How do you maintain the element of surprise? People expect
things to go a certain way. These expectations you can play on, secure in the
knowledge of how things will actually go.
Do not reveal your secrets until the proper time. Plot
twists are woven into the very fabric of a story, but it is important to hold
back a few. When a reader thinks they know what you will do, it is the opportune
time to shake things up.
The movements of a story are not arbitrary. If something
happens, there is a rhyme and reason to it. On some level, the author must be
aware of this. However, reveal as little as possible to keep the anticipation
strong.
Fear not the savvy reader, who picks out the pattern before
the work is complete. There is also an excitement in discovery, so long as a
certain amount of effort was required to descry your design. And that which is
clever cannot fail to impress.
Be willing to take risks. Modern readers have seen just
about every trick in the book. An author must be cagey to elude the astute and
confound the jaded. The genius is not in the gimmick, but in the timing.
Subtlety is key: it unlocks many doors. The tried and true
will always outdo the desperate and new. Surprise is not in the idea, but in
the execution. And it always sneaks up on you…
I have read MANY of your works and though you have told some of your secrets, you shall undoubtedly surprise me regardless! I ESPECIALLY love the line "The tried and true will outdo the desperate and new" because it warns us not to make the common mistake.
ReplyDeleteI have never been able to predict anything in your stories. You are very good at weaving a tale. Thanks for talking about this.
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