How to Write Killer Fiction by Wheat, Carolyn -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Preface

The Funhouse of Mystery The Roller Coaster of Suspense The Writing Process

How to Write Killer Fiction

Introduction

Fiction Is Like a Dream Two Different Dreams Reason and Emotion Two Steps Ahead, Two Steps Behind Myth vs. Tale Larger World/Smaller World Information Concealed or Revealed Central Questions Crossovers Different Dreams, Different Choices Write What You Read

Part 1: The Funhouse of Mystery

1. Welcome to the Funhouse What is a Mystery Novel

Welcome to the Funhouse A Little Mystery History That Was Then, This Is Now The Classic Whodunit Other People's Troubles Write What You Read

2. Cover-Ups and Clues Basic Ingredients of the Mystery

Cover-ups

Cover-Up One: It Wasn't Murder Cover-Up Two: Some Other Dude Did It

Getting a Clue

What Is a Clue? Where Do You Get Your Clues? Clues in the Private Eye Novel Clues in the Police Procedural

3. Build Me and Arc, I The Structure of the Mystery Novel

Arc One: The Beginning (The Setup)

The Four-Arc System for Organizing Your Novel

Arc Two: The Big Bad Middle Arc Three: Waist-Deep in the Big Muddy

4. Endings are Hard, I Satisfying the Mystery Reader

The Non-Action Ending The Two-Layered Ending Why Endings Fail The Action Ending The Coda The Meta-Novel

Part 2: The Roller Coaster of Suspense

5. Buckle Up for the Ride What is a Suspense Novel?

The Roller-Coaster Effect A Little Suspense History Descendants of the Gothic Tradition Spy Fiction Offshoots Crimes and Capers

6. Myths and Dreams Basic Ingredients of Suspense Fiction

Rites of Passage The Hero's Journey

The Hero's Journey

Psyche's Journey to Hades

Task One: Separate the Seeds Task Two: The Golden Fleece Task Three: Go to Hell

7. Build Me an Arc, II The Structure of the Suspense Novel

The Prologue Arc One

Accepting the Adventure The Four Outcomes Suspense Writing

Arc Two

The Pendulum Isolate Your Hero

Clap if you believe in fairies. Hitting Bottom

Rift Within the Team Raising the Stakes

Arc Three

Building to Climax

8. Endings Are Hard, II Satisfying the Suspense Reader

How to Finish Your Book Before It Finishes You

And the Last Shall Be First Use the Setting Use the Characters A Full Measure of Justice

Endings that Satisfy Endings that Let the Reader Down Hostage: Arc Four Sting in the Tail Endings What Can You Do for an Encore?

Part 3: The Writing Process

9. Scene and Style The Basic Ingredients of the Novel

What Makes a Scene?

A Scene Driver Named Desire Surprises and Complications

How To Scene

Action Produces Reaction Fixing Problem Scenes

Talking Heads Talking in a Vacuum Exposition City Over-the-Top Emotions Lots of Talk, No Action The Incredible Jumping Conflict Trailing Off into Nothingness Failing to Link Back to Main Plotline or Subplot

The Storyboard Cliffhangers

Narrative—The Alternative to Scene

Uses of Narrative Putting Spin on the Narrative Ball

Style

Parts of Speech and How They Create Style Sentence Structure Stupid Dialogue Tricks

10. Outliners and Blank-Pagers The Writing Process

Expansion and Contraction

Wheat's Law of the Conservation of Plot Points

The Outliner's Process

The Changing Vision The Outliner's Toolbox Opening Up the Story Do the Opposite

The Blank-Pager's Toolbox

Give Your Characters Jobs Weeding Nurturing the Seedlings Fertilizing

Revision

The Good-Enough Chapter One The Non-Revision Revision Writing Is Rewriting The Writing Process: Tools to Help You Finish

Two Competing Forces: Expansion and Contraction Two Kinds of Writers: Outliners and Blank-pagers What they each have to learn: The expansive stage is easy and fun; it's the contractive stage that's work. So... Middlebook and how to survive it: Revision—love it or leave the business. Writer's Block Is a Gift—Use It Wisely

Epilogue: Next Step, Published!

Endings Are Hard, III

The Writing Zone

Giving Yourself What You Need Letting Go Preparing for Publication Back to the Zone

When Is It Finished?

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