23 November 2005 - writing a novel 2

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How to Write a Novel, Lesson Two

Character and plot are the two legs on which the platform of the modern novel wobbles. As every security-conscious government leader knows, the character is far more important than any plot in which it is engaged; as a novelist, your first goal should be to identify your characters from a standard database. This is best accomplished through dialog:

Falstaff: To be no counterfeit, but the true and perfect image of life indeed—the better part of valour is discretion.
Punch: That’s the way to do it!

clue:

I have extracted a piece of Falstaff’s famous speech from Henry IV, Part 1 and changed the punctuation. If that happens to also change the meaning, well, most people aren’t too clear on Shakespeare in the first place, right?

give me a clue so sweet and true

the Daily Whale || copyright 2005, 2024 Jay J.P. Scott <jay@satirist.org>