Week 8: Do the Twist. Or Don't! (But I Think You Sort of Want To)
Our 8 Week Summer School Series Concludes
If you missed earlier parts of the series, here they are:
Genre: Leaning into genre, discovering your genre by accident, and watching TV/movies to dissect genre differences.
Character: “Auditioning” characters, what makes characters feel real.
Voice: What it means, how to develop it.
Setting: One of the easiest ways to add more interest and meaning to a novel—make the right choice and your job as a writer is partway done.
Tension (and suspense): Is there a difference? If you’re being persnickety, there is. And also: let’s get some linguists talking more about this!
Theme: Don’t worry, this isn’t a test. Theme is just the about of a book.
Week 8: Twists
Are you starting to crave pumpkin-flavored everything? (Too soon!)
Summer school is wrapping up. But not before we talk about the thing that every gosh darn publisher (and reader!) seems to be asking for since that gosh darn Gone Girl book sold a bajillion copies. They want TWISTS, people. Lots and lots of twists.
First, a word from contributor Erin Flanagan, who says she doesn’t care all that much about twists. But don’t be fooled. She still makes a good argument for a twist or reveal, not in terms of what it is, but rather what it means. (This post is also worth reading for inspiration from a writer who didn’t plan to write crime novels in the first place! In her post, she explains why she turned to the dark side.)
Now, if you are pretty sure you do want to write twists (and reveals), I am going to point you not to a final post, but to an actual document that Caitlin and I put together: Our 4 Rules For Executing A Great Twist. Read it! Study it! Disagree or agree with it! Let us know what you think!
With that, class is dismissed.
We hope to see you back here, and we hope that many of you 1) offer us some zesty guest-posts 2) tell us about books you love as you come across them and 3) tell us about suspense/mystery/thriller/horror books you are writing, or books about to be published, so we can help cheer for you and your words! Don’t be strangers!
Andromeda Romano-Lax is the author of seven novels, including The Deepest Lake, a Barnes & Noble Monthly Pick and Amazon Editor’s Choice, and the forthcoming What Boys Learn, available for pre-order and on NetGalley. Andromeda and Caitlin Wahrer co-created this newsletter in order to share their love of the craft and community aspects of suspense writing.