Original subtitles

The most common mistake that writers

make, especially young writers, is they

don't do an outline.

Uh they just wing it and they just

start, you know, and and it that takes a

certain amount of discipline, but I

guarantee you that is a discipline that

will pay off in

you're you're you're going to have

you're going to do a better book. It's

going to take less time. You know, I

will I will write anywhere from three to

six drafts of every outline. It's and

that's the most important piece for me.

Literally writing that outline.

Everything should be in the outline. The

the the arcs of the characters, the the

main characters anyway, the the

villains, if they're villains, got to be

in there. And and and the villains need

to be complex. They cannot be

simple-minded villains. I really want to

build it around that the nugget of the

idea. I want to put in as much

really juicy stuff as I can. And that if

I read that outline or anybody read the

that outline, they would say, "What a

terrific story

and and how well you figured out these

scenes." The outline should have tons of

promise. you should be going, I can't

wait to read this scene or I can't wait

to write this scene because it's such a

rich idea for a scene. Uh the drama

between these characters is just, you

know, it's it's just so delicious to to

sink my my pencil into, sink my teeth

into, sink my typewriter into, sink my

computer into, whatever you're sinking.

Um, so I mean, and that's that's one of

the beauties of I mean, some days you I

can't wait to write these next two or

three chapters just because they're the

the potential is so great.

The only time I ever face the the blank

page is when I start the outline. And I

don't find that that daunting because

when you write an outline, you're not

even thinking about sentences. You're

thinking about laying the story. And

that, by the way, is is another tip. Uh

when you're writing a story, don't think

about the sentences. Think about the

story. Write the story down. We all know

how to tell stories. We tell stories all

the time. You You already know how to do

it. Write the story. Don't write

sentences. Write the story.

what I do in terms of turning uh you

know once I get that that idea that I

love or you get that idea that you love

I'll then just start writing scenes down

just one line two lines you know Alice

Cross starts in his house he's playing

the piano he's playing Gershwin he gets

a phone call from Samson

something

um fresh and exciting that grabs you so

you want to go with cross into the next

scene, but I'll just keep writing out

scene after scene almost as though it's

a movie. And um at a certain point, I

will organize those scenes.

Uh now, the thing about scenes is when

you're writing a story, I'm going to say

there are an infinite number of

possibilities for scenes. There aren't

an infinite number, but there are an

awful lot of potential scenes. So, um

and you have to be aware of that. And

ultimately you have to choose the best

scenes. But but it starts with just

scene after scene after scene. Now in my

books obviously there are a lot of

scenes. There might be 120 different

chapters or whatever. Your book might

have 30. It might just be 30 scenes.

Whatever the heck it is. But but just

keep writing out that those couple of

lines. Eventually I'll start getting rid

of ones and I'll keep adding them. And I

might do that for a couple of weeks just

writing scenes down possible scenes. Um,

at a certain point I, as I said, I will

put them in an order and then, um, I

start fleshing them out a little, not a

lot. I mean, every once in a while I'll

I'll do one in a week and a half, but

more often they'll take me a month or

two months, and there'll be three, four,

five drafts. And every draft, just like

I was writing a novel, I'm layering on

more.

One of the questions that people will

ask has to do with how how how does the

mystery move forward? Do you do you blow

it all early? Do you blow it in pieces?

Do you

um and and and I think that really comes

down to your to your gut and how you're

going to and and and that needs to get

established real early in terms of your

outline and stuff. If you're going to

reveal a lot of the mystery early, you

have to have a reason to do it and it's

got to be able to go somewhere from

there. I mean, that's one of the tricks.

Don't don't write yourself into a

corner. Uh, and that really is

important. You really have to be

careful. And that's the beauty once

again of being able to look at it in

outline form. You can see where, oh my

god, where am I going to go from here?

There will be a couple of time, you

know, maybe once or twice when I write

the outline where literally all I do is

write twists. It went here. Eh, I'm

going to take it here. Okay. It went

here. Too expected. I'm going to take it

here. And what does that do to the whole

story? Okay. And sometimes a twist, I

mean, it changes everything, but better

to do that at the outline stage than 80

pages into the book. You're not gonna

wake up six months into the process and

go, "Oh [ __ ] man. I wrote myself into a

terrible corner. I'm dead. I got to

throw out six months worth of work."

When you read about writers all the

time, and and it happens occasionally,

but it shouldn't happen much, especially

with commercial fiction. You should not

have to throw out

six months worth of work. And and it and

it happens and or it's not working. Oh

my god, it's not working. Well, if you

spent more time with the outline, even

if it's an extra month, so what?

When I do the outlines and even even the

manuscripts, I will put notes to myself

all the time or if if I'm writing with

somebody, notes to the coowwriter. Uh

things that I think are essential to

make that scene work. If we don't get

that if I don't get that part right or

if we don't get that part right, the

scene isn't going to work.

I will not write

a note like, you know, with with Max in

the beginning of Maximum, right? I'm not

going to write things like she needs to

be cool and mysterious because it

doesn't that doesn't help me. Uh what

does cool mean? And that just that's

just a cliche that doesn't get me

anywhere. So, I might write a little

note that gives me an idea

about

why she's cool. some something that that

she's going to do or some observation

that she's going to have that it's just

a cool observation. Uh so I might write

a little note about that and sometimes

I'll just put that note to myself, you

know, that this needs to be scary or

it's not going to work. Not going to

work or or that I need to feel

more than more than I have in the whole

book the relationship between these two

people in this chapter or none of it's

going to work. you know, we've been

building to things and and along the

way, you know, and that should all be

70% of it, 80% of it should be in the

outline then, you know, and it's not

mechanical because that's creative. That

is that is a book. It is a book called

an outline. And if that book is great,

you ought to be able to sell your

outline to a publisher if it's if it's

done the way it should be done.

One way to break down your outline is

what happens to that character through

the length of the story. What happens to

this character through the length of the

story? What happens to this character?

And are those plot lines interesting? Am

I interested not just in, okay, they're

going to find out who's killing old

women in San Francisco. Not just that,

but why am I interested in that person

in addition to the fact that he or she

is solving this crime? What happens to

them? In the Women's Murder Club novels,

uh, invariably there are two or three

crimes being dealt with in every in

every novel. So, there are three crimes

to follow and hopefully they're all

fascinating and different and things you

haven't read about before.

Um, and and and then we have the the the

four uh main characters and what's

happening in their lives. So, what's

happening with Lindsay? Oh, Lindsay's

going to have a baby. Holy [ __ ] You

know, after all these years, uh or or

you know, uh uh Yuki is still

a lunatic and and unable to get out of

her own way in a lot of ways. So, so

that's a continuing and and and you want

those characters to to change and you

want conflict to come into how they're

handling life as well.

You should be able to read the outline

and and and just go, I I get this book.

I I see how it flows. I understand why

these characters are going to be

interesting to me. Um I I I feel the

twists. Uh, and then you know as you

write it, it hopefully it gets even

better.

This is the enemy, the blank page.

This is the Oh my god. And you you

always you'll see this so so often in

the movies. Uh, and this and I think a

lot of screenwriters are frustrated

novelists and and you've seen this 50

times in the movies and it that

shouldn't happen. That just that just to

me bad writing where they write the

first line and then they cross it out

and they write the first line again and

they cross it out and they write the

first line again, you know, and I I've

seen that literally a dozen times. But

it is there is a reality to it which is

that blank page is is is troubling.

Every author has a a different approach

or many authors have a different

approach, but uh uh I really recommend

just crash through freight train through

that first draft. Get that story down.

Apparently, I guess Raymond Chandler had

that process. I have that process. A lot

of writers have that process. Get it

down. I've seen writers who can write

that first draft in a month. um I can do

the first draft in a month. At certain

times it's just flowing. Uh and I'm not

sure I don't know if it's health

related. I have no idea why, but

sometimes it's just flowing and it's

working and I can't write enough and I'm

amazed at how much I do in a very short

uh period of time. And then there are

times when I'll sit there and I'll write

chapters and I'll go, it's all coming

out flat for some reason. It's all

coming out flat. and eventually

something hits me and I go, "Okay." And

I I'll go back and and polish the stuff

and and suddenly raise the level. I I

don't know why that happens, but it it

it just seems to it's it's certainly

part of my process. Don't have blocks.

Uh partly because if if a chapter if I'm

not getting it and I know I'll just put

TBD and I get it on the next draft,

which is a useful and smart thing to do.

Do not torture yourself. just go, I'll

get it. And be confident that you'll get

it. That's how people get blocked. They

they get to a point and it's like, oh my

god, I can't get this chapter. I can't.

And you then you start obsessing on it

and it's not coming. You get worried,

you get nervous, you get panicked. It's

sort of like these thing I guess that

some couples go through and they can't

get pregnant. You start pressing too

hard and the mind starts getting tired

and you know it doesn't work. It's like,

you know, you're trying to do a sport

and you get all tense. That's not going

to work. You're going to strike out. So,

so if you're not getting it, move on.

Get it the next time. Get it the time

after that. I mean, I've had times when

I've gone through where that TBD would

be on three or four chapters for a

couple of drafts.

I write seven days a week. I get up

early in the morning. Um, I'll very

quickly go through two or three p

newspapers. Uh, have a cup of coffee and

go and I'll go through those in 15

minutes. you know, I have my little path

through the newspapers in terms of, you

know, the things that I always, you

know, want to read about. Uh, and then I

start writing uh whether it's outlining

or whatever, you know, book I might be

working on. Pencil, I write in pencil. I

do not write at the computer. I'm not

suggesting that anybody do that. I write

on a yellow legal pad. Um, I write on

every other line. Um, I have an

assistant who's now legally blind from

trying to read my handwriting. Um, she

will type up stuff, send it back to me.

Once I get it typed up, it will be

triple spaced. I write between the

lines. When I'll do a draft, a second

draft. When I when I write between the

lines, and I only when I'm going over

that draft, I only read what I just

wrote. I assume that everything that I

left there is just fine, which means

that I can kind of do a second draft of

that draft in no time. I um frequently

then will go out, this is just my own

nuttiness, and I admit this and this is

just to show that I am a flawed

character with dark secrets. Uh I will

go out and walk a golf course for an

hour, hour, 15 minutes, a lot of

mornings. Uh it I have no thoughts about

writing. I walk. I chase a little white

ball. I curse the little white ball.

Occasionally I praise the little white

ball. Rarely. Uh I come back and I

write. I'm refreshed. I've had a nice

walk. It's good for my health. Um I

write some more. I'll write until

lunchtime. I

six days a week I'll have lunch with my

wife. I love my wife. I like being with

my wife. Um I'll come back and write

some more.

And um I I pretty much do that every

day.

I have always been able to to I can sit

here. I could stop what I'm doing here

and just start writing. I've always been

able to do that to just tune out the

world. And I think part of that is

because I just love it so much. And I

I've always been able to to focus on

what I'm doing in a in uh in a very

powerful way. So, I you know, I don't

know where you come from. I don't you

know, you're going to have to figure

that out. But, uh uh it's useful if you

can write anywhere, you know, on a

plane. You can just tone it out and and

and focus and concentrate. And I guess

there uh uh you just do what you can to

try to practice that uh practice your

your skills of concentration because

it's not just a matter of being able to

write anywhere. It's really what you're

really honing there is your your ability

to concentrate and um you know more and

more now we have a world where you know

people want to do two or three four

things at a time and they'll actually do

advertisements on television on oh isn't

this great you can do two things at one

time. I don't believe that. I don't

believe people do two things well at one

time. You certainly are not going to

write uh well while doing something else

in my opinion. So if you're writing and

and playing with games or it's just not

and and the more you do that the less I

think it lessens your ability to

concentrate. So whatever however you can

do it uh and part of it is is is just

being able to just you know in the

middle anything be be able to write no

matter where you are but but but I think

the most important thing is is that

you're learning how to concentrate

better, how to focus better. You need to

focus. You need to get in touch because

when you're focusing and concentrating,

you're actually getting farther and

farther into your story. You're more in

touch with it and you got to get into

it. I think sometimes if if I do uh go

through a period where where it's not

happening, I think it's because my

concentration is not working as well and

I'm not in the scene. I'm not there. I'm

not aware of who that character is or

who those characters are, how they I'm

just not into it. and and and that's

just a matter of concentration and

focus.

I've said it before, I I for me, I I

don't work for a living. I play for a

living. So, you know, I'm writing seven

days a week. I I love it. Uh so I I

never, you know, want to be away from

it. I don't, you know, I don't want to

stop. But if you need a break, take a

break. I mean, if you're feeling like,

man, you're overloaded, take off for a

week. Just don't do it. Do something

else. Stop. Uh cuz it is important. If

if you're getting a little neurotic

about the thing, you just have to just

turn it off. Put your mind somewhere

else. Stop the the the neurosis

uh uh from happening, the pressure,

whatever you're doing to yourself. And I

would just go to the movies. I And I

would go to the movies, you know, almost

every afternoon. Sometimes I'd see the

same movie two or three times. Sometimes

I would go watch a movie for an hour

that I was kind of enjoying and leave

just because I felt like I don't want to

be here anymore. I want to go back and

write. And sometimes I would go back and

try to and and watch the second half

like the next day. But if you're

overloaded and it can happen and it

probably will happen. Uh sometimes you

just got to walk away for a little bit.

Let's face it, I'm not writing War in

Peace. I'm not writing Ulyses. Uh but

you know I I I always try to do the best

I can possibly do. When I used to be in

advertising and I think this relates to

a lot of jobs and I was you know running

a big group and I would say look let's

face it this is ridiculous. Okay we're

writing commercials about Ford cars or

or Burger King burgers or Toys R Us kids

or whatever. And it's kind of a dopey

thing to do. But I'll tell you what, if

you make this little film and it's a

really good film, at the end of the

week, you're going to feel pretty good.

If you condescend to it or don't give it

your best, at the end of the week,

you're going to feel like [ __ ] you

know? Would you rather feel pretty good

or you're going to rather feel crummy?

If if you say pretty good, then then

really give it everything you got. So,

don't condescend to the genre. Uh uh

because chances are, you know, most of

the people watching are never going to

be good enough to to to to do the genre.

Uh you got you got to you got to aim for

the stars with this stuff.

Even if it isn't that good yet, it's

okay. You're you're learning. You're

you're putting in your 10,000 hours. Uh

not that that's a magical number, but uh

uh you're practicing. you're getting,

you know, when I'll go to school school

with, you know, little kids, sometimes

I'll go, who likes soccer? Yay, we like

soccer. You know, are you better now

than 3 years ago? We're better now. Yay.

How come? Because you play a lot. It's

the same thing with with learning how to

read. Same thing with writing. The more

you do it up to a point, the better you

get. You have to get to a certain level.

And at when you get to that level, I

think it becomes a very joyful

experience. At least for me, it always

was. And it's just it's a high. It's

just a high. It it was a high when I was

younger and it still is

obviously with mystery and suspense.

It's all about suspense. It's constant

non-ending fireworks. It's an adventure

that starts and and and and and it's

going to hold you at the edge of your

seat right to the end. It starts big. It

gets even bigger. What happened? Who

done it? And the more questions the

better. If there are three or four

questions in the book, are these two

going to get together? Are they going to

separate? Uh uh what's going to happen

be in this family if you set up family

turmoil? Are we going to find the

missing child? Uh but it and it's got to

be genuine. If it's just if it feels

like uh just somebody throwing in

devices

like if you feel the manipulation, you

lose them there, too. If the reader's

going, "This is just crap. This is just

the usual. somebody's um you know trying

to manipulate me. They people kind of

want to be manipulated but they want it

done well.

If you're going to write something in

the genre of mystery, suspense, I think

you kind of got to be aware of what's

out there. Not to to to imitate it, to

avoid it. Uh uh because I mean one of

the things you can do, let's say you

don't really write thrillers, but you

know, I know I can do it because I'm

smart and you know, whatever, but I

never read any or I've read four. um

there's a good chance you're going to

write something that's already been

written before, you know, or it's going

to be very similar or it's going to, you

know, and you're going to think it's

great and, you know, 15 years ago it

might have been great, but so I think

it's really useful to know what's

written and not not to write stuff like

it to totally avoid it. Okay, I know

what's h what's happened in the past.

How what's a new twist on this? What's a

new twist twist on a murder mystery or a

uh a series of robberies or whatever it

is that you decide is going to be

fascinating for people to read about and

uh and fresh and new and you're going to

bring some insights to it and this is a

new kind of puzzle. I mean, look, the Da

Vinci Code, um, you know, all that, I

mean, what what was fascinating about

that was just the lengths that the

writer went in terms of creating this

unbelievably complex puzzle and and a

lot of people just found that

fascinating. And it definitely was

unique. I mean, I I haven't read that

kind of complexity in a puzzle that I

can think of anyway or it's rare. So, so

it felt very fresh to people.

And one of the things with suspense is,

in my opinion, one of the biggest

secrets of suspense is is setting up

questions that the reader must have

answered. Must must must. There's just

no way. And and in in my books, I try to

do a lot of those. When I did the first

Michael Bennett,

Step on a Crack, I mean, you you start

thinking about everything that's going

on early in that book. Um, one, which I

think is really a tremendous hook for a

story. Um, there's one of these state

funerals where all these leaders come

from all over the place and they're in

St. Patrick's Cathedral and somebody

holds up the cathedral. That to me, I

mean, imagine that happening in real

life. I mean, that's like

it makes OJ seem like a little baby

tail. I mean, you're kidding me. The

president, the vice president, uh,

president of France, you know, they're

all trapped in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

So, that's a really cool hook to me. And

then where's it going to go? Who's doing

it? How do they plan to get away with

it? So, that's a piece of it. Then we

introduces Michael Bennett. Michael

Bennett. And once again, I don't write

realism, but it's an interesting and and

I get away with it because I make

Bennett so believable as a character.

But Bennett has 10 adopted children.

Holy [ __ ] And he's detective. And he's

involved with this this uh takeover of

St. Patrick Cathedral on that particular

day. And his wife is dying. I mean, this

is insane. And it's ridiculous. I mean,

as I say it, it sounds ridiculous, but

as a story, a certain kind of story, not

realistic page turner that you're going

to make believable. I mean, I'm all

totally hooked into this thing. What's

with the 10 kids? How can that happen?

And I and I I like the kids. I like the

way he reacts to the kids. And how does

he find time in the course of these two

or three days where they're holding all

these captives to to stay in touch and

and also stay in touch with his wife

who's who's dying of cancer in in New

York Hospital? And how do you make I

mean I I think a lot of writing

professors would go don't do it. Don't

don't write that story. To me that was a

tremendous challenge in terms of no I

can do this. I can do this. I can turn

this into a coherent

kind of believable if you're willing to

go along suspend disbelief because

chapter by chapter I'm like okay okay

okay okay I'm buying it. If I step back

and tell you the whole story go oh my

god you're I actually try to pull that

off. Yeah. Yeah. I am.

You have the whole issue of uh uh of

stakes. What are the stakes in this

thing? I mean, all of the good mystery

writers are good at hooking you into

that story, hooking you into that

character, getting you interested right

away, having you feel that you're in the

scene with that character, and you love

you love the way they're they're

perceiving this room or or a bar or an

alleyway or the tenement that they have

to go up to to find somebody on the

eighth floor, whatever. Um and and and

then once that hook is is set, it just

surprises the twists that keep

happening. Cross My Heart and Hope to

Die. We have the stakes of Alice Cross's

family. The whole family goes missing.

We think they're um they're dead. Alex

thinks they may be dead, but he's got a

tiny little bit of of of hope. And

there's the stakes. And if he didn't

have a tiny bit of hope, um the stakes

are, you know, there's no stakes

anymore. He must have that. and and and

the fact that it's just a sliver makes

it even more delicious.

So, anytime I'm feeling that I'm

lagging, I'm I'm building in another

even if it's a red herring or some

misdirection or cross goes down the

wrong path that creates some new

questions that the reader, oh my god,

well, how can that be? Well, that may or

may not be accurate because as a

detective, he's he's going down some

blind alleys. But that blind alley might

really drive the reader crazy in terms

of oh my god, how can it be uh down that

alley because I I never I didn't see it

coming and I can't imagine how that's

going to lead to a solution. It's very

logical and and realistic for your

detective or protagonist or whatever to

go down wrong alleys. They do it. That's

what police work is all about. And

sometimes in going down those wrong

alleys, you create

um possibilities in the reader's mind

that really make the book a lot more

interesting. I mean, you can chase the

wrong thing. And it's fascinating for

for for the reader because that

possibility hadn't really occurred to

them. And and and one of the things you

have to be very careful of is even when

you're taking them down a wrong path

that it's not one where they go, "Oh, I

get it figured out. I don't want to read

it. I don't need to read anymore."

That's death mostly. I got it figured

out.

Closed the book. Very unsatisfying.

We we get a series of questions or

sometimes just one or two questions that

that the reader must have answered or

the viewer must have answered. And

ideally, you don't you what you

definitely don't want to do is give away

the answer very quickly. You you you you

know the the worst thing in the world is

uh you build up this thing, build up

this thing, build up this thing, and

then you give it away in two paragraphs

and the reader goes, "What?" You know,

no, that needs to be a scene. That needs

to be a satisfying scene. That needs to

even if it's a pretty good um uh reveal,

you got to milk it. You need to milk it.

And if you can give away your secret in

pieces, even better. Here's the, you

know, I don't know what it is, but

there's the first clue, and there's

another clue, and there's another little

tidbit, and there's another little

tidbit, and then voila. Now, the trick

with that is is you just have to be

careful and smart about that. You're not

giving away something where the reader

goes with 40 pages left, okay, I know

exactly where this is going and I don't

care. Sometimes when I'm when I'm

writing an outline or even even when I'm

writing different drafts of the book,

I'll write in twists. you know, it went

one way in that chapter. Okay, what if

it goes this way? And you always want to

be open. That's where you you come up

with cool stuff.

You you you keep thinking the

unthinkable, not necessarily writing the

unthinkable, but thinking it. And every

once in a while, one of those

unthinkable things you go, you know

what? I can do that and that would be

really cool and I can make it believable

and that will make for a really unusual

satisfying

uh story that people won't be able to

put down and that they'll talk about

after they finish it. And and one of the

things I've done at times is I'll do

stuff like one of the women's murder

club I I knocked her off. Uh and it was

like, "Oh, you're kidding. I don't

believe you did that. How could you kill

her?" And you know how Jill, we love

Jill. And I did it cuz it it wor that

was the story. It had to happen there.

Uh two, I didn't like the character that

much. Um and three, I really wanted to

set up the notion with my readers that

don't assume that that that anyone is

safe. Don't assume anyone's safe. Alice

Cross is not safe. He pro he's probably

safe, but he might not be.

your ending is hugely important. Um

because and this is true in movies and

it's it's it's true in books. Um because

that's what they walk they walk out of

the theater either clapping and cheering

and feeling great and spreading the word

uh about the movie or or or out of their

apartments or whatever in terms of the

book. Um and a lot of it has to do with

with with what you did at the ending,

how you pulled it all together. Uh the

surprise at the end, the the surprise

that that that that fits that's

appropriate.

Um, so you really have to make sure that

it's that it is satisfying. Uh, or

you're going to disappoint people and

you'll you won't get that good word of

mouth. Uh, you might not get published

because there's no ending. It's not just

you, it's you and a reader. And I want

you to always think about that because

when when there's a when there's a

reader in the process, it's a different

thing. the reader sitting across from

you and um and and you're playing this

game. You're playing this cat and mouse

game with that reader and and and the

other important thing about that reader

is you have to go for the highest common

denominator. I if you're going to write

a bestseller, there has to be common

denominator. It's got to work for a lot

of people, but you want to write for the

highest common denominator. That's uh

it's a really good thriller reader. It's

a really good mystery reader because you

have to satisfy that person. If you

satisfy that person, you're going to

satisfy everybody else.

It is rare. Uh, you know, I'll do the

outlines and I'm preaching outline,

outline, outline. I almost never uh do

the ending that's in the outline. I

would well at least more than 50% of the

time it's a different ending because

just in writing the book so much has

changed. So many things have happened.

The stakes get bigger and bigger and

bigger. Um the villain gets more

interesting. Um something may have

happened to the hero along the line that

was a little unexpected.

Um, and and I I it's the ending that I

write in the outline is never and I

think part of

I I think part of the problem is is the

outline is is a bit more logical than

emotional and and by the time I get to

that ending, my emotions are really

churning and I'm always feeling it just

needs more. It needs more than this. It

it just can't be about logic. It it has

to be logic and emotion. You got to feel

something in most cases. Certainly in

commercial fiction, you should feel

something. You should, you know, and

whether it's a a tragic ending, uh, in

which you go, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no." That can be incredibly

effective and appropriate. Uh, I can't

believe, oh my god, I I got to tell

people, "Oh, Jesus." You know, that's

that's good. That's a good thing. Happy

ending. Once again, that can be terrific

if if it's honest. uh you know where

where that reader or or or the person in

the movie is going, "Oh [ __ ] man.

That's oh yeah, baby." You know, that's

good. That's a good thing.

The ending should be really satisfying,

surprising, whatever. But it's got to

it's needs to be appropriate. It's got

to flow out of the out of the rest of

the book. Set up things that are coming.

Okay? All through the book, you're going

to be, you know, something's coming. You

need to set it up a lot of times for it

to really be effective. You know, in

Honeymoon, the second chapter had to be

set up by the first chapter. Meaning

that if I hadn't seen that couple and

really loved them together, it would not

be terrific to have her show up at this

next house. Honey, I'm home. Okay. So

that chapter set up the the the the

second chapter in the book. You can be

12 chapters ahead and and beginning to

set up something that you know is going

to happen at the end of part one. And

you should do that. That's going to make

it, you know, you might be setting it up

a couple times. And even in terms of

your ending, uh uh you can be you can be

setting that up. Now, the trick with

with with setting things up is do not

give away clues and hints where the

right then the reader reads it and goes,

"Oh, okay. I know who it is." That is a

disaster. That is endgame. That is total

dissatisfaction with the novel and and

uh uh uh and and and the ending. So the

trick is how do you set it up without

giving it away or and misleading them.

That's that's another one of the things

you want to be doing. Mislead them. Have

them think it's going this way. Now the

here's the trick with misleading. You

cannot mislead to the point where they

go, I got it figured out and I hate it.

Okay? You're misleading them. But if in

misleading them they think they figured

it out and they go, "This sucks." That's

no good. That's no good. So, so much of

it is just you being really aware of

what you're doing. Um,

uh, and what the effect of that's going

to be on another person. Okay? You're

you're, as I've said, I like to pretend

I'm sitting across from somebody. I'm

telling them a story. I don't want them

to get up till I'm finished. Okay? You

have to do the same thing. You're

sitting across from somebody and it's a

cat and mouse game. It really is. At

least with with this kind of commercial

fiction, you're playing a game with

them. Don't feel bad about it because

they chose to sit there. They want to

sit there. They want to play cat-and-

mouse with you. They want that

experience. That's what they're paying

for. They're paying to to play cat-and-

mouse with you. And that's what a lot of

reviewers don't get. They're sitting

there. They want to play the game. They

want to play the game of mysteries and

puzzles and what's going to happen next.

uh and why did it happen and and and and

is it clever and is it logical? They

they want to play that game with you.

You got to play it on your side. Okay.

So So you need to be you need to be as

good or better than they are as as a

game player. It is a game.

What is a satisfying ending with Along

Came a Spider? the ending was not the

ending uh um from the outline.

Um

but but what you had there was you had

Alex really falling in love with with an

FBI agent uh um who turns out to be one

of the villains and uh there were there

were two two villains, one a real madman

and the madman

uh sort of faked insanity. Um, so he

goes away to prison and he will

eventually escape from prison.

Meanwhile, Jezi gets executed. It's just

the irony of the really really hateful

uh um bad guy kind of who's going to get

away, who's going to skate. uh and and

this crashing of Alex's romance where um

the um the person who he's trusted and

been in love with is is is going to get

executed. I mean, that's that's

satisfying, I think, just because it's

just the irony is just so incredible and

the shock is so incredible and the

surprise and just go, "Yeah, boy, that's

I didn't see that coming and it fits and

holy shit." you know, so so so so that's

that's one way to do it.

In terms of your ending, the more artful

thing is going to be some ambiguity,

some mystery, some uh something maybe

unsettling.

Uh uh and the critics will like it

better and some of your super smart

readers will like it better. And then

some of the people that that really

they're they're in a habit of what they

like from the genre are going to like it

less. Uh so you got to figure out what's

right for you. I mean, just know that

that's the reality. Uh uh some of the

the more adventurous readers are going

to really like that ambiguity. Critics

are going to like the ambiguity. Uh and

some of the people that just, you know,

I want it to be the way it should be.

You know, they're not going to like it.

A lot of people had problems with that.

ending of that first book, which was

Alice Cross's family is missing. Sorry.

Oh, the spoiler alert. Hold it. Oh, too

late. I already told the pro, you know,

spoiler alert. Um, Alice Cross's family

is missing and and and presumably dead,

which you don't know. And a lot of

people said, "Oh, I can't believe it.

You bastard. You're just trying to get

us to buy another book." Well, I really

wasn't. Uh, I felt it was a terrific

ending, a terrific ending for the thing

to to just leave it there. Um, and and

people are funny, you know, they'll

watch television shows and, you know, at

the end of the season, the whole cast is

in a plane accident and, you know, see

you in September. And they go, "Oh,

okay, fine." You know, I'm, you know,

we'll see you in September. You do it in

a book and everybody's birch. They're

writing letters and they're giving you

Fs on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and

stuff. you didn't give it an ending. So,

but I just felt it was the right ending.

A and B, I felt I had another 400page

book. So, I didn't want to write a

900page Alice Cross book, which also

would have pissed people off. I don't

want to read 900 page. Well, you usually

do them. They're 4 to 500 pages. I mean,

that's a weird thing of people. They get

used to stuff. And that's a genre

problem, too. Certain people get in and

they expect certain things in the genre,

and I don't like to do that. I don't

like to give them what they're

expecting, but I do I do some of that

anyway. It just, you know, because I

feel it's I feel it's right for me, not

not necessarily because I feel it's

right for them.

I mean, frequently there'll be an extra

ending or or an ending and then an

epilogue, uh, which may go a whole

different way. People are more forgiving

of epilogues for some reason. So you can

you can you can make that e even in a

thriller. I mean one of the tricks with

thrillers,

good thrillers

is

the best thrillers, not only do they

have pace and excitement and suspense,

but you really get involved with the

characters. Okay. the the so- so

thrillers um

are usually primarily the the pace is

good and the excitement is pretty good

and there's a suspense idea but you

really don't care that much about the

characters

are a little stock um uh but the best

thrillers you really are I mean people

really are involved with Alex Cross

they're really involved with Lindsay

Boxer and the women's murder club um

they're involved with m with Mike

Bennett and and that's really important

And that allows you, you know, once you

have a series going, uh, um, you know,

you can have the ending to the suspense

story and then you can have an epilogue

where Alice just goes back to the family

and you're just happy that they're back

together and it's a sweet scene and

that's cool. that that works for

everybody. And and and there that also

gives you that option of one of the

endings can be really ambiguous and and

and and maybe not even an ending that

you know that bad guy got away because

you want to write about that that that

that villain again. Um u but there the

readers aren't going to go nuts. They'll

they'll accept

um as long as that ending ending, the

last one in the book is something where

they can go, "Okay, yeah, I'm cool with

that. Lindsay Boxer had her baby."

whatever the hell it is.

You saw a movie, what worked, what

didn't work. You watched a TV show, what

worked, what didn't work. Uh analyze

stuff yourself. I mean, just sit there,

you know, every ending you watch I if

you if you felt good about it, why what

happened there that that made you feel

good about it? Uh um and and and then

there's no I don't think there are any

rule. Maybe there are maybe somebody's

figured out some rules. you got to go to

somebody else's class for it. Um, but

but do study, not to copy the stuff.

Don't copy it, but but you know, you

should be taking notes in your head

about what's working, what isn't

working, why did you feel satisfied? You

know, go through anything you can

remember. Why did that work for you?

What what happened there?

Now, here's the real secret, okay? uh to

endings. And and this is one of these

pieces that's worth the price of

admission to to the class.

When when it comes to endings, and this

can be endings of chapters or or the

endings of of the book, write down

everything that could possibly happen.

Absolutely everything. I don't care how

ridiculous it is. Just keep writing down

this could happen. This could happen.

Oh, let me see what else. This could

happen. Think through all the

characters. Just think through

everything that's happened in the book.

Think through everything that hasn't

happened in the book. What could

possibly happen here? Bullet after

bullet after bullet after bullet. Then

pick the most outrageous one of them

that makes sense. It's got to make

sense. It's got a track with the book,

but the most outrageous one is going to

be the best one in my opinion.