WHEN YOU BEGIN your novel using certain techniques—such as “In media res” (in the middle of the thing) or “At the last possible moment”—you are deliberately planting a question in your readers mind. In the first instance, the question is “What is going on?” and in the second, “What will happen now?” These are great…
The Cold Open – Start at the Last Possible Moment
THIS IS THE MOMENT WHEN, in your story world, everything has changed. The stranger has come to town, the father has died, the mother has left, the best friend has announced that she’s moving to Pakistan. Like In Media Res, in which you begin in the middle of the action, this technique relies on triggering…
What are the Best Rules for Writing?
“Good stories have a quality of authorlessness. The better they are, the more authorless they seem. . . They give a sense of being out there, like facts.” (Janet Malcolm) I have this quotation in front of me on my writing desk, and every once in a while I read it and ponder once again…
Daydreaming Your Novel
A PARENT IN MY child’s school recently forwarded me an 11-minute video about skills we’ll need for the 21st century. What really stuck with me was the bit about creativity: “Most creative thoughts happen when your mind is left to wander: daydreaming; doing the dishes; exercising.” This rang true for me. My last novel, Thieving Forest, had…