A Novel is Like an Onion

[queenoftheskies]

It has layers.

(Yes, I liked Shrek.)

I think that layers add depth and reality to a novel. I think they make the characters and the worlds and the situations more believable.

I don't think that layers are necessarily the sub-plots, though I think they can be.

When you write, do you consciously include layers? Or do the layers develop from the development of the story and the characters?

Are your layers subtle? Do you think the reader notices them? Or do they blend so well that the result is a life and vibrancy to your work that makes it seem real?

Comments

[aberrant1.livejournal.com]

I start to see the layers developing when I've started writing but I'm still near the beginning. They keep developing and changing and disappearing as I write, and then when I revise I notice the ones I like and try to bring them closer to the surface.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

i do both ~ i conscientiously layer things in that are both subplotty as well as leitmotiffy ~ and then other layers i allow to develop along the way.

i like layers and layers and layers ~ so many that even i'm surprised to refind them when i go back to work on a draft that's been sitting a while.

i've actually been trying to use less subplotty layers and use more nuance within the fewer layers as a tactic. not sure if it's working yet.

: D

Any layers in mine...

[seawasp]

... tend to be plot layers. Even if they're character-related, it's because the layer of the character will have an effect on the plot. Many of the layers I have in my books are "world" layers -- indications of something about the world that the protagonist(s) will have to eventually come to understand.

[canadiansuzanne.livejournal.com]

Layers are wonderful things in a novel. In a short story, they can steal from the momentum of the story unless they're carefully pruned.

I often have to consciously add layers -- they don't seem to appear without planning.

I love Shrek _and_ layers

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

lots of good questions. Layers are something I think a lot about. Like you, I believe that they add dimensions to the story that allow me to enter fully into a world rather than participating in a "series of events."

When I write, I try to get as many layers in as I can on the first draft, but I'd say that 80-90% of my editing--or polishing, if you will--is making sure that all these layers really shine. In my own terminology, *plot* is a layer, as are *characterization* and *worldbuiling.* Themes, of course, are layers, and these are the ones that come into being the deeper I get into the story. I sometimes know what they are before I start; other times I discover what I've been writing about. All the nifty little details, side notes, anecdotal happenings in the story are layers upon the founding layers. (I'm picturing spiderwebs, layer cakes with icing, an oil painting with varnish, etc. as metaphors) I happen to like stories that have digressions. I find them richer and more engaging. Some people don't.

Are my layers subtle? Some are; some aren't. I hope the reader notices them by becoming enmeshed with the life and vibrancy of the world and people I'm trying to create.

[ultharkitty.livejournal.com]

At first I read that as 'it has lawyers'. :P

[madwriter.livejournal.com]

I always add layers, and almost never realize it.

These are the layers that show up when I re-read later, particularly the second draft!

[madwriter.livejournal.com]

P.S. If I start worrying about whether or not the reader is picking up on the layers, I'll start fretting myself into writer's block. :)

I think if you have developed a good character....

[dracschick.livejournal.com]

the 'layers' just appear. It's like the byproduct of developing a good character. I don't consciously develop them, they just seem to appear.