Customer Reviews

The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

1) At work I'm constantly encountering situations where templates/spreadsheets made by someone else save me tons of time. At the most, all I need to do are minor revisions on the template to meet my specific business need. This book is exactly like that. This is a template, a formula, that lays out one (1) suggestion on how to put a novel together.

2) This is not a book about how to write great dialogue or develope charasmatic characters(even though there are tips on how to get some of this accomplished). That is what all the other books on the market are for. This book is a blueprint, the scene by scene layout of your novel's plot structure. He gets as detailed as stating the order in which the first 15 scenes (he calls them sections) need to occur and what characters need to appear in those scenes and what in general terms need to happen.

3) This is the first book I've read so far that talks about multiple subplots and how to handle them. Thank you Mr. Marshall!

4) Normally when I take notes on a book, I find that only 10% of the book is the core of what the author is trying to teach. The other 90% are examples to support the 10%. Examples to win you over to the author's viewpoint/opinion or examples to help the reader understand the point and see a demonstration of that example. This book is just the opposite. Mr. Marshall is 90% core material and very little examples. He explains his points clear enough that if you've ever read other books on the craft of writing, then your mind grasps the concept and has already filled in the example.

Yes, when you get to this level of granularity it both shows that novel writing isn't glamours and full of spontaneous creativity. On the other hand, the formula breaks such a project up that it becomes doable, like eating an elephant one bite at a time.

**UPDATE**
A couple of co-workers and I used this "plan" to outline our novels for NaNoWriMo 2011. If it wasn't for even the basic outline of what section should come next in a 3-POV story, I would have been stuck. It's now 11/30/2011 and I'm about to write my last 3,000 words for the challenge. I couldn't have done it without the outlining genius contained in this book. Thank you Mr. Marshall!!

It's not too hard to dismiss this book out of hand as being too arbitrary or deal-a-mealy. I was tempted to myself, but upon reflection I saw that while it's not perfect, it presents several advantages to going it alone.

While it's certainly possible to produce a formulaic, cookie-cutter book by following Marshall's guidelines, it's not inevitable. On the other hand, if you're too anal in your efforts of following "the plan," odds are you'd have been too anal to produce a saleable manuscript without it, as well. While it may not result in providing you with a break-out novel, the plan isn't intended to provide that result. Better to break in first, then you'll have somewhere to break out of.

As with most things, the principles behind the plan are its soundest points. I think there's room for some leeway in the execution of Marshall's points. Your decision may be different from mine, but I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt before I begin flailing around in the dark without a guide.

At first glance, though, parts of the plan seem to make no sense. For instance, in sections told from the (for lack of a more nuanced word) villain's p.o.v., Marshall says the villain never experiences failure. This doesn't mean, however, that the villain can never face a setback, but whatever setback he or she faces is resolved and turned back against the hero before the section is concluded. Likewise, I think it's fair that the hero can stymie the villain in a hero section (or the confidant/love interest in their sections), but he/she/they/it needs to recognize the inevitable repercussions for what has been done (publicly insulting Snidely Whiplash may make your hero(ine) feel good at the moment, but upon further reflection (s)he ought to have doubts about the wisdom of those words/actions).

The only thing that has left me scratching my head is that Marshall has would-be writers determining the word count of completed manuscripts by a mathematical formula based on page count, rather than as determined by word processing software. If you use an old Underwood typewriter, I suppose his way makes sense, but it seems defining a broader word count target for a genre novel would be more appropriate than eliminating "a half page of space" at a time by combining two chapters into one. Maybe this will make better sense to me when my manuscript is done and I actually have a word count in hand ("No!" my self-doubt screams, "You've found the ultimate flaw in the plan! Don't attempt to follow it! Never begin work on your novel! Use more exclamation points!!!").

Ultimately, the plan boils down to this: know your characters ahead of time; map out your plot before you begin to write, basing each section on what your character(s) did in the preceding section(s); remember to take your characters' emotional states into consideration as you develop your story and reflect it in your writing; put three big escalating "surprises" in the story and drop them in at the appropriate places within the novel; keep your prose tight and your points-of-view focused. Do you have to wait until your second draft is complete before breaking the book into chapters? I don't know, but the basics of the plan are sound whether you choose to follow them to the letter or not.

I just had to thank Evan Marshall for giving me the opportunity to purchase The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing. It is a life-saver from beginning to end. Each step of the 16-step book gives suggestions and advice on how to. . . I have read this book many times and I am still amazed to find a chapter in Evan Marshall's Novel Writing to help me through that problem. For the little I paid for it, Marshall Plan for Novel Writing is as important to me as my dictionary, my thesaurus, or my word processor. I took a Creative Writing evening class and let others read the contents of the index. They liked what the book offered and bought copies as well. A while back I purchased Storycraft software. WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY. The Marshall Plan is available for a third of the price. I don't know if it's allowed to down Storycraft in this way but I wanted others to know. This 16-step program helped me decide the type of story I wanted to write, to how to finish a novel, along with how to write a query letter. Thanks a whole lot, Evan Marshall.

If you buy this book and follow it like a bible, will you sell your novel? You might, you might not. The truth of the matter is, there's no one way to do it. Most writers don't even do it the same way from book to book. But, if you have no idea how or where to begin, Marshall's explanation of how scenes play off of one another and how point of view and subplots keep things moving along is a good place to start. His advice on character development is lame. But if you want to be a good writer, first thing you have to do is learn people. You won't get that from any book. So read this book and take what you can from it. Then read every other book you possibly can and meet as many people as you possibly can and put yourself in as many new situations as you possibly can.

Just a note: the best thing I ever did for my writing was to think in scenes. Just write a very brief summary of a scene on a notecard. Think of some scene you know that you want in your book. Then do some more. Then a few more. Don't worry about what goes where. When you get done, put them in order. You'll find a story developing slowing. Then you can put scenes in to fill in the gaps. Once you wind up with a stack of 40 or 50 cards that you like, you're on your way to a book that you like. And the best part about this method is your story is easy to change. Pull out the cards you don't like and rewrite them or toss them or move them. I use the back to make notes that come to me about the character or the tone or whatever while I'm reading the cards. It works for me. Give it a shot.

First, this book is mainly about PROCESS - which is very good and practical - but also has a lot of good information on fiction writing in general.

This book is for you if you're writing a story with a complex plot (such as political or technological thrillers), many storylines/subplots, and/or lots of characters. In other words, if you have a lot to keep track of, this is a good method that will keep your novel organized and on track.

However, if your storyline is more straightforward, contains just one subplot or none at all, and/or focuses on just a few central characters, this method requires far too much "record-keeping" (or what I call "the writing before the writing"). For these kinds of novels, I recommend the streamlined method in "You Can Write a Novel" by James V. Smith, Jr. instead.

As I said, it's a good book, but its usefulness depends very much on the kind of novel you're trying to write.

I'll be honest: when I bought this book, I was suspicious already. The promise of the book was too kitschy, too close to those "write a novel in 10 days" things. Well, I bought it nevertheless, and read it all. And although it did not deliver the magic formula that ir promised, it did deliver a structured plan to put the ideas in order and to achieve some balance in any long story. The dullness or keenness of your story will depend on things that are actually not in the Marshall Plan, but if you follow the plan at least you can monitor the balance and be sure you don't get too dispersed. Nowadays, I don't follow the Marshall Plan, but I do follow a plan. For me, the best thing in the book was to teach me that you can have a plan, and how you can create your own plan. And here, it was helpful.
One comment on context: it seems to me (although I think it's never explicitly said) that Mr. Marshall follows Jack Bickham ("Writing and Selling your Novel", "Scene and Structure"), who follows Dwight Swain ("Techniques for the Selling Writer"). To take more profit from the Marshall Plan, I suggest reading Swain first, who's the mastermind of the M-R stimulus and Scene/Sequel structuring, and it's incredibly clear and crisp. Then read Bickham, who adds some more insights and is clear in a very different way ("Writing and Selling..." is enough; "Scene and Structure" is a rehash). Then read Marshall, and you'll see where is he coming from, for he's not as fathomable as Swain.
One more thing: apart from the Plan, Mr. Marshall gives some tips on writing in general. These are very few, but good. I was really surprised.

A plan for writing a novel that fits almost everyone? My first impulse was to snicker, even to hoot out loud. What type of story could someone hope to create following a formula designed to accomodate every major fiction genre out there?
Yet I couldn't resist opening the book. After standing in the bookstore reading it for awhile, I knew it would go home with me, and I finished it that night (though it's destined to get read repeatedly!). Although I have written two complete novels, Evan Marshall's approach is so intriguing that I plan to adapt parts of it to my next novel. Why? Because my story lines are getting complex enough that I'm afraid I'll lose my balance, and his method of planning a book should keep the subplots and main plot flowing smoothly. So this book is helpful to more than beginning writers.
Yet I think the Marshall Plan is absolutely wonderful for any would-be author who isn't quite sure how to get his or her ideas shaped into a novel. Using the plan, a novelist will keep the action moving, learn to interweave story lines, develop interesting characters, produce good dialogue, and avoid the dreaded mid-story sag. Plus learn how to wrap up the ending, write a query letter, get an agent and (hopefully) be published.
Is Mr. Marshall teaching people how to write the Great American Novel? No, and I can think of several fine best-selling books that I've read in the past year that break many of the plan's guidelines. But this book will be very helpful to those who want to tell an entertaining tale that will be published. As an agent, Mr. Marshall knows what sells, and he sees where most budding novelists go wrong. Certainly his book is an excellent starting point, and probably more helpful to a beginner than anything else I've ever seen. I highly recommend this book.

It does not do the thinking for you. It does not do the imagining for you. It does not do the writing for you. What it does is give you a workable framework, the boundaries in which to let your thoughts, imagination, and words run wild without fear of creating an anarchic mess. This method is the equivalent of creating a painting using the rules of perspective. Picasso mastered realism before he began playing with the rules of visual reality, and the same concept applies to novel writing. Too many writers are horrible storytellers, and this method helps you with the latter. Forget the overdone stream-of-consciousness approach and learn to tell a good story.

The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing includes plenty of practical and thought-provoking material, but there are two chapters that set this book apart from the competition.

One of the many concepts that confused me as a novice writer was the terminology used to describe different types of writing. Different books described narrative, summary, scene, exposition, dialogue, introspection, flashbacks, and recollections, but none provided a satisfactory explanation of each and how they relate to one another, especially for use by a novelist.

In chapters 10 and 11, Evan Marshall describes five writing modes: action, summary, dialogue, feelings/thoughts, and background. He defines each and outlines their uses. As soon as I read about the writing modes, I began incorporating them into my writing and into my study of writing. Years later, I still find writing modes to be insightful in concept and helpful in practical use.

Marshall's writing modes offer a superior model for understanding and explaining the different types of writing used to construct fiction. For me, the writing modes have stood the test of time. I continue to be amazed that more articles and books about fiction-writing don't incorporate them.

The chapters addressing writing modes are well worth the cost of purchasing The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing.

Marshall provides concrete, step-by-step instruction on structure, characterization, style, synopsis writing, self-editing, dealing with agents, and submission. His approach is pragmatic (he assumes you want to SELL your ms.) Someone else commented Marshall was "condescending" and his approach would stiffle creativity. But all art is based on craft. You have to know the rules and how to apply them before you can depart from them. While much of his advice is identical to, if not taken from, Dwight Swaim, he presents it more concisely. I've written three novels and learned many of Marshall's lessons the hard way. (Okay, and many of them I still needed to learn!) This is the most thorough, understandable, and easy-to-apply instruction book on fiction craft I've read (and I've read most of them). The chapter on self-editing is itself worth the price of the book. Follow his advice and you will produce a manuscript that is professional in style, content, and format. Don't think twice, buy it.