Elements of Novels

There are some essential parts of every novel. Have you read a novel without a plot? There are many things that are necessary for novels, all novels have these elements as without these elements there is no story. You can say that you are just laying outlines which will later be built upon. I have grouped these elements into two based on their importance: Primary Elements and Secondary Elements.

The Primary Elements of Novels include:

1. Plot: The question I asked earlier "Have you read a novel without a plot?" if your answer was "yes", you were wrong because "no" is the correct answer. Let me explain. A plot is the series of events which means the plot is what happens from beginning to end. A novel is a connection of sentences which are used to illustrate "events". With just the word "events" we can say a plot is necessary. If the main character is reincarnated it is an event, everything that happens in a novel is an event. A good plot can keep readers and make them interested in continuing reading the novel. I will explain how to develop a plot but it would be in a later chapter.

2. Characters: Characters are the people you have created while writing therefore there are yours to control and a character can control the plot, the plot is under the control of the character so you are the Supreme Master of your story. Your characters will therefore look upon you as their god. Anyways, there are two types of characters;

a. Major Characters: This can be divided into two categories:

i. Main Character: This is the person which the novel revolves around. The main character is the center of attention and therefore he needs some specific things which make him stand out from the other characters.

ii. Side characters: These are other characters who stand by the side of the main characters. The characters normally appear about 30 - 70 times in the novel. They are minor characters but their appearance in the story makes them stand out.

b. Minor Characters: These are people which are neither main characters nor side characters. They do not appear as much as side characters, their appearance is between 1 - 30 times.

3. Entertainment: A novel needs to be entertaining to draw in readers and for a novel to be entertaining. There are two places that need to be worked on to improve entertainment, they are:

i. Synopsis: The synopsis gives the readers a view of the novel and therefore a good synopsis draws in readers. Your synopsis is like a movie trailer so what you write must be the most exciting parts.

ii. Plot

The Secondary Elements of Novels include:

1. Theme: This is the father of Entertainment. Like Entertainment, its two places that need to be worked on are: Plot and Synopsis, as it is the main message us, the writers, are passing to our readers.

2. Setting: This is the place where a novel is taking place but most writers waste their time describing the scenery not knowing that they are using the space they could have used to tell the story. It is not as if the readers will memorise the scenery and find a mistake if you change it later so it is best you do not describe much, just go straight to the point.