An Alphabet of Better Writing # M

M is for...Message

As a writer, your first obligation to your reader is to tell them a cracking story, of course it is, and for many writers -- and readers -- that is sufficient in itself. Focusing on the events of the narrative: this happened and then crikey!  this happened as well, will make your reader want to devour your story, but the overall experience will be closer to eating fast food than a beautifully prepared three course meal.  You run the risk that your book may be scoffed (or worse still, scoffed at) and then discarded.

There are a number of things that you can do to make your reader want to linger a little longer. You can add  various layers and textures to your work by thinking not just about what you write but how you write it, making sure that your prose is equal to your plot and to your protagonists.  But in this world of added value, it might be an idea to think about the overall message you want to convey as well.

For example, a novel might explore the scenario whereby a man sleeps with his brother's wife, dwelling on the process of seduction, the act of infidelity, the aftermath, and no doubt it would make an interesting read, but if you don't, as a writer, at least reflect on the nature of loyalty and its opposite, betrayal; if you don't delve into the seething insecurities of sibling rivalry, in fact, if you don't have something to say about the nature of love, be it sexual or fraternal, then your work may ultimately seem inconsequential and unsatisfying.

As a writer, I know the subjects which interest me: the ambivalent undercurrents of family life, how people's actions fall short of their aspirations, the nature of reconciliation and forgiveness, and I'm constantly on the lookout for interesting situations that will give me scope to examine them further. In other words, what I want to write about always comes first, the novel is, in part a vehicle for ideas. If I were teaching maths, I'd put it something like this:

theme > situation > plot + character =  starting point. 

How quadratic is that??