Writing a novel

I too am writing a short story that I will publish as a blog. something mixing horror, fantasy and chess.

I would say that the fewer characters there are, the easier it is to follow. be concise with short descriptions. sort out the most interesting passages and avoid slowing down the pace of the story by staying on one event for too long. of course the quality of the language is essential.

@CSKA_Moscou A short story that mixes horror, fantasy and chess sounds really interesting! Would you share the link of the blog once you complete it?

@CSKA_Moscou said in #11:
> I would say that the fewer characters there are, the easier it is to follow.

The novel that I am writing consists of eight main characters, but I am trying to write it in a way that is both interesting and not complicated.

But could you please elaborate what you mean by 'quality of language'?

@KrishnenduMaitra said in #1:

> I am planning on writing a novel (for the first time in my life) and have a good story on my mind. In that context, I would like to ask a few questions to more experienced writers out there:

I have never written a novel, but my take on this is

>
> 1. How can I write in a way that engages the readers and captures their attention, such that they do not get bored?
>

Don't try. If you write for others, rather that express your own voices, you do everyone a disservice. Probably the more to your future readers. Dont' think on pleasing the reader, nor capturing someone's attention. Write it as you feel it ought to be written.

The best novel's I've encountered, have appeared to me, their authors never cared for being written in an engaging, or attention grabbing way, or goal. The prose appeared to have been writing looking within, not outwardly.

> 2. I have often heard people talk about 'bad prose' or 'badly written prose', but what exactly is 'bad prose' and how can I avoid it?

I wish I could say there's no such thing as bad prose. But I would be lying. There is bad prose. Then there's bad prose. Horrendous at that. It's difficult to define, but for me, when I encounter prose that lacks depth, or purpose. That seems to be written to be easy to digest (or to please -- see my opinion on 1 above). Full of systematic cliches. That narrates eye-rolling nonsensical dramatic turns and it's forced.

Really difficult to define. But probably way easier to exemplify: Open a CoHo novel and become horrified, by yourself.

@IAHMCOL said in #13:
> Don't try. If you write for others, rather that express your own voices, you do everyone a disservice. Probably the more to your future readers. Dont' think on pleasing the reader, nor capturing someone's attention. Write it as you feel it ought to be written.

Yes, currently that is what I am doing. This is the first time I am trying to write a novel. I don't even know whether I would be publishing it, so, at the moment, I am just writing for myself!

@KrishnenduMaitra said in #12:
> @CSKA_Moscou A short story that mixes horror, fantasy and chess sounds really interesting! Would you share the link of the blog once you complete it?
>
>
>
> The novel that I am writing consists of eight main characters, but I am trying to write it in a way that is both interesting and not complicated.
>
> But could you please elaborate what you mean by 'quality of language'?

quality of language = no slang or abbreviations, sentence constructed with regular punctuation, search for rare words or less common words to highlight the text. in the case of a short novel, the more precise you are in your description of characters or places, the better it will be for the progression of the story. also try to have a climax in the short story and possibly a ending point or an open ending because this lends itself well in the context of a short story.

When i will finish it, it would be a pleasure to share this to you!

@CSKA_Moscou said in #15:
> When I will finish it, it would be a pleasure to share this to you!

Great! I would be looking forward to it!

There are four categories of writers:

1 Those who have a good story to tell and are also able to tell it in a good way.
2 Those who have a good story to tell, but are unable to tell it in a good way.
3 Those who are able to tell a good story, but don't have any.
4.Those who have no good story to tell and would not be able to tell it even if they had one.

Make sure you are in category 1 - otherwise write only for your own pleasure.

If a bad writer has finished a first draft of a manuscript, he looks which words or sentences could be added - a good writer looks which words or sentences could be thrown out.

Булат Окуджава "Я пишу исторический роман"
(Bulat Okudzhava "I am writing a historical novel")

youtu.be/VbQMUpgLK8s

В склянке темного стекла
из-под импортного пива
роза красная цвела
гордо и неторопливо.
Исторический роман
сочинял я понемногу,
пробиваясь как в туман
от пролога к эпилогу.
Были дали голубы,
было вымысла в избытке,
и из собственной судьбы
я выдергивал по нитке.
В путь героев снаряжал,
наводил о прошлом справки
и поручиком в отставке
сам себя воображал.
Вымысел — не есть обман.
Замысел — еще не точка.
Дайте дописать роман
до последнего листочка.
И пока еще жива
роза красная в бутылке,
дайте выкрикнуть слова,
что давно лежат в копилке:
каждый пишет, как он слышит.
Каждый слышит, как он дышит.
Как он дышит, так и пишет,
не стараясь угодить...
Так природа захотела.
Почему?
Не наше дело.
Для чего?
Не нам судить.
1975 г.

@KrishnenduMaitra said in #6:
> I agree , but it still is good to learn what the audience enjoys and how the audience can be engaged. No one can be a "perfect" writer. At the end of the day, literature is a matter of taste. What is one man's favourite piece of writing may be another man's unreadable garbage.

And how does that contradict what I said? ;)