21 key points of writing “hit” fiction

I have been analysing successful novels, stories, films and series for years, as well as reading some books and articles by prominent novelists and scriptwriters about creative writing. Recently I came across a book by James W. Hall, on writing hit literature. Even though I cast a doubtful eye at “hit” works, due to their tendency to lose literary and narrative quality and depth, trading them off for more audience by using cheap tricks, there are still interesting points in them for any writer, beginner or expert alike. Here, I compiled my interesting findings from Hall’s “Hit Lit: Cracking the Code of the Twentieth Century’s Biggest Bestsellers” book into 21 critical minutes.

I should remind that all 21 sub-titles come directly from my notes from Hall’s own work, while the analysis under each section are my own opinions and interpretations on the set topics.

1 - A dramatic question to start off

All moving stories need a dramatic problem that stands at the centre of the action. A simple trick to find such questions is asking yourself “what if” questions, which should ask something extraordinary, outrageous, unexpected, or expected but undesired, such as a fear coming true. Film scriptwriters especially use these “what if” questions a lot, creating topics that can be summarised in one short sentence. Those questions and issues can either be hidden personal anxieties or social problems of grand scale. This is one of the few areas in life where pessimist worries help.

2 - Emotional bond of audience to the protagonist and his/her intense motivation

To attach themselves to the work presented, the audience have to care about at least one of the characters. The more characters the better. In order to make the audience care, and get emotionally bonded, the writer adds a strong, convincing motivations for the characters to act in a certain way. Provided that the audience can be convinced, more intense urges are often better to grasp the audience. Therefore, the protagonists can be thrown into tragic situations. Indeed, pitying the characters you wrote and sparing them from trouble might cause writer’s block. On the contrary, a writer should test their characters constantly. Real people are never satisfied with their lives, therefore, any severe problem of your characters, especially those influencing a large group in our society, will surely hit the right note for many readers.

3 – Feelings such as fear, pity, longing, anger to push story forward

This is closely related to the previous point; founding emotional bond with characters increases audience’s attention hundredfold. To create this bond, the writer can put the characters into binds, dilemmas, ethical questions, bad decisions, loss of a dramatic conflict, betrayal, abandonment, vengeance or atonement and redemption by making up for their previous mistakes, missing something or someone and dreams to retrieve the lost.

4 – Background is given only when necessary.

If an author is attentive to details and writes with much planning before starting the real text, losing oneself in the background information might be the biggest pitfall. A writer may create a hundred-pages-long background elaborating the character traits, sociocultural backdrop of the setting, or visual qualities of the world. Indeed, being prepared before writing the story is always a good idea. However, the problem is, no one can use all those long notes in one novel or script (Hence, it is inevitable to decide making it a trilogy, or even a longer series), and a writer cannot even keep all those details in mind. Moreover, trying to write scenes to prove all those elements of background will probably create a tedious text. The solution is, planning as much as you really need, and starting to write the narrative while pointing out only the most important and interesting background elements. That scene does not have to be at the beginning of the novel.

Writing rough sections randomly, as writer willed, and then gluing them together logically can also be a good method to go. This way, writer would not lose interest in their own work. Of course, at least a rough idea of where plot is going should be kept in mind, otherwise, it would be impossible or require too much effort afterwards to create a logical sequence of scenes.

To sum up, background is necessary for a convincing setting, but too much emphasis on it would make your text read like a boring textbook of fake history.

5 – Dangers begin showing themselves early on: Slippery ice is broken, illusion is removed.

This relates to our own world too: if everything is going well, there is no story. Life is good, everyone is happy. The end. Why would people read or watch it then? People lose interest to such works quickly, saying, “nothing happens in this book (or film).” The writer should demonstrate the dramatic tension as early as possible, keep the audience curious about when that threat would come out, when the main characters will notice or be strongly impacted by this coming threat. For this purpose, a flashforward in the prologue part to present a trailer, a glimpse of the coming dangers can be a good method to show people what is at stake. Beginning of the rising action or even the climax of the story are good options for this flashforward. An alternative could be, showing the threat rising up elsewhere, far from the safe and happy lives of the main characters. All in all, the illusion of safety should break early; the protagonists should not pass the one third of your text in oblivious state to the imminent danger. This catches the audience’s attention by creating a more moving, active plot. A protagonist who does not do much, is a horrible protagonist.

6 - Time is of the essence: people must act!

As mentioned in the previous point, the characters must do something, fight against the threat, because the time running out. If there is no rising danger, characters would not act quickly to create a gripping story.

Mind you, this threat does not have to be a danger to the world; it can be something personal, small for others but important for the protagonist, such as the danger of losing a loved one, due to misunderstanding, a badly planned action, or to a disease...

7 – Global or national, timeless themes on humanity and society

Either on basic human level or on a national cultural level, the plot should offer some general themes to elaborate, discuss and sometimes disturb the audience, forcing them to think. Even though no one likes didactic characters or plots, people like being shaken by a new, shocking point of view to a well-known, common topic, such as family, friendship, love, marriage, parenting, self-sacrifice, loyalty, betrayal, hate, war, death... (Remark that these concepts are a sequential line of events in many lifetimes.)

Philosophical and ethical questions and dilemmas are always good starting points for a theme. What would you, or someone you know (a character you wrote is also someone you know) act in such a moral dilemma? Make your characters undergo a phase to make them question everything they knew.

8 – Protagonist represents or symbolises something important from the era.

One should never write with the dream of being read by millions, or by people who are not even born yet. In fact, disregarding this unknown, threating mass of audience is a necessity, in order to relieve oneself from stage fright. Still, we are writing something to present our own world experiencing a specific period, our own culture in a specific county, in a specific region. This mostly happens involuntarily, but when it does not happen, writer should be sure to write what he or she knows very well. By no means should the plot be auto-biographical: novice writers almost always write part-dairy, part-novel works, which create disastrous texts. Still, writers can well “fictionalise” something they experienced or read about a lot. That would make you unique among other aspiring writers. You readers would learn from your knowledge. What is mundane to you by now, can be fascinating to someone living a different life, or in another time and country.

If you are writing a period drama, the characters should represent some key social figures and cultural elements that existed back then. Even when writing science-fiction, characters better be people to demonstrate a social phenomenon without even opening their mouths, since people does not want “to be told”, they want “to be shown.”

9 – Small stories leaning against a huge backdrop

Especially if you are creating a new world, i.e. not presenting a setting that most of the audience is already familiar with; layering the stories is an efficient method. Thus, the reader would not be lost in grand scheme of events. It takes thousands-of-pages-long stories to create related actions for demonstrating bigger backdrops. Thence, it is almost impossible to make all those aspects a key point of the main action. Instead, just pick the most important and exciting points from the background and make your protagonist(s) deal with them. At the same time, minor events will be learned or seen briefly to understand and imagine the rest, less important events. “Important” depends on your perspective: in an apocalypse story, where a tyrant tries to crush all to establish an empire, one can focus merely on a seven-year-old child trying to survive in that mess. He or she is only one of the billion endangered people, but it is a “microcosm” symbolising all that happens on the grand scale.

10 – Suspend your audience’s disbelief with good information and details.

A plausible story is difficult to write. If it is creative, unique idea, it is harder to convince audience. If it is something easy to convince, the audience finds it common and boring. Nevertheless, “suspension of disbelief” is a necessity for a gripping plot. This can only be created by describing important points with great detail. If a character’s appearance has a symbolic significance, it can be elaborated. If there is a fictional setting, writer must have done his or her homework very well, by having thought about all details beforehand.

This also requires hunting for your own loopholes and inconsistencies. Audience loves to say, “that doesn’t make sense.” We all want to be smart. If a reader thinks they are smarter than your plot, they will lose all respect and attention to your narration.

11 – Secret plans or institutions

We all love intriguing stories. Most people love gossiping on their own right, in their fields of interest. In any story, if some person or group are plotting something big to alter the setting, this creates tremendous dramatic tension. Secret societies and conspiracy theories related to them are quite popular in non-fiction too. Though in fiction it is also important as people assume the writer knows more than they do, otherwise the writer would not write about it, right? Everyone knows it is merely fiction, however, both the institutions allegedly exist in our world, or the ones completely your own creation, are great tools of a moving story.

12 - No character is sacred: all may suffer and die anytime.

I mentioned above that it is alright to torment your fictional characters and to throw them into mortal fray. On step forward, your characters can be at real risk of death and if plot requires that, they can even die abruptly and timelessly. If nothing bad happens to your main characters despite all threats, the audience will quickly lose all their thrill for scenes putting these characters in danger. If you are writing a happy story, then do not throw the characters into dangers they cannot survive in the plot’s own logic. In many badly written stories, less relevant characters fall over with one shot, but an army is not enough to take down the characters who are indispensable to the plot. In such stories with mortal conflict, you can easily guess who will survive until the climax. Avoid what is called “plot armour” at all costs: if they survived, they must manage due to someone’s being clever than the other, or by a planned turn of events.

Mortality will also make your story much more convincing: Our own lives are a million times less dramatic than fiction, still, anyone can die any second. If you write a world where good guys are invulnerable, it can only excite children. Indeed, killing your characters off is a bad idea only when you are writing for children. For adults, it will boost the dramatic tension. Learn some from J. R. R. Martin, but do not overdo it, use it when necessary.

Killing someone is not a way to unclog the stuck plot (as some bad TV screenwriters do). If you came to such desperate means, you are doing something wrong. Ask yourself, what is your point with this whole story, and make your characters live or die for reaching that personal point of yours.

13 – Complex story for twists to surprise readers and keep them alert

My observation is that, even mediocre narrations are esteemed by audiences if there is something hidden to be revealed much later. You need somewhat complex structure to make this happen. Too few characters, too few events make it difficult to hide something. Hide a key point behind an unexpected element, without trying too hard to conceal, such as a “do not look there, there is definitely nothing to hide,” manner. That will make it too easy to guess. Instead, lay pitfalls to lure the reader’s suspicions away from the real culprit.

Element of surprise is not only for the end, it can be used as much as logically possible. Like in a romantic relationship, surprises will keep your target audience away from boredom. Keep people alert for new things. Doubtlessly, there should be at least minor hints before twists arise, everything should make sense within the big picture. “Deus Ex Machina” kills any story: nothing should come out of nowhere. Prepare people before all big things, without spoiling the surprise.

14 – Tension instead of shock

You do not have to write a horror or thriller story to create tension. As I already stressed above, something big for the main characters to lose or gain can create sufficient dramatic tension. Sudden shock on the other hand, has a declining effect. It is more difficult to convince the people what happens before and after sudden shocks. Furthermore, the tension is lost as what’s done is done now. Just like in romantic relations, consider if it is all worth so much sacrifice for a short moment of satisfaction.

Wise people say, fear is always worse than the thing being feared. Bear in mind that writing is like an illusionist’s performance: Everyone knows it is fake, nonetheless it feels magical. If you could really create those worlds you wrote, you’d be God, not a helpless human sitting in front of a mostly plastic and silicon device all day. Still, people buy and read books, or go to films: they want to be lied so wonderfully that they fall for it (same goes for romances, but maybe I should write about my “expert” (?) views on this in another essay). This is actually what “suspension of disbelief” is. So, good writers are good manipulators, only in a moral way, as the audience comes there to be manipulated. Be a good manipulator and make use of the people’s common fears to reflect them onto your protagonists. Do not imagine monsters; for instance, losing one’s job or spouse can be a bigger fear than a grotesque creature.

15 – References to literary works or real world

Referring to what people know as fact from their “real” lives is a clever trick to make your fiction appear as reality, which makes it more exciting. Outstanding real-world events or your favourite books and films will surely be an inspiration to you. It does not harm to add some details, an action, or a name as a tribute to those masters you owe a lot to. Adding depth to your story, it will create various concepts to analyse your work, which is a good-old game for bookworms as much as for literature or film studies departments in the academy who have to feed their children somehow.

16 – A poetic and rhythmic language

If you are writing a script for cinema or television, writing simple and concise is a must. But if you are writing a work of literature, your style and technique in use of the language is naturally of great importance. Even if you do not care a bit about literary critics, a good language makes your work a more enjoyable read. Some books with bad stories are loved by people because it is great fun to read them. (Same applies to a lot of classic films, which is often a fruit of good directing, despite bad scriptwriting. In cinema, directing is where the style makes the bigger difference.) Reading pleasure in literature comes from the patient craftmanship of the author. Talent or genius can give someone the best ideas no one can think of. But good writing has nothing to do with those. A literary genius can write a bad text if he does not try hard to implement his craft. Concept artistic creation is one thing, skilful execution of an artistic idea is another. “Poetic and rhythmic” language does not mean your novel should sound like a 19th-century Romantic poetry. It just means every text should have a natural flow, well suited to the genre and the story’s tone and mood. Reading your text out loud is a great method, not only for dialogues but for the entire text. In the last analysis, to become a good craftsman, one has to read and write regularly, on whatever they fancy. Reading without writing or writing without reading cannot make a good writer.

17 – Natural humour and irony

Even when there is nothing comedic, good writing is often witty in his own sense. A sentence reflecting the narrator’s or a character’s dark humour can tell more than dozens of outraged pages. Unlike literary technique, I do not think one can improve this one much by reading or writing. Instead, a penetrating cleverness with a critical eye to everything in the society can create this magic. Most comedians use their shrewd observations for their jokes. This point is not a must-have, but definitely augments the reading pleasure.

18 – No one and nothing is for nothing.

Creative writing instructors usually say; if something neither depicts us the characters’ qualities nor advance the plot, that something must be omitted. All minor characters, every small action, any tiny object should have a purpose. Otherwise, why is it depicted? One may not write for the sake of filling pages or bridging important sections. If there is nothing significant in between, writer should find a good way to cut to that next important scene. Details are good when they imply something (anything, however small themselves are) in grand scale.

19 – Captivating first lines or first pages

Writing a catchy first sentence is stressed a lot in creative writing, maybe a bit too much. Gradually, beginners have begun to force this so much that any absurd and ridiculous sentence is accepted as a good opener now. Like some teenager YouTubers, many freshman writers attempt laughable opening lines just to grab a bit more attention. No need for cheap tricks like this. A writer should simply attempt to make a point beginning from the first sentence. In medias res; beginning in the middle of action is also a good method grab the audience immediately. A short flashforward to a dramatic moment for the prologue can help too.

Long depictions of the novel’s setting in the first pages are dangerous for aspiring new writers. In fact, they are dangerous anywhere in a novel. Pre-modern novels had such long explanations, even a lot of ranting of the author’s own views. Since the postmodern era, audience has no patience for that anymore. Always action, instead of explanation.

20 – Expected unexpected ending: clues were there, but with misdirection.

I wrote about the importance of plot twists above there. Alright, the same goes for the end. If the biggest and coolest twists is set in the end, it will be the cherry on top. This unexpected ending has to be expectable too. Hints were always there but readers overlooked them in the flood of other good details. You can add false hints too. Give conflicting hints to the reader and shoot for another corner.

21 – Write a lot, with your own formula, on your own genre.

Ultimately, writing good is all about writing a lot. Supported by a lot of good reads, a prolific writer will gradually find his or her own style. One has to write at least a few thousand pages to achieve that. A few years are normally enough to do so but a peril point is not forcing oneself a lot. I once wrote a novel of 500 pages in four months but during the next few years, I could not write much. Great efforts bring great expectations. Great expectations almost always crash. Writing fiction is a thrilling adventure but it should not cause a burnout in the end. Writing calmly and regularly is much more fruitful in the long run.

Gradually one finds their favourite genre, style, and even own formula for writing. Then, maybe all these tips here pointed by Mr Hall and elaborated and discussed by me, will be redundant for you. Writing is probably the only field a human can be completely free. The limit is the language and human imagination. Therefore, no tips or methods are divine commandments. Simply put, learn all from everyone, then forget and finally make use of all you have learned at subconscious levels.

Writing should be wild, unchecked. Extra preparations before and after this “rampage” period will make it work well. Otherwise, just like the problem of too much planning and backgrounding, writer is lost in too many directives. Talent and creativity shy away when faced with too many instructions. Any tip and hint should be read and revised occasionally, as we tend to forget all, but a writer should also know it is best to forget things sometimes, for not to be confused and paralysed within all the restrictions, rules and decisions. Just write your best, then write again. No one points a gun to your head to make you write; so be sure to have a lot of fun.

Edip Sönmez

17 Oct. 19

Bursa