Book Review: The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall

[J. Scott Milford asked me if I'd be interested in posting a book review, and I jumped at the chance. If you ever want to contribute to the ISBW feed, just email me and let me know and we can talk. This is released under a Creative Commons license. - mur]

A Book Review by J. Scott Milford

For all you people out there who want to write a novel but don’t know where to start, listen up. For all of you who have a story idea that you want to make into a novel but aren’t sure exactly how to weave the plot or bring in subplots, supporting characters and conflicts, there is hope. I would like to introduce you to a book written by a man with a plan. The book is, “The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing.” This book was written by Evan Marshall who is an agent who knows the most common mistakes writers make when writing novels. His plan is a 16-step program that will guide your from your initial story idea to having a completed manuscript.

I know many writers would love to have a book that explains the overall structure of a novel; a book that explains when to bring in characters, when to start subplots, when to throw in plot twists and how best to end a novel. I’ve been searching for just such a book. And when I read ‘The Marshall Plan…’ I finally hit pay dirt. This book has it all and more. Let me give you a few examples.

We all know that a book has a beginning, middle and end. But did you know that the “beginning” will take up about the first quarter of your book, the middle constitutes about half of your book, and the end is the last quarter? Did you know that if you have a romantic involvement in your novel, this character is always viewpoint character #2? Did you know that the number of viewpoint characters you should include in your novel will depend on the length of your novel?

“The Marshall Plan…” helps you determine how many characters you’ll need, and exactly when to bring them in. It suggests when the story should be told by through your main character’s viewpoint and when to switch to another character’s viewpoint. It tells you when to throw in conflicts or plot twists, and what type of action is needed in each section. It helps you keep track of what should be going on at any point in your story and helps you keep track of character details so you can avoid making mistakes regarding character description or history details. This book helps you to know how to develop subplots, when they should be introduced and when they should be revisited. If you follow the instructions in this plan, you will end up with your entire story completely plotted and you’ll have everything in its right place—just what you’ll need to produce a well-crafted story.

I have to admit, if this was all the book offered, that would be enough. You simply cannot follow the plan and not understand where you are going and exactly how to finish your novel. But that’s not all. I found that some of the most vital information in this book was when Marshall addressed things like mastering action, dialogue, thoughts, and background. His guidance here is essential.

But for me, the section on polishing your manuscript is critical! Now, I know what you’re thinking….you’re not a big fan of editing. Right? I admit, editing is tedious and nowhere near as fun as writing the story in the first place. But it’s especially tedious when you don’t know what to look for and why. This section, alone, is worth the price of the book. When I began reading this part of the book, I started marking the points that really jumped out at me and I’m not kidding when I say I ended up marking the entire section! Here’s an example where Marshall talks about describing action:

Use adverbs sparingly. Delete unnecessary ones, and certainly delete strings of them. Often an adverb is trying to strengthen a weak verb: “Carla went quickly down the aisle.” Instead choose the perfect verb that needs no strengtheners: “Carla hurried down the aisle.”

Here’s another example in which Marshall is talking about simplicity and economy:

Delete redundancies. Past history. The sky above. Continued on. Hung down. The ceiling/roof overhead. A cold chill. He stood/climbed/rose up. He sat/slowed down. Join together. A little baby. A brief glance. She whispered softly. Tall skyscrapers. The end result. To find them you must closely scrutinize your writing. Better yet, choose your words so carefully that you don’t use redundancies in the first place.

The impact of these concepts, alone, could save good ideas that are poorly written or send well-written material into a new level of professionalism. If you are spending most of your time writing and very little time editing, you’re missing out on one of the strongest and best ways to improve your writing. The better you can recognize elements of weak writing when you’re editing your own work, the stronger all your future writing will become.

Editors can spot poor writing or editing after reading a single paragraph. Think about if you were an editor and you read the first page of some novel or short fiction and it was filled with weak adverbs and redundancies. Would there be much hope for the rest of the story? It would go from the slush pile and into the rejected pile before the editor has taken a single breath. At this stage, editors aren’t looking for good stories, they’re looking for reasons to reject a manuscript so they can quickly move through their mountain of manuscripts. Without a plan, or an understanding of how to edit, the process can be painful and confusing. Who wouldn’t want to avoid that? But because of Marshall’s tips on editing and polishing your manuscript, editing will be easier and it will take less time because you have a definite plan. You will be more focused and will have the confidence of knowing that your editing will most definitely improve your story. Think about how many times you’ve heard a story and said, “That got accepted? I could write a better story than that!” If you don’t know how to edit, the editor who reads your story will never discover how brilliant a writer you are.

“The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing” is a step-by-step guide with clear instruction on how to plot your entire story. But what if your method of writing doesn’t typically involve plotting? Well, I have to admit, this plan is very thorough. You will have a lot of work to do on the front end even before you begin to write the actual novel. If you want to finish writing your book in a month (such as for NaNoWriMo), following “The Marshall Plan…” will help to keep you going at full speed because you’ve already invented and plotted your story. All you’ll have to do is fill in the empty spaces with your imagination. But if you like a more free-flowing method of writing with little or no plotting, this book will still help you. At the least, you will learn what your targets and objectives should be as you write each section of your book. This plan, if followed, will help you complete your novel.

And as if all of that that isn’t enough, there’s even more. Marshall includes a section that guides you through the process of submitting your novel to agents and editors. Since Marshall is a literary agent, he knows exactly what to do and what not to do when submitting a novel. And he explains what you need to know.

I strongly urge you to get this book. Even if you don’t fully use Marshall’s plotting method, I’m sure you will be able to shape his method to fit your needs, whether you like to plot or just let it flow. The transformative potential that “The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing” could have on a finished novel in need of polishing up or a new idea waiting to become a novel is incalculable. If you want to write a novel, get this book! In fact, if you want any of your writing to improve, get this book!

*  *  *

J. Scott Milford’s blog is at http://illuminodyssey.com — adventures in thinking.

illuminodyssey@gmail.com -or- jsmilford@gmail.com

If you use this book review on your blog, website or Podcast, please drop me an email so I can track its use. Thank you.

———————-

ADDENDUM

“The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing – A 16-step program guaranteed to take you from idea to completed manuscript.” by Evan Marshall (ISBN 1-58297-062-9)

For writer’s needing story ideas, I suggest also picking up “The Book of Great Books – A Guide to 100 World Classics” by W. John Campbell, Ph.D. (ISBN 1-58663-204-3) What’s the saying, “Good writers borrow, great writers steal”? Well, anyone can develop excellent story ideas by adapting an old, classic story with new characters and set in a different time or on a different planet. For 100 classic books, this book provides “historical background to the works, narrative summaries, discussions of major themes and characters, and much more.” It’s a great companion to “The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing.”