This is my desire for each story I tell. My goal is to take a journey with each reader. The trip usually starts in familiar territory. Sometimes with a jolt, the car speeding at a hundred miles an hour. But usually the road itself is familiar. A highway perhaps. An expressway headed toward the city.
I want readers to assume they know where they’re going.
But then, sooner or later, I want to take an exit. I want to get off the familiar designated course and take a diversion. A sidestreet. A deserted road. An unfamiliar way.
And even then, my goal is to appear like I’m headed in a certain direction, then to take a quick turn again and shuffle things around.
Perhaps the reader knows the destination the entire time, but I want the journey there to be surprising, exciting, and unpredictable.
Each book is a different vehicle, and each journey is a different course. My novel that’s about ready to come out (Ghostwriter) certainly has more twists and turns than perhaps any of my other books. The story I’m writing now (as of today untitled) has lots of changes of directions. The reader definitely will have to hang on for the ride, especially since they won’t know where they’re headed.
The rides are always bumpy, sometimes slow-going, and sometimes the scenery isn’t always magnificent. But each journey is unique to itself.
Treat your writing like a journey you’re taking. Know where you’re headed, then take some unexpected turns in order to get there. Don’t let the reader necessarily know where you’re going, but entice them to stay in the car as long as possible.
And when the end comes, hopefully–hopefully–they’ll tell others about the ride.
I read The Watermark this week. Some of the story reminded me of my college exp at UW-Madison. We all went to the Focus films on campus, similar to the movie setup in your book. I liked the setup/payoff tie together thing with the Out of Africa scenes.
I’m reading Isolation now.
I’m on p.61 and I have a theory about what’s going on. We’ll see what road I’m on, and if I’m right!
I’m certainly scared!
🙂 Sara
Hi, Sara. Thanks for the post. Glad you enjoyed The Watermark. I wrote that book over ten years ago, so it’s cool that people are still enjoying it for the first time.
Hope you enjoy Isolation (quite a different story than The Watermark, huh?)
I finished Isolation in 2 days, all without ignoring my family, which is tough. I guessed the wrong person in the book. I was scared to keep reading, but I had to. Our oldest son is 8, and the story really moved me. I’m loaning it to my brother-in-law who isn’t a Christian.
Glad you enjoyed it, Sara. And glad you guessed wrong! Hey–I have some extra copies of Isolation from the publisher. I’d love to bribe you with one if you post a review on Amazon!