AT some point in writing your novel, you might imagine a minefield as you face one problem after another. But clearly, some problems are greater than others. Some could be so-called “fatal flaws.”
Examples?
What if you realize halfway through that your protagonist seems downright dull? What if your plot is very shaky? Is there a plot? What if the voice of the novel is exceedingly flat?
These are major, not minor, problems.
What then? Are such problems insurmountable?
What do seasoned novelists say? We asked six well-published novelists for their take on this issue: What are some examples of fatal flaws? What can you do to fix them? Are some unfixable?
SOME FLAWS ARE SO SERIOUS THAT they mar the integrity of your novel. They constitute a fatal flaw, and they come in many forms.
A novel is fatally flawed, says Carleton Eastlake, novelist and television writer-producer, if it doesn’t give the reader a “vicarious emotional experience.” For him, good novels “let us fall in love, solve a murder, or survive on Mars – from the safety of a cozy bed at midnight.”
Fatal flaws, he says, “impede the willing suspension of disbelief and kick us out of emotionally experiencing the novel.” Two flaws that can block a reader’s emotional experience are awful language and flat characters.
“IF THE NOVEL ENDS WITH
