I’ll match your blanket party and raise you a shiv in the gut

How will you keep your book/series/script from waning, becoming stale, boring, predictable?

I asked author Sharon Wildwind what she does when she doesn’t know where to go with her stories. She said she thinks, “What’s the worst thing that could happen now?” and then makes it happen.

It’s a good prompt. A lot of books suffer from slow middle syndrome. Sometimes a slow beginning. I’ve always liked the idea of building a slow, steady fire that’s raging by the end, but unfortunately, readers need to be given a compelling reason to stay with you right from page 1. You’ve got to grab their attention.

Hence the tendency in mysteries to drop a body on page 1, and then end up with backstory and waffling a few chapters in.

My good friend, Marsha, whom I will be traveling with in the UK next month, used to work in television. She knows a fair bit about script writing. These days, she works for a publisher in New York City, but she told me something about script writing that’s always stayed with me: you need to hit them on the nose. That’s how you keep the interest of the audience. Make them feel like you just stepped forward and smacked their nose – you’ve grabbed their attention. Now hold it.

I believe one of the best ways you can learn how to do this in books is to read. You’ll learn from those who do it well, and those who don’t. You’ll get new ideas about how to approach things with your stories.

But you can also learn from watching television. Not so much one-hour shows that wrap it all up with a nice, neat bow at the end. But a show that has a season-long story arc is a great model for writers to learn from.

And this season, I have to say the best thing on television is The Shield.

Now, as much as I’ve enjoyed it season to season, I felt that season 2 lagged behind season 1 a bit, season 3 was better, season 4 kicked it up another notch.

But season 5? Holy fucking shit.

We’ve seen 11 of the 12 episodes now, and every week, just when I think I have an idea of where the story is going to go, the writers reach out and smack me on the nose.

They’ve really ratcheted it up, taken it to a whole new level. And I’m astounded by the creativity.

To be honest with you, it bugs me. I’m seeing all these loose threads from previous seasons, coming in, being used to twist things. I mean, wow. Did the writers have any idea at the end of season 2 that they could use something from that in season 5 so effectively?

I’m always amazed at the foresight of other writers. Good writers don’t let things slip – they pick up those threads, sooner or later, and use them to make a character’s life unravel just when you least expect it.

Kevin’s reading A Good Day To Die at the moment. Last night, he told me where he was in the book, and he said, “This guy can do action, and when stuff is happening, a lot of stuff is happening.” And I think that’s part of the secret to keeping the reader on edge, breathless. I remember that feeling when I read A Good Day To Die as well.

I also see that it’s a skill, a trade-off. One of the things you have to remember as a new writer is not to discard all the things about your style in exchange for mimicking someone else’s. I like character-driven stories. I like some introspection. I want to spend time in a character’s head.

I want to feel I’ve gotten to know them.

But I also like feeling like I’m sitting on the edge of my seat, compelled to read on, because the story is so good.

One of the things that The Shield has in common with Kernick’s character from A Good Day To Die is the emotional conflict I endure. These are not your straight-up cookie-cutter characters that are good or bad – they are a hundred thousand shades of grey. How do you find yourself cheering for a killer?

I’ve had a difficult relationship with The Shield’s Vic Mackey over the years. I doubt I’m giving anything away now, five seasons in, if I say that episode one, he puts a bullet in the face of a guy on his own team and the cop dies. The cop that was working to bring Vic – a dirty cop – down.

And then other detectives get a guy in custody who bought a little girl for sex and he won’t give up where she is. They’re running out of time. They can’t get him to talk.

But Vic can get him to talk. In the kind of back room way a ruthless cop can.

I felt physically sick at the end of that episode. The guy was a killer and a hero. Oh, he was wrong wrong wrong, as bad as they get, but when he beat that pedophile, I could understand that. Some guy buys a little girl for sex… I can understand the desire to make that guy feel pain. He got off easy.

There isn’t much time in my life for television. And shows like The Shield have a half-season run of only 12 or 13 episodes. Which means that you don’t even have the September to May timeline to follow the characters. 8 or 9 months will pass before new episodes are on the air after this Sunday’s final.

So these characters have to be amazing to keep me coming back year after year. The story has to be phenomenal.

That’s why I’d suggest that if you’re thinking about writing, if you’re thinking about how to continuously raise the stakes in the story, you consider watching season 1. Rent the DVDs. I’d say season 5, but I don’t know if you’d appreciate it as much if you hadn’t seen all the seasons before, and the DVDs aren’t out yet.

Even just watch season 1, episodes 1,12 and 13.

And bear in mind that action isn’t everything. We have to care about the characters. Otherwise, what difference does it make to us if they keep getting beaten up or threatened?

But if you can create characters people connect with and you can keep the storyline humming with tension, then you’ll have an unputdownable read.

And that’s the kind of book that gets people talking.

So, share. Your unputdownable reads? And your tricks for ratcheting up the tension in your stories?

My mother sent Kevin’s birthday presents. Amongst the selection, two knives. Sharp, cutty things with little holders so he could clip them on a belt.

Clearly, she hasn’t read Predator. And I must say, Sunday the story, Monday the knives… Wonder what today will throw at me? Just hope it isn't one of the knives.