Product Description

By following this 16-step writing program, any writer can fulfill the dream of completing a novel that is ready to submit to agents and editors. No matter what type of novel the reader wants to write--western to romance to literary to fantasy--this program will work.

It breaks down the novel-writing process into small, manageable tasks that even the most inexperienced writers can achieve. Readers will learn how to find a hook, create a conflict, develop a protagonist and set her into motion.

Formerly an editor and now a successful literary agent, Marshall knows the marketplace. His expertise illuminates every subject, from insightful advice about choosing the right story to strategies for building that story with an eye toward publication. He includes plenty of diagrams, charts and section sheets to make following the program easier, and there's even a section with proven advice and information for writing effective query letters and submitting manuscripts for publication.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45802 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781582970622
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Publisher
By following this 16-step program, any writer can fulfill the dream of completing a novel that is ready to submit to agents and editors. No matter what type of novel the reader wants to write -- western to romance to literary to fantasy -- this program will work. It breaks down the novel-writing process into small, manageable tasks that even the most inexperienced writers can achieve. Readers will learn how to find a hook, create a conflict, develop a protagonist and set her into motion.

Formerly an editor and now a successful literary agent, Marshall knows the marketplace. His expertise illuminates every subject, from insightful advice about choosing the right story to strategies for building that story with an eye toward publication. He includes plenty of diagrams, charts and section sheets to make following the program easier, and there's even a section with proven advice and information for writing effective query letters and submitting manuscripts for publication.

From the Author
In my work as a literary agent and in my writing seminars, I have used this program to help hundreds of writers achieve success. Beginning writers bursting with ideas but unsure how to turn them into novels have found guidance in this methodical, "left-brain" process. Published writers who always wrote "instinctively," discovering their novels as they went along, have used this method to diagnose and repair ailing manuscripts. In all cases, these writers have been rewarded with compliments from editors on the writers' mastery of their craft -- and with publication. I hope The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing does that for you.

From the Inside Flap
"You now have at your disposal the means of finishing not just one novel but many. The Marshall Plan is not the only way to write a novel, but this way works every time. Even if, as you advance in your writing career, you try new methods and new techniques, maybe judiciously break a few rules, this system will always be here to fall back on as a proven way to get those books finished." -- Evan Marshall

Never before has the complex craft of novel writing been explained in such clear, practical terms. Evan Marshall draws on his years of experience as a literary agent, editor and published novelist to perfect this methodical, effective approach to planning, plotting, writing -- and most importantly -- finishing a truly great novel.

In 16 basic steps, you'll learn to view novel writing in a new way. Rather than attempting to dive straight into writing, haphazardly trying to connect plot, characterization and other narrative elements as you go, you'll realize that successful novel writing is actually a linear, calculated process anyone can follow.

This plan works because it shows you how to map out your entire novel -- characters, subplots, conflicts and all -- before you write one chapter. Following The Marshall Plan you will:

-- Lay the groundwork for a solid novel by targeting a genre for your story idea and developing your narrative and characters around the unique conventions of your chosen genre

-- Use basic guidelines and "section sheets" to determine an ideal story length and plot your novel's events, including main and subordinate story lines, surprising twists and dramatic conclusions

-- Confidently write the novel you've plotted as you master viewpoint writing and discover techniques for linking your novel's sections with seamless "connectors"

-- Create a compelling, readable pace by using the five fiction modes -- action, summary, dialogue, thoughts/feelings and background

-- Bulletproof your story and perfect your language with the Novelist's Manual for Self-Editing, a guide for editing and revising your completed manuscript

-- Successfully market your novel following Evan Marshall's expert instruction for creating a powerful synopsis, targeting the right agents and editors, and getting your work the full attention it deserves. He even includes a sample synopsis that actually led to a sale.

Throughout this hands-on guide, Marshall includes templates you can copy, easy-to-follow charts and end-of-chapter recaps that reinforce important points and help you stay focused.

More than a basic schematic, The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing is an inspiration. Follow its 16 steps to a completed novel you can be proud of.

Customer Reviews

Here is the novel's framework!
1) At work I'm constantly encountering situations where templates/spreadsheets made by someone else save me tons of time. At the most, all I need to do are minor revisions on the template to meet my specific business need. This book is exactly like that. This is a template, a formula, that lays out one (1) suggestion on how to put a novel together.

2) This is not a book about how to write great dialogue or develope charasmatic characters(even though there are tips on how to get some of this accomplished). That is what all the other books on the market are for. This book is a blueprint, the scene by scene layout of your novel's plot structure. He gets as detailed as stating the order in which the first 15 scenes (he calls them sections) need to occur and what characters need to appear in those scenes and what in general terms need to happen.

3) This is the first book I've read so far that talks about multiple subplots and how to handle them. Thank you Mr. Marshall!

4) Normally when I take notes on a book, I find that only 10% of the book is the core of what the author is trying to teach. The other 90% are examples to support the 10%. Examples to win you over to the author's viewpoint/opinion or examples to help the reader understand the point and see a demonstration of that example. This book is just the opposite. Mr. Marshall is 90% core material and very little examples. He explains his points clear enough that if you've ever read other books on the craft of writing, then your mind grasps the concept and has already filled in the example.

Yes, when you get to this level of granularity it both shows that novel writing isn't glamours and full of spontaneous creativity. On the other hand, the formula breaks such a project up that it becomes doable, like eating an elephant one bite at a time.

A Good Roadmap
It's not too hard to dismiss this book out of hand as being too arbitrary or deal-a-mealy. I was tempted to myself, but upon reflection I saw that while it's not perfect, it presents several advantages to going it alone.

While it's certainly possible to produce a formulaic, cookie-cutter book by following Marshall's guidelines, it's not inevitable. On the other hand, if you're too anal in your efforts of following "the plan," odds are you'd have been too anal to produce a saleable manuscript without it, as well. While it may not result in providing you with a break-out novel, the plan isn't intended to provide that result. Better to break in first, then you'll have somewhere to break out of.

As with most things, the principles behind the plan are its soundest points. I think there's room for some leeway in the execution of Marshall's points. Your decision may be different from mine, but I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt before I begin flailing around in the dark without a guide.

At first glance, though, parts of the plan seem to make no sense. For instance, in sections told from the (for lack of a more nuanced word) villain's p.o.v., Marshall says the villain never experiences failure. This doesn't mean, however, that the villain can never face a setback, but whatever setback he or she faces is resolved and turned back against the hero before the section is concluded. Likewise, I think it's fair that the hero can stymie the villain in a hero section (or the confidant/love interest in their sections), but he/she/they/it needs to recognize the inevitable repercussions for what has been done (publicly insulting Snidely Whiplash may make your hero(ine) feel good at the moment, but upon further reflection (s)he ought to have doubts about the wisdom of those words/actions).

The only thing that has left me scratching my head is that Marshall has would-be writers determining the word count of completed manuscripts by a mathematical formula based on page count, rather than as determined by word processing software. If you use an old Underwood typewriter, I suppose his way makes sense, but it seems defining a broader word count target for a genre novel would be more appropriate than eliminating "a half page of space" at a time by combining two chapters into one. Maybe this will make better sense to me when my manuscript is done and I actually have a word count in hand ("No!" my self-doubt screams, "You've found the ultimate flaw in the plan! Don't attempt to follow it! Never begin work on your novel! Use more exclamation points!!!").

Ultimately, the plan boils down to this: know your characters ahead of time; map out your plot before you begin to write, basing each section on what your character(s) did in the preceding section(s); remember to take your characters' emotional states into consideration as you develop your story and reflect it in your writing; put three big escalating "surprises" in the story and drop them in at the appropriate places within the novel; keep your prose tight and your points-of-view focused. Do you have to wait until your second draft is complete before breaking the book into chapters? I don't know, but the basics of the plan are sound whether you choose to follow them to the letter or not.

A novel guide
I just had to thank Evan Marshall for giving me the opportunity to purchase The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing. It is a life-saver from beginning to end. Each step of the 16-step book gives suggestions and advice on how to. . . I have read this book many times and I am still amazed to find a chapter in Evan Marshall's Novel Writing to help me through that problem. For the little I paid for it, Marshall Plan for Novel Writing is as important to me as my dictionary, my thesaurus, or my word processor. I took a Creative Writing evening class and let others read the contents of the index. They liked what the book offered and bought copies as well. A while back I purchased Storycraft software. WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY. The Marshall Plan is available for a third of the price. I don't know if it's allowed to down Storycraft in this way but I wanted others to know. This 16-step program helped me decide the type of story I wanted to write, to how to finish a novel, along with how to write a query letter. Thanks a whole lot, Evan Marshall.