Eerily, I’ve had the same conversation with a series of aspiring novelists in the last month or some, to wit: novels are not movies. They’re about people, not events. Even when they’re wrapped around a real event, they’re about the people experiencing the event, not the event itself. Nonfiction is about events.

Furthermore (the discussion goes on) the main character, aka “protagonist” in literary parlance, has to be sympathetic enough for the reader to want to read about them, even root for them. That protagonist then journeys through the plot, undergoes a character arc, and ends the story at least slightly changed, hopefully (but not necessarily) for the better.

Finally, the conversation concludes, the book opens and closes on the protagonist, not on a secondary character or subplot.

These concepts aren’t “rules” so much as they are accepted realities for communicating with a cold reader. When someone in a totally different state who has never heard your name before picks up a book you’ve written, you want to have a better-than-fair chance of capturing their attention and getting them to read your story.

If the fundamental “rules” of fiction are 1) it must be compelling and 2) it must be plausible within itself, then keeping the above simple guidelines in mind will help you achieve those two goals.

It’s simple. And complex. Like all writing.

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