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| Gene Wolfe...with the hardest advice for thedébut novelist to follow. |
DONALD
MAASS WRITE TIP #89
What’s
the place your protagonist must enter at the end? Earlier, make it a place of
fear.
“Just dive down, and find the scroll. Once you have it
safely in your pouch, you can swim out as fast as your strong arms and legs can
pull you," Garra's voice was hard. "A straightforward task. It’s not
as if you’ve never swum through the Clar’s watery clasp before."
Versa refused to meet her mother's determined gaze.
"I caught my cloak," she said. "No matter how I pulled, it would
not tear."
"You were snared in the stony embrace?" The
hands that reached for her curled into fists, as Garra moved towards her
daughter. "Yet you are here? He let you go."
"He bides, Mother. I left my dignity, with my
clothes, in that embrace."
"I recall. But, that was before – before you rescued
Heille? You re-entered Clar’s Cavern for her, but you won't retrieve the scroll
that proves our entitlement to our ancient lands?"
Versa stared at Garra without expression. "They say,
if the Clar claims you for his own, he’s a jealous lover," she said.
"I freed myself once. And sneaked round, and away, behind his back the
next. If I go to him again, he’ll hold me firm. This time, I fear he’ll make me
his.”
Where are you sending your protagonist so they can be really afraid?
Where are you sending your protagonist so they can be really afraid?
