Hello there, I am currently writing a faction-novel and have the main plot I want to follow worked out. I, however, want to fill the part of the novel prior to the change of events. The novel I'm writing is about an ~25 year old man who suffers from depression. He has found a delicate balance in his life with the help of therapy, medication and, most importantly, his father. At this point in time, his father dies, disrupting the balance and plunging the protagonist into a severe depression. The main character suffers as his problems get worse, eventually deciding to commit suicide. The novel is meant to give the reader an insight in the life of a person suffering from depression, as well as showing how delicate a balance of convictions can be and the power of our own mind and imagination. The first part of the novel has to describe this subtle balance in order for the imbalance which occurs later on to have any actual meaning/impact. I planned on doing this using the description of therapy sessions (or a singular one, using flashbacks). This, however, leaves me emptyhanded, as I want to be able to introduce more characters to emphasize his situation, and I don't know what to fill this space with. I could describe his life of a week or two, yet this might not be enough time to fully explore the situations and characters described. On the other hand, lengthening the time span will make the period of downfall following afterwards repetitive and unbelievable. Secondly, if I have got the timing figured out, I need to know what to write about in said period. If I were to describe everything going on, I would end up with a novel of 2000 pages, which is something I don't want. I came up with the idea that the protagonist starts an internship, as well as having to go to school. I could combine this with the therapy sessions (they are quite difficult to make interesting though), but I would need a third (or in the case of not using the therapy sessions, a second as well) thing to write about. I already thought of having the protagonist be in regular contact with his father, however I had planned for the main character to live on his own (though I suppose he could visit a few times a week, especially since I planned on his mother having passed away already). I know this is a lot to ask for. I am still thinking about solutions and will edit/comment my thoughts. If anyone has got anything that could help with any of the problems mentioned above, the input would be greatly appreciated. Cheers
Hello! My first thought is, how long do you think you need to establish your main character's routine? Your first chapter could follow several days of your MC's life, establish the routine, and then probably end that chapter with the death of the father. My main worry with trying to write about routine stuff is that it will FEEL routine to the reader, and therefore not interesting. Some skillful use of telling and not showing might be in order there. Also, it's usually a good idea to start with *some* disturbance to a POV character's life. There has to be some hook, some driving factor to the story off the bat. Maybe show some relatively small disturbance to the cycle first and the effects it can have on the MC, before establishing the cycle and leading into the father's death? And it sounds like the father's death is the major, perhaps inciting incident of the story, but that you also want to have a long section before this of build up, which I feel might be an error. While you might need 2000 pages or so to write everything in detail, you certainly won't need that many words to tell us everything vital to the story. Your character can still have that internship, that school career, and the therapy sessions, but the reader doesn't need to know or see everything about those things in order to get the most out of your story.
I'm not sure what you mean by "faction-novel." Could you clarify what you mean? I take it to mean you're writing a novel, so that's how I've responded to what you've written below. As I understand, you're looking to show the difference between how the main character was prior to his father's death and how he is afterward. Is that right? The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick might be useful to you. To explain why, I have to provide spoilers, but I'll try to keep it vague. The main character is enduring suffering because of previous events in his life. Throughout the book, he recalls happier times from the past, and those happy memories motivate him to change for what he believes is the better. It's not so much a flashback format as it is, "I'm doing this because X person from my history would appreciate it." I'd recommend you read the book to get a full understanding of how it's done. It definitely contrasts his life before and after a significant, traumatic event. If I've understood you well, hopefully the answer I've given will be helpful. If I've misunderstood anything, let me know, and I'll be glad to amend my answers.
First of all, thank you for your constructive criticism. It is greatly appreciated. I planned on implementing most of the aspects you mentioned from the start (I didn't know how to describe it all). I indeed don't want the first part to be incredibly large. Do you think the changing of therapists is enough of a catch? It is of great importancr to the protagonist, but might not seem special to others, resulting in difficulties to create empathy
Thank you for your response. A faction-novel is a novel of which the story is a fiction which could happen in our current lives. It is not based on a singular person (this would make it a biography), but does find its sources in real situations. So your assumptions were correct. While the essence of the story is not the effect a father's death can have, I wanted to include it as it highlights the themes I mentioned. I am definitely going to take a look at the novel you suggested, as it indeed seems to have a lot in common with the novel I plan to write
