I like to tell people that storytelling is less like architecture for me and more like sorcery. That is, an act of conjuration that pulls raw elements from he aether and hurls them at the page until something new and dangerous is born, that might also try to eat you. Sculpting in stone is the metaphor of choice for editing: Chipping away at the block to find the shape inside. It’s already there, you just have to strip away the unnecessary to reveal the resplendent form. In either case, Mystery is at the core of it. I actually think that in some ways detective fiction is sort of the distilled essence of one of the biggest tools in a writer’s box: The reveal. The parsing out of information at key points to build to The Moment when all is laid bare and the culmination of everything previous suddenly makes sense. It’s crucial in the best Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and in Historical and contemporary genre fiction as well (just as Mark about all the reveals and snippets of mystery and occult background that got parsed over and slipped into The Mongoliad and its sequels. He’ll probably flash a smile before he starts chuckling really hard about horse euthanasia and flaming ram-skulls and enchanted sticks,) and it dogged me all the way through the first draft of the current work in progress (a novel called Glassblade that you’ll be hearing a lot more about in the next year). So my question to you is where’ve you seen the mystery elements of genre fiction executed best, and how do you LIKE it done best? One lucky winner will be selected to receive The Master of Mystery himself, Sherduck Holmes. You desire him. Do not lie.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 02:31:19 +0000
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