A novel a day keeps the cortisol away
I am a binger. When I’m into something, I go all the way, whether it’s writing until the dawn breaks in my window or eating an entire cake in a single sitting. Don’t even get me started on TV. And one of the things I can do forever if I let myself is work.
I’ve been trying to find ways to be less… single-minded. A lot of writers will talk about the challenge of getting a clear, creative head to write after a long day’s work. I’ve long known that the only way I can clear my head of work at all is to engage it in something else that’s equally addictive.
On Instagram, I posted once about needing to know how to get yourself in the mood, whether it’s a writing prompt, good music, or a quiet place to focus. My go-to method to get myself to be more creative is to read.
For the last two weeks I’ve set myself a goal to read a novel a day. It doesn’t have to be a great literary work. It just has to be more than 60,000 words. I’ve picked the “candy” option, lots of fantasy and light novels, but I’m realizing that there’s a genius to them that I’ve failed to appreciate.
I can easily read one of these novels in 2-3 hours. They don’t leave me with burning questions that make it difficult to fall asleep. They allow me to stop thinking about work. And they give me several key clues as to what it takes to tell a story well, and quickly.
Almost all these stories have a few things in common:
Lots of dialog and dramatization. They keep you in the scene, and in the story.
Short sentences, and short paragraphs. If there’s a big block of text, it can be skipped without missing anything important.
A single story question that keeps the reader turning the page. Will they get together or won’t they? Or, will that big secret ever be revealed and how?
Characterization through conflict. There are no descriptions of people. You only find out about a person by how they interact with other characters.
A big emotional payoff. When the story question is resolved, we see the full catharsis as every single character reacts and comes to the end of their journey.
None of this is a trade secret, and yet when I’m in the middle of writing a story, I can lose sight of the fact that these are the things that keep the reader hooked and leave them satisfied. Instead, I get lost in the minutiae of this scene, or caught up doing paragraphs of world-building and character backstory that don’t actually need to exist.
I am considering this as an editing technique now. If I can’t finish reading my novel in 2-3 hours, it’s not quite right.