Martial Arts novel

[Grasshopper22]

One of my passions is writing and I was thinking of writing a novel about a guy who gets forced into doing a martial art when he's 13 as it's the family tradition and at first he doesn't think he'll like it but he ends up being a master and so on. Yes it's cliché but I want to write it. Any twists you can think to put in? Thanks!

 

[oaktree]

CHASED BY MANY GIRLS!! Adding that is like every manga.
Or his teacher is a pervert again every manga.

Make him have a curse with a puppet for a hand that
Likes to drink gamble and look.for woman haha that'd funny.

 

[Buka]

Writing a novel is less about plot/story and more about character, at least if you want to get published. In fact, if you want your work to be even read by the people who actually buy writing, it has to be about character. Make the characters complex, flawed and make us all care about them. What they do is secondary.

 

[decepticon]

Take some time to think about who your intended audience would be. Adults? Teens? Mostly males or both genders? Imagine that you have a group of those very people sitting around your living room and that you are telling them the story. What would you add to make it more interesting to them? What conflicts could they relate to?

One possible twist would be to have your character have talent in some other area not compatible with a MA career, especially if it was something not valued in his family's culture. Another might be to have him be forced to make a choice between giving up "normal life" to be able to excel in MA. Horror of horrors, what if he fell in love with a committed pacifist who could never be with someone who practiced MA? What if he got injured and had to change styles?

Or on a deeper level, what message(s) do you want to convey to your audience? What is important that they learn or know? That things will come out right in the end? That hard work and diligence will bring rewards? That integrity is better than popularity? Then think about how you could weave the main messages you want to present into your story line. If you want to really emphasize something, have it play out in a couple of different scenarios simultaneously, perhaps in both the major character's life and in a minor character's situation.

In general, strive to have your characters' behavior illustrate the story rather than using a narrator to tell it or having it all presented via dialog, which can become preachy very easily. Ask what the character could do to reveal how he feels about a recent event. Does he catch sight of himself in a reflection with a goofy grin (to show unexpected success), does he avoid eye contact with someone he respects (indicating inner conflict about choosing between right and wrong), does he fold his uniform with great precision and then refold it again to make it perfect (to demonstrate his efforts to bring more order into his life)?

Good luck with this. I fantasize that I have a novel somewhere inside my head, but thus far have never seriously set about trying to coax it out. I admire those who take that step!