Thoughts on composing a novel

Tom

An Old Friend
Could it be that a novel is nothing more than a collection of themed short stories bound by fillers?
Is there other ways of composing a novel?

It seems to me that the best ones are many stories that bind together. Each 'short' is ended with a 'mini cliffhanger' that causes you to continue reading on. When composing it isn't necessary to be linear.

Write a story, Write a Story, Write a story...
Bind them together with filler details.

:working:

Or, Is there more to it than that?
 
the ones i have been reading recently are epic stories without the popular form of writing as above. reading a chapter or two per night isn't going to be satisfactory as you might end up with less "exciting" chapters.

one niggle i have with certain formats of storytelling is when there are multiple major characters and the story jumps between each character as some major part of the story is reached (or even completed) it's a format that rarely works well enough to satisfy the reader (or at least me)

i think i prefer the first person viewpoint of the epic novels, taking in all aspects of a persons life, allowing you to become closer to a "real "character
 
| agree with Mr D. Sometimes an 'epic' may demand an immediate re-read to follow some of the threads through subplots and what appear almost to be side-issues. Quite often, unless I devote time to read the book in a few days I've lost the plot/interest/desire to continue.
 
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