Chris Routledge in Guardian Unlimited diagnoses how a really classy writer, like Dashiell Hammett, can make a diversion from their plot lead right to the story’s heart.
The story of Flitcraft is a simple one. A successful real-estate agent, with a happy family life and money in the bank, Flitcraft steps out of the office for [...]
Raymond Chandler, in The Simple Act of Murder, pays due homage to Hammett: ‘He gave murder back to the kind of people who commit it for reasons,’ he said. ‘Not just to provide a corpse.’ And in the same essay he goes on to describe the newer modernist hero:
. . . down [...]
Why do you want to do it? It might be the wish to connect with other people on a deep level. The need to speak of inner feelings. It could be the pressure of emotion, which you can’t ignore. What are your own reasons?
Remember the element of play in writing. Build it up and knock [...]
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