3 Responses so far

1. 1. Heather (errantdreams) on Aug 29th, 2007 at 2:31 pm

   That is truly one of the things I loved most about your books. The temptation to hold back for the “big reveal” is one that even long-time, experienced, best-selling authors who should know better fall prey to. The way you do it, if a reader is surprised it’s an added bonus that just makes things all the better. When an author relies on surprises for pacing, they can’t really control whether the reader is actually experiencing the pacing they intended, since you can never guarantee a surprise.

   I hadn’t even thought of your point about re-reading a story, but that’s a great one. Not relying on reveals makes stories far more re-readable.

2. 2. Shara Saunsaucie on Aug 30th, 2007 at 8:23 am

   It isn’t the cool idea that’s important, it’s the following things you do with it, and play with it.

   Amen. It’s something I’m trying to internalize as well.

3. 3. Steve Buchheit on Aug 30th, 2007 at 10:24 am

   This works with something else I’ve been mulling over, and that’s “don’t hold anything back.” If a writer has an excellent idea, and it works in the story, use it. Don’t think, “oh, I’ll save this idea for a better story.”

   I forgot this with a recent short story. I didn’t want to push an issue so far that it would make some readers toss the piece across the room because they couldn’t stand what I was writing about (it was a horror piece). So I mumbled it. Some of the comments I got back said that I was making light or being too cute with a horrible situation. Yeah, for the rewrite I won’t make that mistake again.

   And there will always be other really cool ideas to have for other stories.

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