The Breakout Novelist

1. Develop a Powerful, Original Premise with Gut Emotional Appeal.

In short, a premise is any single image, moment, feeling, or belief that has enough power and personal meaning for the author to set her story on fire, and propel it like a rocket for hundreds of pages.

Premise is the spark. A breakout premise isn't just a plot summary; it's an energetic core that ignites the story. It needs to be more than a simple idea; it must possess inherent conflict, feel plausible, offer originality, and resonate with deep emotional appeal. Think of it as the emotional and conceptual engine driving the entire narrative.

Key premise components: A strong premise requires several facets working together.

• Plausibility: Could this really happen? Readers need a basis in reality to care.
• Inherent Conflict: Is tension built into the story's world, relationships, or situation?
• Originality: Does it offer a fresh angle on familiar material, perhaps combining unexpected elements?
• Gut Emotional Appeal: Does it make readers feel something deeply, touching universal emotions?

Building a premise: Start with a kernel of inspiration and ask "What if?" repeatedly to escalate stakes, add layers, and explore new dimensions. Don't settle for the obvious; dig deeper into the psychological mystery, complicate relationships, and introduce outside forces that challenge the core idea. A strong foundation is crucial for a breakout novel.

2. Raise Stakes Relentlessly, Both Publicly and Personally.

If there is one single principle that is central to making any story more powerful, it is simply this: Raise the stakes.

Stakes define consequence. High stakes answer the crucial "So what?" question: What is lost if the protagonist fails? This applies not just to life-or-death scenarios but to anything of high human worth, such as principles, relationships, or identity. Empty stakes, even life-threatening ones, fall flat without emotional investment.

Public and personal impact: Breakout novels elevate stakes on multiple levels.

• Public Stakes: What does society, a community, or a group stand to lose? This can range from the fate of the world to the integrity of a justice system or the survival of a family unit.
• Personal Stakes: What does the protagonist stand to lose? This is tied to their deepest needs, fears, yearnings, and principles. Readers care because the protagonist cares passionately about the outcome.

Escalate and intensify: To keep readers gripped, constantly ask, "How could things get worse?" and "When would be the worst moment for them to get worse?" Push characters to their limits, take away their greatest assets (allies, physical abilities, articles of faith), and shorten their time. High stakes ultimately stem from the author's own high commitment to the story's truth or moral core.

3. Create Characters Who Matter and Feel Larger Than Life.

What makes breakout characters broadly appealing is not their weaknesses, but their strengths — not their defeats, but their triumphs.

Characters are the heart. Readers remember characters most. Breakout characters feel real yet are larger than life, possessing qualities that make them admirable, amusing, or inspiring. They are dynamic, undergoing inner journeys alongside external conflicts.

Qualities of compelling characters:

• Strength: Not just physical, but cunning, wisdom, compassion, courage, perseverance, moral conviction.
• Inner Conflict: Contradictory sides or desires that make them complex and endlessly interesting.
• Self-Regard: They take their emotions and experiences seriously, reflecting on their responses and changes over time.
• Wit and Spontaneity: They do and say unexpected, dramatic, or outrageous things that ordinary people wouldn't dare.

Developing diverse casts: A strong cast amplifies the protagonist and adds dimensions through contrast and friction. Focus on a primary protagonist (often in 40-80% of scenes) and develop a few key secondary characters with their own conflicts and unexpected sides. Even dark or flawed protagonists need hints of sympathetic qualities or self-awareness to keep readers engaged.

4. Build Plot Through Deep, Layered Conflict and Turning Points.

The essence of story is conflict.

Conflict drives narrative. Plot is the organized sequence of events, but its engine is conflict. Breakout novels don't ration conflict; they infuse it throughout, making it rich, complex, and involving. Simple goal-and-obstacle structures are insufficient; problems should be difficult to resolve, involving ambiguity and moral dilemmas.

Essential plot elements:

• A highly developed, sympathetic character.
• A complex problem or conflict arises.
• Constant complication and deepening of the conflict.
• High moments, turning corners, and irreversible changes.

Structuring for impact: While simple structures (mystery, romance, thriller) are durable, breakout novels layer them with high stakes, complex characters, and interwoven conflicts. More complex structures like frame stories, facade stories, or expansive quests can work, but require careful management. Character-driven plots, where inner needs propel the story, are particularly compelling today, often involving a journey of self-discovery.

5. Infuse Every Scene with Micro-Tension.

What keeps us reading every word on every page of a novel is none of that. Holding readers' attention every word of the way is a function not of the type of novel you're writing, a good premise, tight writing, quick pace, showing not telling, or any of the other widely understood and frequently taught principles of storytelling.

Tension is moment-to-moment. Beyond the main plot, micro-tension keeps readers hooked on the next few seconds. It's not about high stakes or action, but conflicting emotions or ideas within the point-of-view character. This subtle tension makes even static moments riveting.

Applying micro-tension:

• Dialogue: Tension comes from emotional friction between speakers, conflicting desires, or externalized inner conflicts, not just information exchange.
• Action: Tension arises from the contrast between external events and the point-of-view character's inner state, especially conflicting emotions like peace vs. menace or contentment vs. guilt.
• Exposition: Inner monologue is gripping when it presents conflicting emotions, warring ideas, or new, unsettling questions, rather than rehashing the obvious.

Transforming low-tension areas: Even traditionally dull passages like weather descriptions, backstory, aftermath, or travel can be infused with tension. Connect them to a character's inner conflict, use oblique details, or create a sense of unease or anticipation. Tension can be made out of nothing at all by focusing on feelings in conflict.

6. Bring the World of the Novel Alive Through Character Perception.

Description is the least of it. Bringing people alive in a place and time is the essence of it.

Setting is character experience. A compelling setting is more than just descriptive details; it's the milieu, period, mood, and how characters perceive and are affected by it. The key is not objective description but showing how the environment feels to the people who live there, reflecting their inner states and changes.

Techniques for dynamic settings:

• Psychology of Place: Show how physical surroundings evoke specific emotions or how a character's perception of a place changes with their mood or growth.
• Sense of Time: Capture the historical moment and its evolution through characters' awareness, opinions, and how they are shaped by social trends and historical forces.
• Setting as Character: Find places with extra significance (legendary spots, recurring locations) or make natural phenomena active participants in the plot, measuring their impact on multiple characters.

Detail and opinion: Specific, unique details are crucial, but they gain power when filtered through a character's perspective and strong opinions. Whether it's the smell of a city, the feel of a season, or the significance of a landmark, the setting lives most vividly through the eyes and heart of someone experiencing it.

7. Develop a Singular Voice and Unique Perspective.

Above all, a singular voice is not a lucky accident; it comes from a story-teller's commitment not just to tell a great story, but to tell it in a way that is wholly his or her own.

Voice is authorial presence. A singular voice is more than just prose style; it's the author's unique outlook, opinions, and way of delivering the story, often channeled through characters. It's what makes a novel feel fresh and distinctive, even with familiar material.

Giving characters voice: Characters stand out when they have their own unique take on things, expressed through:

• Distinctive Language: Slang, lingo, formal speech, or even syntax that reflects their background and personality.
• Strong Opinions: Letting characters speak up passionately about what they believe, loathe, or find ridiculous.
• Unique Details: The specific observations and particulars they choose to convey about the world around them.

Narrative perspective: The choice of first/third person, tense, and narrative distance shapes the voice. Experimenting with unconventional narrators (like an autistic boy or a character speaking directly to the reader) or perspectives (like a dwarf's view of a city) can create a powerful, original voice that demands attention. A singular voice comes from trusting your own perspective and letting it make noise on the page.

8. Anchor Your Story in Passionate, Universal Theme.

The fire in fiction is many things, but first and foremost, it is the fire in you.

Theme provides meaning. All stories are moral and have underlying values. A powerful theme is the animating spirit of a breakout novel, providing deeper engagement for readers. It's not something added later but woven throughout, stemming from the author's passionate need to share a truth or insight.

Building theme step-by-step:

• Start by examining individual scenes and asking about characters' deeper motivations beyond immediate needs.
• Reverse motivations to prioritize higher values (truth, justice, love) to add passion to action.
• Box characters into inescapable moral choices and dilemmas to create powerful conflict.
• Test protagonists' beliefs to the utmost, even making them doubt their core truths.

Universality through depth: A theme becomes universal not just because it's widely accepted, but because it's developed in depth. Make love matter more than anything, make justice feel urgent, or make an unpopular point compelling by grounding it in a believable, sympathetic character. The power comes from touching readers through your own compassion and convictions.

9. Make the Improbable Feel Real Through Detail and Character Fear.

For us to buy in, we must be sold.

Overcoming skepticism. Fiction often presents improbable events, but readers suspend disbelief only if convinced. For outlandish scenarios (conspiracies, monsters, supernatural), the author must pulverize reader resistance by making the impossible feel not just possible, but likely or even happening.

Strategies for believability:

• Character Fear: Make the story's characters afraid, deeply and realistically. Readers will feel fear because the protagonist feels it, even if they don't believe the premise themselves.
• Focus on Villains: Develop antagonists with compelling motives, unexpected sides, and even justified actions. A humanized villain is more frightening and believable than a cardboard one.
• Pseudoscience & Facts: Overwhelm readers with exhaustive, research-gleaned details and pseudo-expert authentication to make the improbable seem scientifically or historically plausible.
• Humanize Monsters: Give supernatural creatures human problems, conflicts, and relatable emotions to make them believable and engaging, whether scary or sympathetic.

Commitment is key: Making the impossible real requires an extreme level of commitment from the author to character building, constant tension, research, and layering the plot. It means giving the protagonist the author's own paranoia or conviction and constructing villains out of compelling, understandable motives.

10. Understand Publishing Realities: Success Comes from Great Storytelling.

In reality, there is one reason, and one reason only, that readers get excited about a novel: great storytelling.

Myths vs. reality. Many authors hold outdated beliefs about publishing success. Getting published is just the start; staying published and building an audience is the real challenge in a competitive, consolidating industry.

Key realities:

• Authors are not helpless: Many authors succeed without significant publisher support, often through exceptional storytelling.
• Editors are part of a team: Editors are crucial but often overworked and constrained by corporate structures. Authors need a team (agent, critique partners, etc.).
• Big advances are not insurance: Large advances increase risk for the author if the book doesn't earn out, making it harder to sell future books.
• Promotion reinforces, doesn't create: Advertising and publicity are less effective than word-of-mouth and having a strong backlist.

How success happens: Roughly two-thirds of fiction purchases are by readers familiar with the author (brand loyalty). The next biggest factor is personal recommendation (word of mouth). The only thing that consistently generates excitement and word of mouth is great storytelling. Focus on writing powerful novels; that is your most important tool.

11. Be a Storyteller, Not Just a Status Seeker.

Storytellers are oriented the right way; consequently, their stories almost never go wrong.

Motivation matters. Novelists fall into two main categories: status seekers, whose primary desire is validation through publication, and storytellers, whose passion is the craft and spinning compelling tales. This fundamental difference shapes their approach and likelihood of long-term success.

Status seeker traits:

• Seek publication too early.
• Focus on external factors (timing, luck, agent clout).
• Want manuscripts to be "acceptable" rather than excellent.
• Obsess over covers, promotion, and advance size.
• May go full-time too soon, relying on advances.
• Grumbles about publishers, changes agents frequently.

Storyteller traits:

• Focus on improving their craft and making the story the best it can be.
• Recognize that something is missing when rejected and go back to work.
• Are concerned with making their stories bigger and topping themselves.
• Understand that readers, not publishers, drive success.
• Prioritize hitting deadlines and delivering powerful stories.
• Take calculated risks with their fiction.

Readers anoint storytellers: Storytellers succeed because they are driven by an inner fire and a commitment to their craft and readers. They may seem effortlessly successful, but it's the result of consistently delivering stories that captivate and generate word of mouth. Their passion gets on the page and resonates with readers.

12. Choose Your Agent and Manage Your Career Wisely.

It astonishes me that having invested so heavily most novelists then spend so little time choosing an agent.

Agent selection is crucial. Choosing an agent is a significant career decision that requires careful consideration beyond simply finding someone who says yes. Agents vary widely in background, business style, editorial skill, specialization, and approach to career development.

Key factors to evaluate:

• Specialization: Do they have a strong track record in your primary genre?
• Business Style: Are they market-timers or fundamentalists? Do they prioritize big deals or long-term growth?
• Editorial Skill: Do they offer meaningful editorial feedback?
• Accessibility & Communication: How responsive are they? Will they consult you on deals?
• Experience & Reputation: Are they members of the AAR? What do their clients say?

Understanding contracts: Even with an agent, understand key contract terms like territory, advances, royalties (especially net vs. cover price), joint accounting, subsidiary rights splits, delivery/acceptance clauses, and option clauses. Be aware of new issues like e-book royalties, sales thresholds for "in print" status, and the complexities of work-for-hire agreements.

Manage the relationship: Communicate your needs clearly, be patient, and be a good partner. While agents are crucial, your career ultimately depends on your writing and your ability to consistently deliver powerful stories that readers love.

Last updated: May 19, 2025