Drawing from the Well
No queries or scenes today. As I say below in Polishing, it’s been a weird day.
Filling the Well
Elegy: Page 50 of 89
The Devouring Gray: 40%
Polishing the Well
My wife was sick today which threw our whole day into a tailspin. I’m not going into detail. Hoping tomorrow’s a better day.
Well Chat
Introducing Surprises
One of the keys to interesting storytelling is surprising your audience. I’m finding A LOT of surprises in Lost so I decided to use that as an example. The thing about this ongoing series (as it is with ongoing book series) is that there is more and more depth that is revealed to the viewer/reader. To me, this is most masterfully done in a single book that keeps peeling back layers of what you THOUGHT you knew that take on a whole new meaning when more of the truth is revealed.
How do you write that? Well, in reverse, of course. You start at the heart of the matter, the deepest, most thought-provoking and surprising reveal. You figure out HOW that is revealed and that becomes a layer on top. Repeat the process and you have a series of reveals that keep the reader interested and curious.
Obviously I’m making this sound simple. It takes a lot of work and a good mind to make this digestible to the reader, but it CAN be done. Look to novels that do this well and use them as an example (not something to copy but as a source of inspiration) and you’ll be home free.
I know this is a short one, but it’s been a weird day and I’m short on time. There’ll be a more detailed post tomorrow about tracking your progress.
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG