It’s day eighteen of NaNoWriMo. Crime author, Mark Billingham talks to us about creating suspense… 

Crime writers are often asked how to create suspense. Now, of course there are tricks of the trade and we all use our fair share of twists and cliffhangers. We all choose when and how to reveal key pieces of information. BUT, for me, they key to creating genuine suspense is really very simple. You need to give the reader characters with whom they can genuinely engage. If you do that, if you create well-rounded characters, you will have suspense from the very first page.

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Rob Pateman (Photo Paul Stuart)

We are on day seventeen of NaNoWriMo and today, Rob Pateman, the author of The Second Life of Amy Archer, talks to us about keeping your reader gripped….

Keep your readers gripped by giving them enough new information/action to keep them guessing and interested – but not so much that it falls onto them in one go. Pace is vital.

If you’re not sure if your ‘reveals’ are in the right place, make a graph with chapter number on the left and plot on the bottom. Chart each plot point/reveal with a mark by the chapter it appears in. Your flat points will soon be exposed.

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M. Jonathan Lee

On day 16 of our NaNo Author Advice, author of The Radio, M. Jonathan Lee tells us about the feeling you have when the first draft is done…

“It took me an age to actually sit down and start writing. All the fears as to whether I could actually do it and whether I was good enough. And then, one day I sat down and I started.

All you need to do it sit down and start. Write, write and write. Forget quality control. Get your story down, let the words flow from your brain to the page. Live and feel your story. Become the characters. And keep the momentum going by continuing to write. Whenever you can.

The feeling when it’s all down is immense.  You did it, you told the story that you dreamed you would. You are halfway there. And now your story is a huge screwed up ball of paper that with a lot of careful editing will soon have all the creases flattened out.”

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Photo by Blake Little.

We’re midway through National Novel Writing Month. Well done to everyone who is still going toward that 50,000 word goal. Author, Sophie Kinsella has some great advice for the halfway point…

Halfway through your project it will all seem impossible and you will be tempted to jack it in and begin another, far more exciting idea. Trust me, that idea will get difficult halfway through, too. Don’t be afraid to experiment. You may not find your voice or style straight away. Write the book you would love to read yourself.

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On day 14 of NaNoWriMo, Victoria Fox chats to us about editing.

My advice? Keep going, keep going, keep going. Don’t look back. If I stop after every chapter and try to edit what I’ve done, I get sucked into changes and tweaks and I never push on with the word count. This can shake your confidence, especially if you’re a perfectionist. So much will change when you’ve finished – scenes you thought were terrible suddenly have a new significance; likewise others you loved might no longer be needed. You can’t know your parameters until you’ve written ‘The End’ and you have an entire book. Keep going until you get there, a little every day.

For more information on Victoria, visit  http://www.victoriafox.net/

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