7 Elements of a Successful Novel

1. An exciting Plot

Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? But you’ll be surprised how many authors neglect this essential point. The story is the crucial factor that drives the book forward and keeps the reader begging for more. It’s what makes a novel a page-turner and not a Christmas turkey. Learn to think like a reader and give your readers all the hooks, plot twists, and exciting moments that your audience desires. Keep the suspense dripping like an oil well and you’ll sell your books in droves.

2. An engaging protagonist 

What have the Harry Potter series, the Lord of the Rings, and The Song of Ice and Fire all got in common? Protagonists that the readers want to read about, that’s what! Every great book has them. In some they might be likable downtrodden orphans, whilst in others they maybe tortured Byronic heroes (think Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre or Shadow from American Gods) who come out good in the end. They may even be out and out baddies (Macbeth anyone?) but the end is the same - a readership in thrall with the main character(s). 

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Made in China

3. A memorable antagonist

Every Jonah needs his whale. The creature from the mysterious deep that swallows our hero whole and makes us wonder… is he going to make it? Is he going to survive? This conflict between our hero and the villain is what drives all great novels. Sometimes this monster is a crazed tyrant like King Joffrey or a criminal mastermind like Professor Moriarty, whilst at other times its something more prosaic but no less terrifying like cancer. Then there’s the whole gamut of the supernatural from vampires to werewolves to the killer clown from Stephen King’s It. These conflicts and how they are resolved are what drive many great books. Every Harry Potter needs his Voldemort.

4. The illusion of originality

Now I know what you’re going to say - that nothing original truly exists - and you’re right but a great author maintains the illusion of originality even when the reader knows that they’re being had. Everyone- or almost everyone- knows that the Dementors in Harry Potter were filched from the Lord of the Rings. But the readers didn’t care, for they’d been rebirthed, repurposed for a new generation. And JK Rowling got away with it. Big time. And that’s what you have to do - learn how to twist pre-existing ideas to your own needs and crucially - how to get away with it. Because at the end of the day, that’s what all the great authors do from Homer to Rowling. They steal. Even when it looks like they’re being original.

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5. Great endings 

All great stories end well. From Sydney Carton swapping places with Charles Darnay in Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities to George shooting Lenny to save him from the lynch mob in Of Mice and Men. These are the grand finales that leave the audience gasping for more. These are what make readers recommend them to their friends, and their friends’ friends. This is what every writer should be working towards when they start whatever novel they are working on. Something exciting. Something extraordinary like the red wedding in George Martin’s A Storm of Swords. The kind of ending that your audience will still be talking about in years to come.

6. An agenda

George Orwell’s novels are full of them. So too are the works of Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare. Every great author has an agenda, an axe to grind - they want to put the world to rights and to shine a light on the world’s most grievous wrongs. It can be as subtle as a whisper or as obvious as a punch to the face. But it’s there in all the great books. Writing exciting plots and sketching indelible characters is all very good but there has to be a point to it all beyond the desire to entertain and the need to get paid. What’s it all for? Why do you write in the first place? If you can work this out and get it onto the page then you could be great. Wickedly great. 

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Jack Strong and the Red Giant

7. Narration and dialogue 

All the great authors write well. This is true of children’s authors like JK Rowling just as much as those who write literary fiction like Salman Rushdie. Let your worlds and characters fizz with life when you write narration and dialogue. Try to be as original as possible. The key is to write in a way that engages not just the current audience but also the ones in the future. Because that’s the secret of great writing- ultimately it lasts. So if you’re going to write, write beautifully, because at the end of the day English/German/Chinese/lost tribe in the Amazon (cross out as appropriate) is a beautiful language and it should be written beautifully.