Category: Plot

How to Write a Set Piece for Your Novel

Writing the middle of your novel

This is a revised post from a couple of years ago. If you find that the middle of your novel isn’t as compelling as the beginning, your story might need a set piece. Below are my tips for how to write a set piece for your novel.

What’s a Set Piece?

I’ve heard this term in connection with movies, specifically the thrillers by Alfred Hitchcock, so I looked it up. According to Wikipedia, the term originated when a movie needed the production team to build a new set instead of reusing sets leftover from other movies at the studio. To make such an expense worthwhile, the filmmaker made the setting part of an important scene. Now the term means a critical or jaw-dropping scene or sequence within a movie. 

The rescue of Princess Leia and the escape from the trash compactor is a set piece in the middle of Star Wars: A New Hope. Foreign Correspondent by Alfred Hitchcock has several set pieces: an assassination on the steps of a large building during a rainstorm, the hero sneaking through a windmill in Holland as he eavesdrops on Nazi spies, and a murder attempt at the top of Winchester Cathedral in London.

So How Do I Use a Set Piece in a Novel?

Use a set piece when you want your story to take a dramatic or unexpected turn that will affect the rest of the story. You can use more than one, depending upon the genre and kind of story you are telling.

In my teen cozy mystery, A Shadow on the Snow, I have set piece smack in the middle of my novel because the plot takes a dramatic turn from that point on. Like in the old days of the movies when the director built scenes around an expensive set, I want my readers to have the time to appreciate what’s happening in the set piece, so I slow the narrative down. The set-up, actual set piece, and wrap up play over three chapters. The set piece itself has a shadowy figure chase my protagonist, amateur sleuth Rae Riley, through her small hometown in a snowstorm on the night of Valentine’s Day. This chase leads to a pivotal scene with her newly found father. In that scene, I let the dialogue take over, which also slows the story down. 

If your protagonist uncovers a traitor, take the time to make this revelation in a meaningful setting and a dramatic way. If your protagonist goes against her moral code with disastrous results, slow the pace enough for readers to get the full impact of this dramatic change in the story.

Two Warnings

I said to slow your story, not stop it. Your story is a glider. If you slow it too much, it will crash. Only had descriptions and dialogue that are needed to highlight this major change in the plot. Good writing rules still apply to a set piece–slowing down does not mean getting wordy.

My other warning is that any set piece can’t be more exciting than your climax. If your set piece in the middle of your novel has the heroine save London from certain destruction, she’d better be saving the world from that same fate at the end. In the climax of Foreign Correspondent, the heroes’s plane is shot out of the sky. They are forced to make a crash landing and then cling to the wreckage while they wait for rescue. If you find your set piece is overshadowing your climax, you either need to tone down the set piece or amp up your climax.

I’d love to hear from you. In your writing, had you ever had to add a set piece to your novel? Readers, what’s a memorable set piece?

Here are more tips on writing the middle of your novel.

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Key Plotting Technique to Save Your Novel From the Sagging Middle

How to write the middle of a novel

Even the newest writers have heard of the dangers when writing the middle of a novel. The middle makes up the bulk of the story, and like an unexplored jungle, it can swallow writers whole, leaving them hacking away at useless subplots and extraneous characters without the end in sight. To avoid this catastrophe, here is the key plotting technique to save your novel from the sagging middle.

The Roller Coaster Method of Plotting

In my post on the 3 steps to mastering your novel’s beginning, I stated that the beginning chapters have two jobs: introducing and establishing the story. The middle also has two jobs: exploring and complicating what we’ve introduced and established. We can do that through the roller coaster method of plotting.

We plot events that are both favorable and unfavorable to the protagonist’s quest to reach her goal. Below is a graphic of the roller coaster method for plotting a mystery.

The turns of the plot not only have to be favorable and unfavorable, but the events need to grow more intense as we reach the climax. Using the above chart as an example, the detective isn’t in danger until toward the end. If one of my first unfavorable events put the detective in danger, then by the end I have to have a climax that’s even more intense, has even more at stake.

So we should plot our favorable and unfavorable events with increasing intensity or higher stakes. We also need to decided how fast these events should occur within the story and how much time we need to give the reader to consider what they’ve learned from the last event. Even in a thriller, a writer has to hit the brakes at some point, even just slightly, so readers have time to digest what’s happened.

So the middle is a combination of events that help and hinder the protagonist to achieve his or her goal as well as breaks for the protagonist to consider what’s happened. And while the protagonist is trying to make sense of events, so is the reader.

But how do I know how fast to pace my novel?

First, we should read the books in genre we’re writing. The genre will guide us in the pace readers expect. Historical fiction usually unfolds at a more leisurely speed than a contemporary mystery.

Second, if as the writer, we find ourselves bored with our own novel, we need to pick up the pace.

Here’s my review of Write Your Novel from the Middle by James Scott Bell, which is another way to shape the middle.

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How to Balance Plot and Character Development in Your Novel

Writing compelling plots and characters

My good friend author M. Liz Boyle posed this question: how to balance plot and character development in your novel. I had to give this a lot of thought because, although I know how I do it, I wasn’t sure how to explain my approach in a way others will understand. I’m a very instinctive writer. So when my story is veering off the rails, I rely on my gut to warn me. Since other writers can’t rely on my gut–and that might get messy anyway–here are some guidelines for balancing plot and characters.

Story Is King

When you write genre fiction, the rules of the genre set the boundaries for your novel. I write traditional mysteries. If plot twist or a character arc doesn’t serve the point of the a detective solving a mystery, I should examine it and either change it into something more supportive or eliminate it.

How do you know if an aspect of your novel is serving the story? You should be able to sum up the main problem of your novel in one to three sentences.

For example, I can sum up my third Rae Riley novel, A Riddle in the Lonesome October, this way:

A hidden inheritance, a family feud, a riding accident, a fake medium and rumors of bigfoot all lead to murder as Rae Riley tries to solve the riddle that will allow her great aunt to inherit a fortune and uncover the secret of the deputy she’s fallen for. 

All those elements have to support solving the riddle because it’s the main engine of the story. All the plot twists and character development need to feed that engine.

But how do you strike a balance?

The best way to strike a balance between plot points and character development is to combine them. In my first novel, A Shadow on the Snow, Rae is getting to know her father and learning how he feels about her and how she feels about him. I can show those feelings through their interactions as they try to figure out who is stalking Rae threatening letters vandalism. If your fantasy novel features a quest, then your characters develop as they meet challenges on their adventure.

But you can still add small tangents.

What do I mean by “small tangents?” Short additions of dialogue or action that aren’t directly tied to the mission of your novel but deliver some flavor to the mix.

In Riddle, rumors of a rogue black bear circulate around the county. Rae’s ten-year-old half brother Aaron invents an alarm to blast music if anyone gets too close to the family’s farmhouse. Now the alarm provides a clue to the mystery, but just for fun, I added that every time the alarm catches a family member, Aaron interviews him or her to see how scared they were to judge the alarm’s effectiveness. As he tells them, he can’t interview a bear if it triggers the alarm.

It’s short, funny, and reveals something about Aaron. Keep your tangents brief and few to increase their impact. The more often you combine a plot point to reveal character, the more compelling your novel will be.

Here are all of this month’s writing tips on plotting a novel.

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3 Tips for Writing Internal Dialogue With Tension in Your Novel

How to write high-tension scene for your novel

Since tension is the key to keeping the plot moving in any story, how do you maintain that tension when you only have one character in a scene? This is a question I often wrestle with because I write mysteries. I often have several scenes where my amateur sleuth Rae Riley is thinking through what she’s learned so far about her case. So how can I write scenes like that without boring readers? Read on for the 3 tips for writing internal dialogue with tension in your novel.

Let’s examine a one-character scene for tension. Here’s the opening scene from my short story, “A Rose from the Ashes”. Rae is in this scene alone.

*****

“Glancing left and right, I crunched across the frozen weeds to the abandoned children’s home. I could not afford to be spotted now. If only I could take a few seconds and snap some pictures. The light from the early December sunset was perfect. Gashes of blood-red light seeped through the clotted clouds, creating an ominous background for the gray stone building that was rumored to be the scene of a murder.

“At the back wall of the home, I slung the strap for my camera across my chest and climbed through an opening that once held a window. I dropped to the bare ground, my long, dark gold braid catching on a loose nail in the sill. I disentangled myself and crossed the dirt floor. The fire had burned the wooden floor away. And the roof and the whole interior. The four stone walls loomed above me like a medieval fortress as the sunset’s rays spotlighted sections of the garbage-strewn floor.

“I knelt by a large fireplace, straining to detect any sound of psychics, ghost hunters, or thrill-seeking high school kids who had come to catch sight of the ghost of Bella Rydell.

“Nothing but a few caws from crows and sighs as the wind sailed through the empty window frames.
A lonely place. Very lonely, stuck on twenty acres of unused county land.

“Shaking off a shiver, I unzipped my down vest and removed the two roses. I laid them on the rusty iron grate of the fireplace.

“These would start everyone in the county talking again.”

*****

So how did I tension to this scene?

Description

I use description to show that my protagonist isn’t entirely comfortable in this setting, using words and phrases like “gashes of blood read light” “ominous,” “a few caws from crows”, and “the wind sailed through empty window frames”. Also Rae shakes “off a shiver.” Here is a post about how to use uncomfortable settings to add tension to your novel.

Foreshadow

Hinting at plot points that will become significant later in the story keeps readers turning the page. “The gray stone building that was rumored to be the scene of a murder” and “any sound of psychics, ghost hunters, or thrill-seeking high school kids who had come to catch sight of the ghost of Bella Rydell.”

Raise questions

Rae lays two roses in the grate of the fireplace and thinks that will get everyone in the county talking. Why? The key to raising questions is that while you can be mysterious, you can’t be confusing. Although readers wonder why the roses will provoke talk, they understand exactly what Rae is doing.

These aren’t the only ways to write internal dialogue with tension. Next week, I’ll discuss what I think is the most underused plotting technique for creating tension and one I rely on all the time.

Who is an author who writes tension-filled internal dialogue?

Here are my previous posts on plot this month.

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How to Write High-Tension Dialogue in Your Novel: a Step By Step Guide

How to write plot in your novel

As I’ve said in previous posts, tension is the engine that propels readers through a story. You can add tension to every aspect of writing, but this week, I’m going to focus on how to write high-tension dialogue in your novel.

How do you start to add tension?

Before you write one word of dialogue, ask yourself–what’s the point of this dialogue? Why do I need this dialogue in my novel? Start with the expectations in the genre you’re writing. For example, I write cozy mysteries for teens. Cozy mysteries almost always mean that the protagonist is an amateur sleuth, someone without official law enforcement or legal authority. That aspect alone creates tension for the detective character investigating the crime. Another expectation of cozy mysteries is that the amateur sleuth will question witnesses and suspects.

So one reason for writing dialogue between two characters is that my detective needs to uncover the first clue in the mystery. With that in mind, I can start the conversation. Since this dialogue isn’t the opening scene, I’ll have to give you some background: the protagonist is 18-year-old Harper. She’s investigating who stole a family album from her great-grandmother’s house. She’s speaking to a neighbor, Mr. Thompson.

*****

Mr. Thompson pulled weeds growing under a bush beside his front porch with a hoe.

I said, “Did you hear about somebody breaking into my great-grandma’s house and stealing a photo album a couple of days ago?”

He kept hoeing. “I heard something about that.”

“It was Friday evening. Did you see or hear anything unusual?”

“I didn’t know you joined the police force.”

“The cops don’t have a lot of time to investigate a stolen album that only has sentimental value. Gram’s really upset about the loss.”

“Then she should lock her doors.”

“A lot of people don’t in this town.”

The hoe flung a clump of weeds. “I wasn’t home Friday night until late. Went to visit my sister.”

My eyebrows lowered. “But Gram saw your car parked on your drive when she got home from the football game Friday night. That’s why she thought you might have seen something.”

He leaned on his hoe. “Your great-grandmothers is over eighty. She got her nights mixed up. I wasn’t here.”

Gram was old but not senile. Why was Mr. Thompson lying?

*****

It’s not bad. Readers have discovered the first clue, but there’s a ton of room to add tension. I have the meat of the scene. Now I need to add some seasoning by adding specific words that show Mr. Thompson’s hostility and Harper’s reluctance to speak to him.

*****

Mr. Thompson attacked weeds growing under a bush beside his front porch with a hoe.

My mouth dried, but I managed to get out, “Did you hear about somebody breaking into my great-grandma’s house and stealing a photo album a couple of days ago?”

He sunk his hoe into the hard ground. “I heard something about that.”

“It was Friday evening. Did you see or hear anything unusual?”

“I didn’t know you joined the police force.”

Hard to believe but my mouth dried even more. “The cops don’t have a lot of time to investigate a stolen album that only has sentimental value. Gram’s really upset about the loss.”

“Then she should lock her doors.” He flicked a clump of weeds from the end of his hoe.

“A lot of people don’t in this town.”

The hoe flung another clump.. “I wasn’t home Friday night until late. Went to visit my sister.”

My eyebrows lowered. “But Gram saw your car parked on your drive when she got home from the football game Friday night. That’s why she thought you might have seen something.”

The hoe bit into the ground again, and he leaned on it toward me.

I drew back.

“Your great-grandmother’s over eighty. She got her nights mixed up. I wasn’t here.” He fixed me with a steely glare and then swung his hoe.

Gram was old but not senile. Why was Mr. Thompson lying?

*****

This is better, but I can add even more tension by dropping in some backstory. But only a dollop. Like red pepper flakes, a little backstory goes a long, long way. One way to keep it under control is to get in the head of your protagonist. What thoughts would be passing through Harper’s mind as she approaches and interacts with Mr. Thompson?

*****

I stepped onto Gram’s front stoop.

Mr. Thompson attacked weeds growing under a bush beside his front porch with a hoe.

Why did Gram’s next door neighbor have to be the most unneighborly neighbor on the street?

My mouth dried, like it did every time I had to do a presentation for class, but I managed to get out, “Did you hear about somebody breaking into my great-grandma’s house and stealing a photo album a couple of days ago?”

…. the rest of the story is the same as above.

*****

So adding a little backstory gives readers information that makes them understand the characters better and the feelings and reactions of the protagonist.

Since this conversation uncovers Harper’s first clue, the dialogue isn’t as intense as it should be if she was confronting Mr. Thompson at the climax. Scenes and dialogues should grow more tense as you approach the climax with the climax being the most intense part of your novel.

Here are more tips on writing plots for novels.

Which authors are exceptionally good at creating tension in their novels?

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