Some time ago, I read and blogged about Hit Lit – Cracking the Code of the Twentieth Century’s Biggest Bestsellers by James W. Hall. Let me be the first to point out that we are no longer in the 20th century, however, I imagine that the features itemized in the book remain valid for novels written in 21st century as well.
If you’ve been paying attention, you know that I’m working on a new novel – a sequel to Paris In Ruins. It begins in October 1871, a few months after the war and destruction of the Siege of Paris and the Paris Commune have ended. The main character is Camille – one of two main characters of Paris In Ruins – and how her life unfolds. Working title River of Time.
Now what does this have to do with Hit Lit?
Well – I’ve just used this checklist of Hall’s 12 features to see where River of Time might need work.
Feature #1 – critical attributes under the heading A Novel Must:
- engage readers in a compelling, simple and dramatic premise
- offer an unfolding story with “one complication after another”
- include characters “of deep conviction and fervent, stubborn resolve, capable of passions that rise well beyond the normal range of human experience”
- make the story worth the readers’ time by forging a “powerful emotional bond … composed of one part pity, one part fear”
- minimize backstory
- create “some form of serious peril” very early on
- enhance the tension with “the power of the ticking clock”
Feature #2: Raise the controversy of the time period
- but for this historical controversy to have real impact, it “must also express some larger, deep-seated, and unresolved conflict” in today’s society – in other words, it must still be relevant
- for example: women’s place in society, race, class, sex, crime & corruption, religion, political authority, wealth disparity
Feature #3 – Colossal characters doing magnificent things on a sweeping stage
- colossal … magnificent … sweeping
- set your characters against a backdrop of enormous scale and consequence
Feature #4 – The Golden Country
- In the novels considered in Hit Lit, this ‘golden country’ is America; but I prefer to think of feature #4 as whatever ‘golden country’ exists in the time and setting of the author’s novel. This could be Rome in the Roman Empire, England during the reign of Henry VIII, the Qing dynasty, the ancient Assyrian world, New York City in the Roaring Twenties
- according to Hit Lit, “every single novel … prominently features a lost Eden”
Feature #5 – An abundance of facts and information
- could be the inner workings of the French royal court during the reign of Louis XIV, the world of an 18th century warship, the female society of a harem, the preparations for D-Day
- times and places that are other wise unknown to readers
Feature #6 – “All twelve of these bestsellers expose the inner workings of at least one secret society.”
- in this case, a secret society is “any group that for one reason or another has isolated itself from the rest of the world”
- often an individual triumphs over this secret group
Feature #7 – “Bumpkins versus Slickers”
- perhaps a journey from a rural setting to a turbulent urban landscape or the other way round
- the clash between city values and rural ones
Feature #8 – “God Sells”
- “feature religion in prominent ways” often “critiquing orthodox religious practice and the dangers of zealotry”
Feature #9 – “reenactments of our national myths.”
- While Hit Lit focuses on American national myths, such as the immigrant narrative, the notion holds if we extend it to other national myths: the all-powerful British Empire; Paris as the centre of enlightenment; China’s five thousand years of unbroken and continuous civilization
- readers love to “watch our national myths foiled, to see their limits, their frailty, .. their emptiness”
Feature #10 – Rebels, Loners, Misfits and Mavericks
- some of the characters in your novel fit these categories
Feature #11 – “Fractured Families”
Feature #12 – yes this is the last one – Sex
I’m finding it a useful exercise to go through the Hit Lit list! I’ll share another checklist with you shortly.
You can find more on what Hit Lit has to say in these posts:
FOR MORE ON READING & WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION FOLLOW A WRITER OF HISTORY. There’s a SUBSCRIBE function on the right hand side of the page.
M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook or on her website www.mktod.com.
