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A good book should form a thematic and, ultimately, moral whole. Multiple characters may reach their moment of crisis, but there will generally be one central climax that plays the major notes of t...
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#4: Attribution notice removed
by
System
·
2020-01-03T20:41:55Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30042 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T06:58:08Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30042 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
System
·
2019-12-08T06:58:08Z (about 5 years ago)
A good book should form a thematic and, ultimately, moral whole. Multiple characters may reach their moment of crisis, but there will generally be one central climax that plays the major notes of the theme and multiple supporting climaxes that work in harmony or counterpoint to support the major note. A simple unity of action is not needed or even desirable. A short story has a simple unity of action. The characteristic of a novel is that it has a unity of theme expressed through a diversity of action. A novel is orchestral. It is a composite of many moments, many highlights, but all leading and framing the great moment of climax that is not simply the culmination of one character's storyline, but the grand summation of the overall theme that runs through all the threads of the novel. A novel requires that diversity of action to deserve the name (and justify the length) but it also requires the unity of theme and moral focus to qualify it as a complete and unified work.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2017-09-02T03:45:08Z (over 7 years ago)
Original score: 2