What’s at the heart of a successful book? A multitude of
answers could be offered up: an intriguing premise, engaging characters, a
strong voice, a plot that twists and surprises.
Before you get caught up in a debate about which of these
book elements matters most, consider this: At the heart of a book is, quite
simply, its heart. As in the human body, it muscles ceaselessly, behind the
scenes. Without it, you have the shell of a thing, but no life. The means to
finding the heart of a book—the stethoscope, if you will—comes through posing a
simple question of yourself as its author: What’s this book really about?
A book’s heart isn’t the same as its topic or its sales
pitch or its premise, though articulating each of those can be helpful to your overall
understanding of your project. The heart is the book’s life source, the reason
you’re compelled to write it, no matter the cost in time and energy and
frustration.
The heart of a book isn’t likely apparent until you’ve begun
writing. It shows itself in the parts that please you most, in the places where
you find yourself lingering, in the areas where the language soars. It’s what
excites you about the project, what keeps you going back to it day after day. If
you have multiple books in you, the heart of one will often form itself in
another, whether you intend it or not. That’s because the heart is what matters
to you—and to your readers.
In school, we don’t learn to search for the heart of a book;
we learn look for its topic and themes, which are far more cerebral. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? It’s
about a raft trip down the Mississippi: that’s the topic answer. It’s about innocence
and experience, freedom, coming of age, friendship: those are theme answers,
intuited after the fact, Big Ideas to be outlined and proven.
The beat of the book’s heart can’t be dissected, only felt:
the lure of a wide, muddy river; the banter of boys; the fool’s play of
pretension.
Did Twain know the heart of his book? Perhaps not. Halfway
through, he stopped writing, and when he picked up again, the second half was noticeably
less heartfelt than the first.
What’s your book about? It’s a question worth asking. The
answers can lead you all the way to its heart.