Every morning, I read something called The Writer's Almanac, which is the written version of a radio program hosted by Garrison Keillor. It starts with a poem that is followed by nuggets about people who were born on this date or historical events that happened on this date.
A few days ago, it was the birthday of John Grisham. The item related that Grisham wrote his first blockbuster, The Firm, after reading Brian Garfield's Ten Rules for Suspense Fiction.
I'd never read the rules so I looked them up, not because I admire John Grisham's writing but because I know that I'm deficient in my understanding of the structure of writing and appreciate that suspense is probably an important ingredient in all writing, if you really want it to be read.
For a few months, I'd been struggling to find the right approach to the next youth novel I wanted to write. It is a story based on my own summer at age 14, and I didn't know how to make it compelling, since although it was a wonderful summer, it didn't lead to anything terribly suspenseful.
Now I'm off and running, having written the first two chapters after reading Brian Garfield's rules. I'm excited by the story and the way it is pulling me along.
Here you can find the rules:
Well, if I could figure out how to link you to the web page, I would. Since I can't, just search Brian Garfield's 10 rules.