Journal/Blog

10-16-22

Surprise elements. I think these are essential to almost every story, no matter what genre it is. Just like it is important to have a good hook to capture the reader's attention and leave them wanting to know more about your story, it is likewise just as - maybe even more - important to allude to things throughout the book and keep them wanting more.

It is a tenuous balance for a writer to achieve to keep a reader interested, but not so confounded that they do not want to continue the book. As a reader, I dislike having everything spelled out for me. Why do we read new stories if not to have something of interest that we have never experienced? I have always loved reading mystery/romance books, but lately it feels like the plot of every new one that I read is following the same outline and I can pretty much guess what is going to happen (including who the bad guy is) before it happens and prior to the end of the story. That's when I find myself turning away from those books to go and write. If I want something new, then why not create it for myself?

Some of the writers that I love their books have been writing in that genre for decades. I imagine that the books they are writing today might still surprise readers who have not previously read their books, maybe the next generation of readers or someone who is new to the genre. For me, I have favorites of theirs that I pull out to reread and I will always love those. That had me thinking, why those then? I actually know the plot points, the characters, and the ending of those. Why would I want to reread a few instead of reading the new ones?

What keeps me coming back is the characters and sometimes the setting, also the humor and definitely experiencing those twist elements that (although no longer a surprise) still bring back a ghost of the feeling I had when I read them for the first time. They actually caught me off guard so well that the feeling still lingers in my memory and has me return to experience it again.