Dwardus Prime

The first thing you’ll notice about this post is that there are in fact three of everything rather than the promised ten. After this it all goes downhill.

I propose to do a few writing exercises over the next few weeks and post them here. These have been taken from the very good book How to Write a Blockbuster by Helene Corner & Lee Weatherly, which you should grab if you’re keen on writing and are working towards publication.

The first of these writing exercises I’m going to attempt in the space between now and when I start work (about five minutes, but I cheated and wrote the rest of this post earlier) is the following -
I’m looking at ten three books to see the problem/s facing the main characters. How to Write a Blockbuster suggests these problems may be subtle and woven into the plot, but still act to drive the story forwards. I have chosen some pretty obvious books, but when I’ve got my thinking cap on I hope to spend a bit of time putting together some more interesting suggestions. First three, here goes…

Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere

Once Richard Mayhew is forced to help a bloodied girl he soon realises that he can’t be seen by anyone living in London Above. He has no choice but to follow the mysterious girl and her allies underground to London Below, the only place where people now notice him, but it is a dangerous place where he can trust next to no one. He wants to get back to his fiance who no longer notices him and everyday life in London.

Stephen King - The Dark Tower Series (notice this is a series of books, not a book - cheat!)
Roland the gunslinger’s goal is easy, he marches towards the Dark Tower. His problems arise in each book throughout the series. In the second book, The Drawing of the Three, Roland awakens on a beach and becomes the prey of massive hybrid lobsters who take some of his fingers. Through the early part of this book he fights off the fever and learns to shoot with his diminished hand, making it more difficult for him to fend off his enemies.

Thomas Harris - The Silence of the Lambs

Clarice Starling needs to track down the Serial Killer Buffalo Bill, and in doing so, must speak with the highly dangerous Hannibal Lector, whose clues are cryptic and often misleading.

As you may have noticed I didn’t bother to re-read and/or scan these books prior to writing about them here, which I may do in a more detailed follow-up post. Note the use of the word “may“.

Jaysus it’s cold this morning.

After thoroughly enjoying Haddon’s extraordinary Curious Incident I was very interested to read this, partly to see how he would write when not through the eyes of an autistic boy. His style remains, but points of view drift between several well-written members of a modern family and their respective spots of bother. Each character is meticulously crafted (like Jamie and Katie, brother and sister whose traits and relationship woes come alive on the page), while their problems are both familiar and fresh (lost loves, who to marry, whether to let on about your mother’s affair). Some parts are cringeworthy (in a good way), like George (a 57 year-old who is constantly worried about death) and his scissor incident and the story manages great humour through character interactions and their thoughts - culminating in a very memorable scene where all the characters and loose ends come together to satisfy.

If you liked Curious Incident then you should certainly like this, even if it is an entirely different animal. Give it a go, it’s a pleasure to read.

You can purchase the book here.