Monday, May 1, 2017

Just a quick note--
One of the best lessons that I've learned is on what John Gardner called profluence. Profluence is that sense of compulsion that a writer instills in a reader which makes the reader want to (need to) keep reading. Gardner sums it up as follows:
 Page 1, even if it’s a page of description, must raise questions, suspicions and expectations; the mind casts forward to later pages, wondering what will come about and how. It is this casting forward that draws us from paragraph to paragraph and chapter to chapter. The moment we stop caring where the story will go next, the writer has failed and we stop reading.
--  John Gardner The Art of Fiction (writing on profluence)

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2 comments:

  1. Julie SeedorfMay 1, 2017 at 5:56 PM

    That gives me pause for thought. Thank you.

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  2. ReneeMay 1, 2017 at 7:58 PM

    So true! Makes one round of revision all about making sure the sentences are strong enough to pull a reluctant reader all the way through your book. That way said reader is not reluctant to read your next book! I believe you have this technique down perfectly,

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