one last because unlike the other two which can be decided simultaneously or whenever, objectives are most helpful AFTER you’ve decided the beginning and the end. Once you’ve figured out who your character is and where they need to go, then you can determine what needs to happen in order for them to get from point A to B.
Objectives can be viewed in several different ways. Some people outline every single detail, parse out every action, and decide every conversation before even starting in on drafting it, even down to calculating the percentages each section of the book should be. If you’re a plotter, then this is probably your preference.
But if you’re a discovery writer aka pantser (like me), we prefer to go light on the details and to figure it out as we go. I think of objectives more as lampposts. I can sort of see the next one in the distance, but the path between two is dark. I know what’s in the middle only after I’ve written the words.
An example of my own lampposts might look something like this (based off of Book 1 of Land of Szornyek, Tentacles and Teeth:
Askari fights a monster alone.
She fights another monster, but with other people.
She disobeys an order.
Punishment involves getting temporarily kicked out.
Alone for a while, fights more monsters.
Friends show up.
Completes terms of punishment with help.
Returns to find her community in trouble.
Fights to save community.
Plot isn’t that scary.
I must admit that I found plot to be one of the most overwhelming concepts in writing before I really started to dive in. And once I get up to my neck in it, I still found it overwhelming. The one thing I wish someone had said to me before I started was: “There is no one right way to plot a story.”
It kind of seems like a no brainer, looking back. Like, duh Ariele. There’s no one right way to do anything in writing, not even punctuation. So why would there be for plot?
Maybe, if they wanted to be even more helpful, this imaginary person might have added, “It’s okay if one method doesn’t work for you. Try a different one.”
But now that I’ve thrown myself into the deep end in order to learn to swim, I feel a lot more confident about it. Not all of my plots will work or make sense. Not all of them will be equally good. Sometimes I will feel like I know where I’m going and sometimes I won’t.
