{"id":8184,"date":"2023-11-10T23:41:17","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T19:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/evisionworlds.com\/?p=8184"},"modified":"2023-11-10T23:41:17","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T19:41:17","slug":"if-you-write-one-page-a-day-by-the-end-of-the-year-you-will-have-a-full-book-mystery-writer-alex-finlay-says-at-sibf-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evisionworlds.com\/?p=8184","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIf you write one page a day, by the end of the year you will have a full book\u201d Mystery writer Alex Finlay says at SIBF 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keen writers learn informative tips on crafting a potent thriller at Sharjah International Book Fair 2023 <\/em>\"\"<\/p>\n

During a session titled \u201cRevealing the Enigma\u201d at the 42nd Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) 2023, internationally acclaimed author, Alex Finlay, shared invaluable techniques and advice for writers to create compelling mysteries and thrillers. Following the knowledge-packed session, Finlay also signed copies of his latest book, \u2018What Have We Done<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n

The writer, whose books have been optioned for both film and television gave the eager audience insightful tips to make a manuscript stand out. \u201cWhile writing a mystery try to avoid \u2018detail overload.\u2019 Eliminate the urge to disclose the back-story and every detail of a character in the opening pages, giving readers just enough to keep them engaged and wanting to know more. The trick is to raise questions instead of supplying all the answers. This will keep the story lean and the book will move at a good pace,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Finlay said he gleaned these interesting technique\u2019s after interviewing close to 70 successful writers himself, saying, \u201cWhat most of these experienced writers told me was that when you write a thriller or mystery, spread \u2018bread crumbs,\u2019 giving little details about the character. If you want the story to move quickly, raise the reader’s curiosity then slowly, start dispersing information as you go along.\u201d<\/p>\n

Avoid an \u201cinformation dump,\u201d on your readers, Finlay advised newbie authors. Writers of mystery novels must resist the urge to give readers a history lecture or unnecessary information and research in the middle of a story. \u201cThis is a thriller.\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cThe idea is to keep the reader invested in the story to keep them turning the pages. If you want to impress a reader, do it by telling the story with mystery and enigma, not by sharing your research. Readers are smart enough to fill gaps in the novels with their own experiences and imagination,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

A strong advocate of practicing discipline when it comes to writing, re-writing and editing a novel, Finlay\u2019s staunch advice was to keep with the regiment of penning one page a day, regardless of writer\u2019s block. \u201cIf you write one page a day, by the end of the year you will have a full book. Even if you are not in a creative mood and don\u2019t feel like writing a big scene, do something small, a bit of research or formatting, sorting, anything that will help move the project along. That is how you will get to the end of writing a book without the drudgery or pressure of finishing it,\u201d Finlay revealed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keen writers learn informative tips on crafting a potent thriller at Sharjah International Book Fair 2023 During a session titled \u201cRevealing the Enigma\u201d at the 42nd Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) 2023, internationally acclaimed author, Alex Finlay, shared invaluable techniques and advice for writers to create compelling mysteries and thrillers. Following the knowledge-packed session, Finlay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/evisionworlds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/evisionworlds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/evisionworlds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evisionworlds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evisionworlds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8184"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/evisionworlds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8187,"href":"https:\/\/evisionworlds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8184\/revisions\/8187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evisionworlds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/evisionworlds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evisionworlds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evisionworlds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}