The Costco Connection - September 2014

Writing basics

“You have to show up. If you show up, the creativity will show up. If it doesn’t, I take a walk or meditate.”—Laura Benedict, author of Bliss House

“If you say you want to be rich and famous, you’re already behind the curve. It means you’re going to try to imitate someone. Be a first-rate version of yourself and not a second-rate version of someone else.”—David Morrell, creator of the character Rambo

“You must be aware of existing conventions. Dialogue isn’t a tape recording; it’s a representation of dialogue.”—Scott Turow, author of

Identical, on rules for writing

“I make a graph with [my characters’] names to make sure no names begin and end the same way.”—David Morrell

“Your readers are going to get you on anything
they can.”—D.L. Wilson author and ITW vice-
president, on getting facts right

“For an ideal ending you need to have emotional impact or it will ring hollow. Wrap up two things: external conflict with the bad guy and internal conflict with the protagonist.”—Tom Young, creator of the Parson and Gold series

“If [the ending] is not in some way foreshad-
owed, it will come as a negative surprise. An
“I write with two monitors: one is for my book,
the other is for my research.”—D.L. Wilson

“I dream all night long. I dream things so familiar to me that I’m living them. I see houses—doors and staircases. I get up and take down notes.”—Reavis Z. Wortham, creator of the Red River Mystery series

“I’m so paranoid that a dry-cleaning bag left on the bed is a weapon for murder. [Writers] need an outlet.”—Laura Benedict

Plot and character development
“I wouldn’t get into a car unless I knew where
I was going.”—Peter James, creator of the Roy
Grace series, comparing driving to working with
outlines or other forms of plotting

“I don’t want my character to look like a cartoon character. I don’t want him doing nutty things that I know can’t happen.”—Leo J.

Maloney, creator of the Dan Morgan series

Novel writing vs. screenplay writing
“My agent says, ‘You can write the screenplay, or
you can get the movie made.’ ”—Ben Mezrich,
author of the book the film The Social Network
was based on, on adapting books for film

“When I sit down to write a book, I think about it as a movie. I try to see it as scenes.”

—Ben Mezrich

ending should be inevitable, not predictable.”

—J.F. Penn, creator of the ARKANE series
Research and generating ideas

“When I first got into writing, I was 17. I cold called; I still cold call. I say, ‘I want to talk to you about a fictional crime.’ The more time you spend with [experts], the more their world opens up to you.”—Lisa Gardner, creator of the D.D. Warren series

“The Internet is helpful for functional research, but not as much for creative stuff. Don’t just go for the low-hanging fruit [online], because you’ll be using the stuff that everyone else is reading [and using].”

—Kent Lester, fiction and nonfiction author

“My family and friends have to be on notice that if they don’t want to see something in a book, then don’t tell me.”—Brad Parks, creator of the

Carter Ross series, on finding inspiration

“In nonfiction, research and facts are the entire message. In fiction, research is a tool. There is a tendency to want to show off what you’ve learned.”—Kent Lester

entertainment

arts &

AT THE CONNECTION we know how
popular books are with our readers. And
we know that many of our readers have
written their own books or have ex-
pressed interest in becoming published
writers. After being inspired by good
advice about the craft of writing at the
ninth annual International Thriller Writers
Thrillerfest (ITW; www.thrillerwriters.
org), we thought it only made sense to
share some of that advice with our readers.
Although the following writers are
known for their work on thrillers, their
words ring true across all genres.
—Stephanie E. Ponder
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