by C. S. Lakin
Layer Your Novel
The Innovative Method for Plotting Your Scenes
By C. S. Lakin
The Writer’s Toolbox Series
Layer Your Novel: The Innovative Method for Plotting Your Scenes
Copyright©2017 by C. S. Lakin
Cover designed by Ellie Searl, Publishista®
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Morgan Hill, California
The Writer’s Toolbox Series
Praise for Layer Your Novel
C. S. Lakin peels back the layers of creating a dynamic novel with techniques and easy-to-understand instruction for all levels of writers. From start to finish, Layer Your Novel conquers the dilemma of how and why in the novel process. A must-own for every writer’s library.
—DiAnn Mills, award-winning best-selling author
If plotting your novel seems like an overwhelming task, C.S. Lakin can help! In Layer Your Novel, she demonstrates how to start with your main story line and layer in the rest, so that you never have to focus on more than ten to twelve scenes at a time. Lakin offers a wide range of examples to help you see how different types of stories are assembled.
—Lynn Johnston, author and writing coach
C. S. Lakin’s Layer Your Novel is a concise composition of simple step-by-step techniques on form, structure, key points, subplots, and more! Whether you’re a seasoned author or just a beginner, this book is a must-have for your library. Writing examples, charts, and exercises sprinkle the pages of a well-crafted book sure to make the writing process a success! A brilliant novel resource, Layer Your Novel is essential to making your book the best it can be!
—Kat Flannery, award winning author of the Branded Trilogy
Other Nonfiction Books by C. S. Lakin
The Writer’s Toolbox Series
Writing the Heart of Your Story: The Secret to Crafting an Unforgettable Novel
Shoot Your Novel: Cinematic Techniques to Supercharge Your Writing
The 12 Key Pillars of Novel Construction: Your Blueprint for Building a Solid Story
The 12 Key Pillars Workbook
5 Editors Tackle the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing
Say What? The Fiction Writer’s Handy Guide to Grammar, Punctuation, and Word Usage
Crank It Out! The Surefire Way to Become a Super-Productive Writer
Other Books
Manipulating the Clock: How Fiction Writers Can Tweak the Perception of Time
Strategic Planning for Writers: 4 Easy Steps to Success
Join C. S. Lakin’s Novel Writing Fast Track email group (no participation necessary!) and get a free copy of Writing the Heart of Your Story! This group is intended to help novelists see success, and each month you’ll get free books and lots of helpful tips and insights to help you write great novels!
CLICK HERE TO JOIN
Table of Contents
Introduction: How Layering Brings Order out of Chaos
Part 1: Story Framework
Chapter 1: Understanding Basic Story Structure
Chapter 2: A General Overview of Novel Framework
Chapter 3: Your Premise and the One-Sentence Story Concept
Chapter 4: The First Key Turning Point
Chapter 5: Turning Points #2–5
Chapter 6: The Power of the Midpoint
Chart: First Layer of 10 Key Scenes
Chapter 7: What the Heck Are Pinch Points?
Chapter 8: Twists and Turns
Chapter 9: The Dark Night, the Climax, and the Resolution
Part 2: The Next Layers
Chapter 10: The Next Layer
Chart: Action-Reaction Second Layer
Chapter 11: Layering a Subplot into Your Novel
Chart: The Subplot Second Layer
Chapter 12: Layering a Romance
Chart: The 12 Romance Scenes
Chart: The Romance Second Layer
Chapter 13: The Romance Layer on Display
Chapter 14: What about the Next Layer?
Part 3: Layers in Contemporary Best-Selling Novels
Chapter 15: What Analysis Can Teach You
Chapter 16: Brilliant Example of a Well-Structured Novel
Chapter 17: The Not-So-Perfect Novels
Chapter 18: A Look at Another Structurally Flawed Novel
Chapter 19: Conclusion
About the Author
Introduction: How Layering Brings Order out of Chaos
I’ve been writing novels and teaching novel structure for many years, but I’ve shied away from delving deep into what scenes should come where in a novel.
Why? Because there are countless books and blog posts that cover story structure, and a lot of great ones too, so, I figured, why should I add my two cents to the mix?
But the longer I thought about it, the more I realized I have some unique approaches and twists to the age-old question: “How do I write a great novel?”
The simple answer: by layering scenes—that’s how.
I searched through titles and descriptions of dozens of writing craft books specific to structuring novels, and it hit me. None of these books talk about layering.
And I’ll tell you why that confused me: layering is the most logical and intuitive way to structure a great story.
That’s how I write all my novels. And the process isn’t hard.
Creating Order out of Chaos
Novels are made up of scenes. Lots of scenes. If you’re a pantser, you wing it and write whatever scenes come into your head. If you’re a plotter, you sit down and make a list of as many scenes as you can think of, and then you try to put them in order as best you can, maybe create an outline, and then hope it works.
If you’ve written a lot of novels, you probably have a good sense where scenes need to fall in your story. You may know that you need some initial disturbance (also called “the Inciting Incident”) to kick off your story somewhere near the beginning of your novel. And you might also know that at some point your protagonist should be pursuing a goal (but, believe me, a lot of writers don’t even understand this is at the crux of plot and premise—and we’ll see a couple of examples of this in current best sellers in Part 2 of this book) that builds to a climax somewhere near the end. And then you figure you need to wrap things up and end the darn thing.
How Many Scenes Do You Really Need to Start Writing?
Elizabeth George, in her terrific craft book Write Away, talks about how a writer should have about ten to fifteen scenes figured out before starting in on writing. That’s going to vary from writer to writer. Some writers, like me, want to have about thirty to fifty scenes roughly figured out (and put on index cards) before diving in.
I always allow for spontaneous character takeover. Meaning, my characters—as is the norm with most well-developed characters—often go cavorting off in some direction I hadn’t planned, ignoring my admonitions. And most of the time they know what they’re doing, and I go along for the ride.
It’s important to be flexible, to allow for new scene ideas to pop up. But I’m a stickler for strong structure. So whether you can pull a great novel together by laying out only a dozen key scenes before yo
u start writing, or you need to work up more scenes, know that it’s going to be a tremendous help if you do this “laying out” work before you start writing.
Stop “Pantsing” Already!
You pantsers out there: I don’t know how you are still following my blog and reading yet another of my writing craft books (she says, laughing). You know how opposed I am to winging it when it comes to writing a novel.
Seriously, you writers who just “can’t plot”—you can. You just don’t want to.
And maybe you love to suffer through wasted months or years of your life throwing out draft after draft and agonizing all the way through (what is supposed to be a fun process!) your novel writing, wondering if your story is any good.
So I’m inviting you all—pantsers too—to try these pants on, this layering concept I’m presenting. You will find it so much more fulfilling to have efficient and productive writing time, which will give you more time for other things in life. Go on trips with your family. Watch the NBA finals. Take hikes with your dog. Smell the roses. You get to do all that with all the time you save when you plot instead of write by the seat of your pants.
Yes, It Is All about Structure
Maybe you’ve heard of plot points and turning points and pinch points, and you’ve resisted learning about them. I did. For years. I didn’t want to write formulaic novels; I wanted to be original, different, unique.
I totally missed the boat on that one. I didn’t get that I must follow expected novel structure, very specifically, to craft a terrific novel. I didn’t get that there are specific types of scenes that must appear at specific places (percentage-wise) in my novel—or else! In other words, I thought I could just intuitively write my novels, and all the scenes would magically fall into the right slots and I could call it good.
Not.
And this applies to all genres, not just “genre” or popular fiction.
Here’s the thing: if you want to sell well, you’ll have a better chance if you stick with time-tested structure. And that means understanding what types of scenes you need to frame your novel and where to put them.
Ever wonder why some authors who sell millions of copies of their books struggle painfully with writing novel after novel, figuratively tearing their hair out and agonizing over each one? I know authors like this. They have a big love-hate relationship with writing. The “hate” part could be avoided though—this I truly believe. Because the “hate” part is due to their resistance to learn and master novel structure. In particular I’m talking about what scenes are needed where in a novel.
I don’t know any writers (though I’m hoping they’re out there) who, before starting to write their novel, sit down and work out their key scenes—well, other than my clients, who’ve taken my advice!
I’m talking about those milestones in your plot—which I refer to as the ten key scenes. Writers often lay out a list of a dozen or so scenes they want in their story, but they aren’t thinking about specific key scenes that must go in specific places.
Framing Your Story
Do you do this? Maybe you have an idea how your novel will start. You might also picture the climax scene and the ending. Then, you possibly have some great ideas for scenes showing conflict or some plot complications. But this isn’t the same as starting with a list of needed scenes and brainstorming to design those scenes to frame your story.
Framing is everything.
I often liken writing a novel to building a house. If you want a sturdy, well-built house, you can’t just cut a bunch of neat-looking two-by-sixes and start hammering. You need a strong framework built on a solid foundation. Once you have that, you can proceed to the next tasks, like running electrical and nailing siding.
I go into great depth in my book The 12 Key Pillars of Novel Construction to show writers what the major novel components are and how to build them. But that’s not what we’re talking about here—at least not directly. What we’re going to look at in this book, as a perfect companion to my pillars book, is the body of your scenes and how to puzzle-piece them together the best way—by layering.
In fact, you could liken the house-building process to a series of layers. First layer is the foundation and all that requires. Next layer is the frame-up—building the stud walls and framing the window areas and doors. And so on.
I’ve done a lot of stud-cutting and framing houses with my contractor husband, and I can say that building a house is akin to layering, one layer at a time. You can’t put the roofing material on a house that hasn’t been sided yet and doesn’t have roof trusses. Ain’t gonna happen. Everything goes in at the right time and in the right place.
Why should novel construction—or building anything, for that matter—be any different?
Get into the Layering Frame of Mind
So, the sooner you start thinking of building your novel in a layered way like that, the sooner this daunting task of novel-writing will become easier. Maybe not easy—because novels are highly complex animals. But why not make the effort as streamlined and approachable as possible?
This book you’re reading presents a new and simple approach to grasping and mastering novel structure. I may possibly blast a few things you’ve been taught into smithereens. I’m hoping to rattle your cage a little and get you thinking in some new ways.
I see too many stuck writers. They have a head full of great scene ideas for their novel but just can’t figure out what to do with them. They lay out their scenes as randomly as a person might shuffle a deck of cards and then throw all the cards onto the table, scoop them into their arms, and call it good.
It’s not good. It’s a disaster.
I use this specific layering method now for all my novels. I start with the premise and one-sentence story concept, which we’ll go over. From there I get those ten key scenes figured out. After that, I start layering the next level of scenes. In this book, you’ll see different ways you can layer, but this method, in general, works for any and all genres.
The purpose of using a “staged” or multilevel process is to help you flesh out that basic story idea you have and build a solid story. If you use this method in conjunction with building your twelve key pillars (your novel’s individual components or “building materials” as detailed in The 12 Key Pillars of Novel Construction), you will have the blueprint you need to write a great novel.
Having a step-by-step instruction guide to building a novel is something I wish I’d had thirty years ago when I was biting off every nail trying to figure out this crazy business of writing fiction. I’m hoping, with this book, and the other books in my Writer’s Toolbox Series, you won’t needlessly suffer as I did.
Writers who’ve been using my Ten Key Scene Chart and referencing all my blog posts on this layering topic have been raving about this method, so I’ve gone ahead and pulled all my blog posts together, along with much additional material, and created this book. I’m confident you too will benefit greatly from layering your scenes.
Is the Jar Full Yet?
Have you ever seen anyone fill a jar with rocks and ask, “Is the jar full now?” Teachers love to do this with their young students. The students say yes, it’s full, but then the teacher pours in pebbles, which fill in the spaces between the rocks. “Is it full yet?” the teacher asks.
And on it goes. After the pebbles, sand is poured in, to fill the tiniest spaces yet. But the jar isn’t full! The last element added is water. And once water somehow finds space and fills to the brim, the jar is now declared full.
Think about your novel that way. If you put in sand first, there won’t be room for the big rocks. And if you put in water before the sand, the water is going to be forced out and will overflow the brim once the sand gets poured in.
These first ten scenes are the big rocks. If you make them the right size, all ten will fit perfectly into your jar. The next ten scenes comprise the small pebbles. And the next ten . . . well, you get it.
Put too many useless scenes in y
our novel and the story will spill over the edges and ruin your nice new wood flooring. Put in all the cool minor scenes first (pebbles) and you might not have room for the rocks unless you take out a bunch of pebbles. And that’s wasted effort (and may requiring dumping everything out and starting over again).
You don’t have to layer in groups of ten—this isn’t a rule. But I feel ten is a nice round number, and so this layering method will show you how to layer in groups of ten scenes. However, the additional layers you add may be made up of five scenes or fifteen. Find what works for you. Tweak the charts I provide in this book to fit your story’s needs.
I hope this layering concept makes sense to you. I hope you’ll give it a try.
But before we get to the actual layering process, we need to bust a few myths about structure.
Part 1: Story Framework
Chapter 1: Understanding Basic Story Structure
To put it simply, stories basically consist of a beginning, middle, and end. And because of this simple structure, some writing instructors rally in defense of the three-act structure. Meaning, since stories have a beginning, middle, and end, that must imply there are three acts.
Some claim Aristotle invented the three-act structure, but there is no truth to that. He only referred to those three parts to a story. You can use Aristotle’s concept and translate your idea into three acts, if you like. What is the first act? How the story begins. What is the second act? The middle of the story (which includes the main crisis of the dominant plot). The third act is the climax of the story and the resolution. Okay, it’s simplistic, but that’s how many people justify the use of the three-act structure.
