Gianina
asked
Chris Pavone:
Hello! I am a huge fan of your novels and wondered - for your writing process, creating the depth, mystery and complexity (which I personally am fascinated by) of story how you go about it? For example, do you know where you want to start and end and then play with how to get there? or is it more general as an idea? Does it start with one character? Etc?
Chris Pavone
Thank you so much! I start by knowing who the protagonist is, as well as some other important characters, those relationships that create the protagonist's primary tensions. (In my novels, the main plot line is something that's personal to the protagonist.) I also know the general parameters of the plot premise, and I think I know the ending too, though I've always been at least somewhat wrong about this. Before I type "Chapter 1" these elements have all spent a long time swimming around in my imagination, and in a document called Notes. Then I outline, and writing other material that's for my benefit only--character sketches, plot explanations, back-story history. I think all this helps me not just figure out what's going to happen, but also what secrets I'm going to keep from the reader, as well as when in the narrative I plan to reveal them, which I think for my sorts of books is extremely important.
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