How to Write a Great Novel

By Rolando José Olivo

Although there are no reliable statistics, it is known that each year more than two million books are published in the world, and approximately 24% correspond to stories and novels.

Unlike earlier times, publishing literary works is not so difficult. Furthermore, books aren ́t totally dependent on publishers' approval, due to the emergence of resources and opportunities that didn ́t exist before (including computers, access to immense volumes of information and the self-publishing sites).

In this regard, the big problem that affects many authors of novels (especially new ones) is how to write a text of this nature, which depends mainly on the resources and skills of its creator.

Based on my experience, the purpose of this book is to give the essential recommendations to develop a great novel, which will improve the skills of the writer, considering: a) the beginning (main theme, secondary theme and meaning), b) the characters (name, role, communicative ability, vision and their dialogues), c) the development (place, linear and circular time, structure and striking writing), and d) the background (main and secondary meanings).

Likewise, it is expected that these recommendations will benefit many authors and allow them to create great novels...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rolando José Olivo
• Release date: Apr 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005568184

Rolando José Olivo

[e-mail] Instagram: @rolandojolivo Systems Engineer with 3 postgraduate degrees: Master's Degree in Applied Economics, Diploma in General Management and Specialization in Management of Social Programs (Summa Cum Laude). Work experience in companies in the oil sector, occupying these positions: Planning and Logistics Manager, Project Coordinator, Financial Advisor and Consultant. Consultant in the economic and financial area. Writer of books on economics, management, self-help, novels and Christianity, among others.

Book preview

I. INTRODUCTION

Since the year 2015, I entered the literary world and have published several texts on various topics: economics, management, self-help, philosophy, religion and even novels. Precisely, my first book was an impressive novel: The Trial of Pontius Pilate (2015). While in the following years, I have published these novels: a) The Trial of Annas and Caiaphas (2016), which is the second part of The Trial of Pontius Pilate, b) The Second Trial of Pontius Pilate (2019), this is the third and final part of The Trial of Pontius Pilate, c) The Astrologer of the President (2020), d) The Happiness Machine (2020), e) The New Story of King Midas (2021), and f) There is Gold on the Moon… (2021).

In short, to-date I have written and published seven novels (in Spanish and English), and the first four have also been translated to Portuguese.

It is important to stand out that stories and novels are the most widely read texts because many people like good tales, and some have reached theaters and cinemas. Therefore, from the commercial point of view, a novel has immense possibilities of obtaining greater sales than those of other books on economics, self-help, philosophy and religion (because the latter are directed to very particular audiences), and also transcend into audiovisual media.

Furthermore, contrary to most popular beliefs, it isn´t so difficult to write a novel (I corroborated this working in the book The Trial of Pontius Pilate, 2015). It is even easier than writing other specialized texts, and sometimes requires less time and research activities. Of course, the quality of the novel mainly depends on the skills of the author, once he/she has conceived an interesting theme.

With respect to the aforementioned novels, these are the respective summaries:

1. The Trial of Pontius Pilate (2015):

The World Court or the most powerful government of the universe initiates an unprecedented and controversial trial against Pontius Pilate, for authorizing and ordering the execution of Jesus.

Using the technology to travel throughout time, the rulers of the universe bring Pontius Pilate to their world, before he dies.

However, this trial is a political weapon of the conspirators to delegitimize the universal justice system. In this regard, the prefect of Judea is judged in an environment of power struggles and conflicts of interests.

In this capital case, there are thirteen accusations against Pontius Pilate. The best universal lawyer, who has never lost a case, is forced to defend him, while the prosecuting attorney, who hasn´t lost a case either, expects to easily beat the defender and condemn Pontius Pilate.

Two stories are developed in parallel, that of the rulers of the universe (the Justiciers) and the trial of Pontius Pilate.

2. The Trial of Annas and Caiaphas (2016):

The authoritarian magistrates are politically cornered. They face protests and threats due to the arbitrary detention of rulers and the absence of information in other serious cases. The World Court executes several extraordinary measures, crossing definitively the red line between democracy and dictatorship. Without recognizing the existence of the Global Alliance, the magistrates declare the war to Hagmog's government and enact a martial law against a rebel group called Transcendence.

Subsequently, begins the capital trial against Annas and Caiaphas, with fifteen accusations of irregularities and legal violations committed during the judicial proceedings against Jesus. Daniel Rhomero, legal adviser of the World Court, is the accuser, and Tatiana Trustjust defends the chiefs of the Jewish priests.

In an environment of uncertainty propitiated by the disappointing results of the last war, after a strategic move of the conspirators, the magistrates accept: the legalization of the political party Transcendence, the establishment of a new Universal Legislative Power and the holding of elections for governors and legislators.

Concluded the trial against Annas and Caiaphas, in spite of the unfair electoral conditions approved by the World Court, Transcendence obtains an impressive victory in the elections. However, the magistrates prepare a plan to limit the authority of the new Universal Assembly. They also aspire to start immediately the second trial against Pontius Pilate...

3. The Second Trial of Pontius Pilate (2019):

The authoritarian magistrates try to dominate the Universal Assembly through several Decrees-laws. However, the legislative power also approves various Decrees-laws, leaving the previous ones without effect, and generating a power struggle between both institutions.

Due to an agreement between the World Court and the Universal Assembly, and after several rounds of voting, the legislative branch manages to appoint the President of Marter, dismissing Arthuro Segblack and beginning the era of the Justicier civil government. New elections of governors for the Capital City and the State 144 are also called.

Meanwhile, there remain strong concerns between the two directors of the Secret Service because of a controversial video of Tatiana Trustjust, coming from the near future, in which the radicals of the Global Alliance destroy the planet Marter.

In the second trial of Pontius Pilate, there are two capital accusations related to other charges against him, while judging Jesus. The attorney Gideon Restnw, advised by Daniel Rhomero, is the accuser, and the universal non-Justicier lawyer, Kirly Doors, assistant of the President of the Universal Assembly, is the defender.

The new President of Marter gives a radical turn to Justicier policies, respecting the fundamental rights of non-Justiciers and ending with the abuses of power. However, due to the ratification of the events of the video of Tatiana Trustjust, a call to rebellion by Patricio Peter-Stheyn and the approval of three anti-Justicier laws, by the legislative branch, the World Court decrees a State of Exception, suspends the Universal Assembly and declares war to several members of the Global Alliance.

Although the Justiciers win this war, capture Patricio Peter-Stheyn and Rovich UnPace, and restore the Rule of Law, there are still some sources of uprising, and the President of Marter, recognizing that the war has not really ended, starts an evacuation process of civilians in Marter and Haglan. In few hours, the future of the Marter Justice State will be decided...

4. The Astrologer of the President (2020):

This isn´t the tale of a hero. Rather, it is Cuasimodo Fiestero’s story, a villain, known as the astrologer of the President.

In the not too distant future, Cuasimodo Fiestero, persecuted politically from the north and nationalized in a southern country, fan of astrology and practitioner of occult sciences, who appears before the National Congress and the Supreme Court of Justice to avoid the prohibition of astrology, surprises with his deep astrological knowledge and incredible predictions, being the President's best consultant, advising him on several issues, including the nation's economic plan, business strategies and the decision to declare war on another country.

The bold Cuasimodo Fiestero, qualified as a fake and questioned by the Church and the sectors of the right, after being fired by the President, predicts the re-election of that ruler and his prompt dismissal.

However, although he is responsible for the electoral victory of a new President and is recognized as the astrologer of two Presidents, Fiestero is the victim of a conspiracy that forces him to go underground.

It seems that the President's astrologer, loved and admired by many citizens, and at the same time, hated and despised by others, isn´t a legend...

5. The Happiness Machine (2020):

The bold detective Jerónimo Ghalia faces the last case of his successful career. He must prove that the happiness machine is a fraud and investigate the alleged financial illicit acts of the international corporation Ultimate Happiness. In addition, there are strange suicide figures, year after year, of those affiliated to this company, which seem to follow a predetermined pattern.

However, the case is not as simple as it seems, ten other researchers have already failed in their attempts to impute Ultimate Happiness, which invests in treasury bills and sovereign funds of several countries and doesn´t deduct their multiple donations for tax purposes. Likewise, the interests of the police chiefs and even those of the President of the Republic converge, aiming to close the investigation without finding guilty ones.

Although the controversial Jerónimo Ghalia, exhausted and suffering from burn-out, after many disappointments during his difficult work, which led him to see the worst of human nature, when analyzing the content of the Ultimate Happiness course and finding the secrets of happiness, gives a new turn to his life, after concluding this latest investigation and going into retirement...

6. The New Story of King Midas (2021):

Many of us know the story of king Midas, but we do not know anything about his descendants or the future of the kingdom, and there are also great possibilities that this tale has been told in another way.

Despite his arrogance, the bold and cunning king Midas XVI, very different from previous monarchs, worries about the kingdom's problems and hopes to improve the well-being and wealth of his subjects, being even compared to the legendary king Solomon.

Extremely concerned about an eminent recession in the kingdom and anticipating the unrest of his subjects, the king Midas XVI reads a mysterious letter from his distant ancestor, the first king Midas, which tells that he must face three difficult tests, and finally fulfill an unknown requirement.

Astonished because he discovers that the golden statue of the king's daughter and those of the five servants were people in other times, he is willing to end a terrible curse, allow the soul of the first king Midas to leave the underworld, and free the daughter of king Midas and the five officials of their terrible prison.

Although the king Midas XVI fights against a terrible demon and a millennial witch, on the routes of the end of the world, and passes all three tests, he still has to meet an unknown requirement, which will be raised by the owner of the underworld, Hades, counting only with the support of his faithful counselor, Marina...

7. There is Gold on the Moon… (2021):

In the year 2067, one hundred years after the Outer Space Treaty that prohibits the appropriation of natural resources in space, from the Olimpia space station, the commander John Pickpower and his crew are in charge of various activities: making vaccines, executing tests with solar energy, destroying space debris and potentially dangerous meteorites or asteroids, and analyzing the composition of celestial bodies, looking for new materials and inquiring about existing ones.

A sensational discovery in the hidden zone of the Moon, faithfully kept in secret, sets off the alarms at Olimpia and its governing bodies (the International Space Agency and the United Nations Security Council). So much so that its geopolitical implications could lead to disowning the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and space legislation, and initiate a stage of space mining, with armed conflicts between several nations or a third world war.

Meanwhile, five spaceships of different governments and corporations, motivated by leak of information and rumors, are heading to the dark side of the Moon. The commander Pickpower has instructions to avoid the moon landings, but he has problems with the captain Nikita Glassvery, who is determined to take the command of Olimpia, and reveal to citizens that: Indeed, there is gold on the Moon! The other two crew members are: a murderer with a suspended sentence and a person with a false record.

So: What will happen when citizens know the truth? What will be the geopolitical, economic and financial implications? Considering the eminent disowning of the prohibition of appropriating natural space resources, how will remain the special legislation? Although surely, there will be an unusual beginning of the new space age...

It is relevant to note that the purpose of this book is to give relevant recommendations for writing a great novel. In this regard, this publication is divided into these main chapters:

II. The Beginning of the Novel.

III. The Wonderful Characters.

IV. The Development of the Novel.

V. The Background of the Novel.

VI. Conclusions and Recommendations.

The Chapter II. The Beginning of the Novel includes these sections: a) II.1 The Main Theme (how to select it or what is going to be written about?), b) II.2 The Trial of Pontius Pilate, c) II.3 The Trial of Annas and Caiaphas, d) II.4 The Second Trial of Pontius Pilate (how were the main themes of these novels conceived?), e) II.5 The Secondary Theme (why is it necessary to work with another theme in the novel? Do the previously mentioned novels have a secondary theme?), f) II.6 The Astrologer of the President, g) II.7 The Happiness Machine, h) II.8 The New Story of King Midas Story, i) II.9 There is Gold on the Moon… (how did the main and secondary theme emerge in these novels?), j) II.10 The Meaning of the Novel (how to give it a purpose?), and k) II.11 Recommendations for Starting the Novel.