Tommy Donbavand

Well, the new draft of SS4 is in, and a tricky little monkey it’s been to complete, this one (as you’ll know if you’ve read some of my recent posts).  Lots of cutting and pasting to get the order of plots and sub-plots exactly right and to help keep the action flowing at a steady pace.

Although… action doesn’t really flow at a steady pace; at least, it shouldn’t.  Not in novels.  When writing, it helps to imagine that your readers are on a roller coaster.  It’s good to get them rushing down a nice steep hill pretty soon in the story (nobody likes a long, boring climb before anything fun happens).  But, if a roller coaster was all downhill drops, it would very quickly become dull and repetitive.  You have to give your readers the odd moment to catch their breath and anticipate the next section (and that’s a great opportuity to catch them off guard and take the story in an unexpected turn).

OK, fairground ride analogies over.  Time for this writer to hit the hay.  I start on the line edit of SS3 tomorrow…

Tommy