On and On it Goes . . . .

[slyc_willie]

As a reader, I prefer a coda, or epilogue, after the big climax of a story. it's like afterglow at the end of a strenuous sexual encounter...

Now that's a pretty interesting way to put it, Stella. Thanks.

 

[slyc_willie]

So, it has come to me, as if an epiphany (cue the choir of angels ), that my story was not quite finished. Not only that, but I've added not one, but two, little bits to the story, sort of like aftershocks following an earthquake, which may or may not prove to be even more dramatic than the original climax.

This has been a fun, if sometimes, disturbing, ride. Thanks to everyone who posted on this thread; I took everything I read to heart.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

While I value everything you posted, and what most of the others had to say, the part I bolded is probably the most applicable to me right now. One of my major shortcomings when it comes to writing fiction is that I don't read a whole lot of fiction. I used to; a read a ton of it when I was younger, up through my twenties and early thirties. But as more than a decade has passed since then, and I haven't read much outside my favorite non-fiction subjects, I guess I'm a bit out of touch when it comes to reader expectations and acceptances.

I suppose I should fix that.

I read tons of fiction ( and more non-fiction) cuz I'm looking for vocabulary and technique. I'm surprised no one has compiled a reading list for writers that exposes them to the best samples of good prose. What really puzzles me is how a genius like Robert Bloch (Psycho) is brilliant in one place and a numnutz someplace else.

 

[robertreams]

It seems to me you need to put your tie ups in the main body of the story. Especially if you feel they cause an anti climax. Could you do it subtly so that the reader doesn't realize they are tie-ups until the story ends? Sort of like foreshadowing.

 

[robertreams]

I just finished an Alex Delaware novel. on two separate pages, Jonathan Kellerman changes the name of the police sergeant from Sara to Sally and back again at least three times. Where was his editor? I run into tis all the time. Some books i cannot read without a pencil. I felt that way about "Fifty Shades"

 

[sr71plt]

I read tons of fiction ( and more non-fiction) cuz I'm looking for vocabulary and technique. I'm surprised no one has compiled a reading list for writers that exposes them to the best samples of good prose. What really puzzles me is how a genius like Robert Bloch (Psycho) is brilliant in one place and a numnutz someplace else.

You can stop being puzzled. Writers have been doing this for centuries. For instance, I edited one by Colin Wilson some years ago, The Books in My Life.

 

[slyc_willie]

For anyone who's interested, I finished the story. It'll be posted in eight parts once they're approved. Since there's a contest going on, I doubt it'll be up for at least a week.