P.S. How to Write a Bestselling Novel: 4 Tips from Octavia Butler's Notes
"Redefine the problem. Imagine alternatives."
In 2020, well after her death, Octavia Butler achieved her goal: she become a bestselling author. She had figured out how to write best-sellers by studying other successful novels, and developed a formula for success that she applied to her own work. Her formula consists of four strategies:
Thoroughness: Let the reader feel that he or she is being drawn into an “other” world that is complete and REAL. Draw them into a real world. Create a real world for them and for you.
Compelling, believable characters are alive for reader and writer alike.
Characters both reader and writer must care about.
Real and compelling conflict: STRUGGLE in which both reader and writer cannot help becoming involved
TWIST—The strand of the unusual, of the extraordinary that must be woven in tightly, realistically, believably throughout the story. For a new and unusual story solution break set. Redefine the problem. Imagine alternatives.
But how did Butler actually carry out these strategies? And how might we apply them to our own writing? That’s what I investigate in this essay. So join me as I dig deeper into Butler’s notes to learn some of her secrets for brilliant writing. Personally, I found her tactics super helpful, even though I write non-fiction. I hope you do too!
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