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Exercise #284: Craft
Posted 10/3/08
Two things are necessary for me to enjoy a book (well, maybe more than two, but go with it for now, okay?).
First, I need to relate to something. The hero, the villain, the situation, it doesn’t really matter what, just something. If I have no frame of reference, I can’t keep up with the narrative and I feel lost. Since I feel lost often enough in real life, I certainly don’t need to feel lost in my fiction.
Second, I need something to keep me turning the pages. Either I care enough about the players to want to know what happens to them, or the heart-stopping cliffhangers keep me so involved I have no time to put the book down. (These two things are needed in film for me, too, by the way; if the movie doesn’t have them, I’m outta there.)
Sometimes, I find both in the same scene. For today’s exercise, show us a heart-stopping scene. We’ve all had them; those moments when you hear the door drift close behind you, turn and try the knob and find the door locked; when in the rear-view mirror you see the car behind you coming too fast to stop; when you feel your mom's good china plate slip out of your fingers.
Use your 1200 words to bring us to that moment, and no further.
Critiquers, note whether you can relate to the situation being presented, whether you would continue to read if this were a novel you picked up to glance through, and if you felt your heart stop while reading this SUB. (Not really, I hope!)
Word limit: 1200
Please use the subject line
SUB: Exercise #284/yourname
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