"My first writing job was in soaps (Guiding Light and later, Days of Our Lives) and it was there that..."

“My first writing job was in soaps (Guiding Light and later, Days of Our Lives) and it was there that I got my favorite piece of advice. A development exec told me once that every scene or chapter must end with an actual or metaphorical slap. That doesn’t mean that every scene should be filled with melodrama. It means that even the quietest scenes should have an arc: a beginning, middle, and end, punctuated with some kind of decision, revelation, etc. At the end of a chapter, readers should feel the impact of the “slap” and have to turn the page for more.

  

In other words, your writing needs momentum. Every chapter should move the story and the characters forward. And if it doesn’t, cut it. The “slap” can be a broken heart or a bullet, but readers should feel it long after they’ve read it and it should keep them wanting more.”

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Danielle Paige is the New York Times bestselling author of the Dorothy Must Die series, and the upcoming Stealing Snow series. In addition to writing books, she works in the television industry, where she’s received a Writers Guild of America Award and was nominated for several Daytime Emmys. She is a graduate of Columbia University and lives in New York City.

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