Compact and Inspiring
Customer Rating: 
I did not know Gillian Roberts as an author but had the fortunate encounter with her few months back. I bought this book after her talk in the Philadelphia Writers' Conference. This book proved my belief she is a very good teacher of fiction.
To begin with, the book is only 124 pages (including an index).
As I open the book now to write this review, I find lines highlighted on practically every page.
The first chapter gives us fifteen commandments. Since I finished the book every day I open it and briefly go through them. I loved the three like 'thou shalt begin and keep going till you're through. Thou shalt write for yourself, not the market and thou shalt not wait for visits from the muse.'
In the second chapter you've 7 Cs: Character, Conflict, Causality, Complications, Change, Crisis, Closure. She writes all the ingredients that we need.
How to get ideas is another eye opening chapter. I knew it is important to develop characters in any genre but the way G Roberts guides us through character development is not only thorough but entertaining.
The rest of the book has the usual ingredients like setting (physical as well as emotional), points of view, using five senses, back story, flashbacks. I particularly liked the page on building the plot with false leads.
Then we hear: Tell yourself your story often.
Interaction with others is dramatic and provides tension.
It can be useful to think in terms of stage and screen.
Another important chapter is "What you don't know." This is about developing credibility to your setting and characters. I also learnt about the structure when you have all the material like opening and closing scenes, length of the chapters, pacing and important: not to cheat the readers to build the suspense.
G Roberts doesn't leave dialogue out of the guide and finally, not also the marketing aspects.
I found this book very useful and I feel it is indespensable for anyone who is planning to write a mystery.
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