The Process

Ten thousand words into my second book and I am struck by how rough my initial ideas seem. The beginning of any story often resorts to a sort of crude verbal contrivance. As the author we have to grab the reader early even resorting to deception or misdirection to that end.

The first chapter has to set a prescident though. I looked carefully at what I'd written and realized I'd lied to the reader inthe first chapter and thus damaged the suspense in the second. The lie was a needed deception based on the narrative, but I wonder if there isn't some higher road.

The most powerful asset anyone telling a story can possess? A trusting audience. People expect a certain level of chicanery from a magician, for thf purpose of providing entertainment. Storytellers are rarely afforded that luxury.

Merely telling a convienient truth falls somewhere between stating the obvious and stalling. Your audience might forgive being deceived in order to make the truth more interesting by comparison, but this just seems like more stalling.

I should fix what I've done now before I proceed.





-- sent from my iPad mini. n_n