Cath Staincliffe

There are various techniques for building tension in a story: the use of foreboding, the ominous comments of hindsight, the race against time or the ticking clock set-up, the sudden reversal of fortune or the shock revelation that trips up the reader and changes what we understand of the narrative.  Writing in the present tense can also contribute to the breathless, fast-paced feel of a thriller.  With this technique there is neither foresight nor hindsight.  We do not have the bigger picture, only the frame by frame, chapter by chapter account.  Like the protagonist we are in the moment.  It’s a very modern style, well, I assume it is (people who know about the history of literature please correct me if I’m wrong).

I’ve written novels in the present tense and others in the past.  Sometimes I’ve found that changing to the present tense gives a better edge to a story.  In my latest book, Blink of an Eye, one character’s narrative is written in the present and the other is in the past though it covers the same time-frame.  As with most choices your first instinct is usually the correct one but if you’re unhappy with the flavour of the prose then tense is one element to consider.  Write a chapter both ways and compare.  Like POV the tense should suit the story and work for the characters.

Here’s another list of recent reads that I’ve enjoyed.  Not all perfect but some come pretty close.  Enjoy.

The Scent of Death by Andrew Taylor

The View on the Way Down by Rebecca Waite

Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell

As Far As You Can Go by Lesley Glaister

The Light Between Oceans by M L Stedman

Ten Things I’ve Learnt About Love by Sarah Butler

The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison

Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty

Norwegian by Night by Derek B Miller

The Burning Air by Erin Kelly

How do you decide which form is the best vehicle for a story idea?  Sometimes it seems obvious, the subject matter cries out for the length and complexity of a novel, or it’s a sharp, closely focused snap-shot suited to short fiction.  Other times something that originates as an idea for one form ends up, through happenstance, to see life in another.

I’ve had experience of writing a book and then adapting it for TV (Blue Murder) and of taking a TV script of mine and reworking it as a novel (Hit and Run).  One of my TV pitches became a novel (Witness) and has since been optioned for TV though has not as yet got any further.  Another TV treatment was transformed into a short story for radio (Boom).

I enjoy working in different media.  In my previous incarnation as a community artist I worked in a multidisciplinary company and relished the interplay of ideas and the development of projects involving visual and environmental arts, film, music, drama and creative writing.

My latest venture is a collaboration with my partner Tim, who is a visual artist. He has reworked my short story DOA (originally published by The Do-Not Press in the anthology Crime in the City edited by Martin Edwards) into a graphic short.  My role in the process has been to pare back the story, originally around 1200 words, to its absolute essentials, and comment as a first reader on the images that give the story a new identity.

It’s an experiment and I expect it will appeal to a quite different readership from that for my full length novels.  All I can say is the drawings are brilliant.  Honest.  And yes, I’m biased.  You can see it here and make your own mind up http://tinyurl.com/pkfjyxk

The great writer Elmore Leonard died recently and many people passed on his 10 rules for good writing, as follows:

1. Never open a book with weather.
2. Avoid prologues.
3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said”…he admonished gravely.
5. Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
6. Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
9. Don’t go into great detail describing places and things.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.  If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

Make sense to you?  I think there is a lot of good advice in there but also that rules are only worth keeping if they work for you and for the book you are writing.  Here are my gut responses/thoughts to these rules.

1. It was a dark and stormy night. As a reader I’m hooked. Love it.  Like weather.  A lot.  Maybe it’s a British thing?
2. Some prologues work, some don’t.  I’d ask if it was really needed.
3. Okay as a generalisation.  But never say never.
4. A little variety is okay,  Just a little.
5. I agree!  Though I’d maybe allow seven or eight per 100,000 words (I have never written a book of anything like that length!)
6. Yes to the latter.  ‘Suddenly’ I can handle – sparingly.
7. Bare true dat.
8. Beg to differ here – it’s a matter of personal writing style.
9. Ditto no 8.  I relish descriptions of locations that help me see/taste/smell and hear just what it’s like.  Books that take me to unfamiliar places, vividly depicted, are among my favourites.
10. Well, maybe but do all readers skip the same parts?

What does make sense in all this is that these are the techniques that worked for Leonard, whose novels are a joy to read and who has a very specific voice.  But pick another writer and I think their own rules would differ depending on the style of their prose and the way they like to tell their stories.