Writing - More authoring secrets
The other week I shared the writing ideas of Philip Pullman, this week it is Lee Child, the author of the Jack Reacher novels.
[image error]Lee Childs
Jack Reacher is about to star in the 23rd novel by Child and he allowed the BBC to examine parts of his writing process.
Child allowed access to his writing room to record the first three days' work on his next novel - which he revealed will be titled Yesterday and will fill in some of the intriguing gaps surrounding Reacher's father.
Child's latest novel will begin differently from his previous releases. The all-important first paragraphs, he says, will depart from his famously clipped style.
He says he will let the words breathe with a longer than usual introductory sentence marking the end of summer, the migration of birds and a list of States charting Reacher's planned diagonal journey across America.
Then a five-word hook - "He didn't get very far" - drags the reader back into his dangerous world.
The novel will be the 23rd Reacher adventure, after the release of The Midnight Line in November 2017.
"Someone like me is never going to win the Nobel prize… this is not admired literature, this is entertainment," says Child.
"A novel has a huge number of competitors now - the internet, video games, streaming movies.
"I'm trying to visualise a 25-year-old person somewhere in the world.
"They have a lot of choices and the book has to earn its place. You've got to suck them into that story."
So much of what he says is so true. I remember when first starting Steele never aiming higher than wanting to entertain.
By day two, Child has reworked his opening paragraph enough to provide a launch pad for the rest of the novel.
With his opening paragraph locked, he now begins a free-wheeling descent into the plot, which could seem a terrifying way to work for novelists who are used to story charts and planned character arcs.
With little idea where his story is heading, Child says he feels like a movie stuntman on the ledge of a tall building.
As a writer of thrillers, he may never be embraced by some literary critics. But he believes well-crafted popular fiction serves a profound purpose, rooted in our earliest history.
"At some point we began telling stories about things that had not happened," he explains.
"This made people feel emboldened or empowered and just a little bit more self-confident, which would help them survive.
I love the sentiments that Lee Child's expressing in this piece and we who write can take a lot from what he says.
God Bless
[image error]Lee Childs
Jack Reacher is about to star in the 23rd novel by Child and he allowed the BBC to examine parts of his writing process.
Child allowed access to his writing room to record the first three days' work on his next novel - which he revealed will be titled Yesterday and will fill in some of the intriguing gaps surrounding Reacher's father.
Child's latest novel will begin differently from his previous releases. The all-important first paragraphs, he says, will depart from his famously clipped style.
He says he will let the words breathe with a longer than usual introductory sentence marking the end of summer, the migration of birds and a list of States charting Reacher's planned diagonal journey across America.
Then a five-word hook - "He didn't get very far" - drags the reader back into his dangerous world.
The novel will be the 23rd Reacher adventure, after the release of The Midnight Line in November 2017.
"Someone like me is never going to win the Nobel prize… this is not admired literature, this is entertainment," says Child.
"A novel has a huge number of competitors now - the internet, video games, streaming movies.
"I'm trying to visualise a 25-year-old person somewhere in the world.
"They have a lot of choices and the book has to earn its place. You've got to suck them into that story."
So much of what he says is so true. I remember when first starting Steele never aiming higher than wanting to entertain.
By day two, Child has reworked his opening paragraph enough to provide a launch pad for the rest of the novel.
With his opening paragraph locked, he now begins a free-wheeling descent into the plot, which could seem a terrifying way to work for novelists who are used to story charts and planned character arcs.
With little idea where his story is heading, Child says he feels like a movie stuntman on the ledge of a tall building.
As a writer of thrillers, he may never be embraced by some literary critics. But he believes well-crafted popular fiction serves a profound purpose, rooted in our earliest history.
"At some point we began telling stories about things that had not happened," he explains.
"This made people feel emboldened or empowered and just a little bit more self-confident, which would help them survive.
I love the sentiments that Lee Child's expressing in this piece and we who write can take a lot from what he says.
God Bless
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