An “Image System” adds novel quality 

Are you in the middle of a novel (or nonfiction) manuscript and it’s feeling blah? Have you queried and collected passes or silence?  

Consider evaluating and improving your “Image System.”

The term comes from the movie world but is also used for novels. Why? Because readers and good editors want your manuscript to seem like a movie. Heck, they would love to sell the production rights.

An Image System creates or enhances emotion, plot action, pacing, and character depth. Effective images make a story interesting rather than ho-hum.

Become the “director” of your novel from the start or in the next draft. 

Light and Shadow

Award-winning directors—and novelists—play with light to create moods and enhance action.

How does your character REACT to light or shadow? The cliché is to fear the dark. What if your character was quite active in darkness? Doing what? Why? How?

It’s not enough to tell readers it’s “sunny” or “foggy” or “dark.” How does that light condition affect your character’s emotions and at least two of the five senses?

Do you vary light and shadow to keep things interesting?

Color

Movies have a color “code.” Some are dark and broody with browns and grays while others work with bright red or yellow or pink, as examples.

People remember colors and tones.

What about your novel? Does your character wear a certain color for a reason? Note:  Mentioning hair color a lot is a cliché.

Bringing an object with a memorable color into a plot often helps.

What about the colors of buildings? Why those colors? Paint trends and colors have history.

Is there a dull scene where color can re-energize characters, action, setting?

Were you good about a color theme in the first chapters but less so in the last half? Or do you need to pull back on mentioning color so much?

Architecture

Movies excel with building designs symbolizing something or to evoke a feeling or for plot action. Novels are no different.

How do we know we’re in France or Peru or your character’s hometown?

Buildings become props for action. Is there a lot of glass, for example? That gets broken later? Ah, suspense or terror!

What are the architectural shapes? Textures? When and why does your character notice these things?

Is your character in one place too long? Or stay in one place, but can buildings change in some way as your plot pushes forward? Are you in a genre in which all the small towns seem alike? Change something! Be memorable! Build a new city hall or have a fire destroy the beloved library. Those things happen in real life; readers like to see how your characters handle it.

Can the architectural design make things HARDER physically or emotionally for your protagonist and antagonist? Good!

Geography

Movies move through terrain to great advantage. Did you describe geography in the early pages and then forgot about it?

Do you mix close-ups and long shots of the landscape for interest?

What do we learn about rocks, hills, streams, desert, etc.?

Can the geography hinder or help your character more?

How can weather help you work with geography and the reactions of your characters? Rains, floods, drought, fire, or winds create challenges. Could weather events create better hooks in Chapters 1, 5 or 25 or 50 or your Midpoint Crisis area?

Put your novel’s Image System to work for you.