Page One Hundred

I once had a friend who always chose books on the basis of how good the hundredth page was, flipping past the first page and going up country into the interior of the story.  If things looked good on p100, then he bought the book.

To put this theory to the test, here are three hundredth pages taken at random from my bookshelf:

The Siege of Krishnapur by JG Farrell
A small portion of the graveyard had been reluctantly allotted to Father O'Hara by the Padre for his Romish rights in the event of any of the half-dozen members of his church succumbing during the present difficulties.  But when Father O'Hara had asked for a bigger plot, the Padre had been furious; Father O'Hara already had enough room for six people, so he must be secretly hoping to convert some of the Padre's own flock to his Popish idolatry.  The Collector had settled the dispute by saying with asperity: "In any case, nobody is dead yet.  We'll talk about it again when you can show me the bodies."

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
The remembrance of this admonition gradually faded, and he continued as before giving innocuous consultations in his back room.  But the Mayor was against him, some of his rivals were jealous, he couldn't be too careful.  His kindly attentions were meant to put Monsieur Bovary under an obligation and ensure his silence in case he ever noticed anything. 

Spies by Michael Frayn
I watch in growing agony as Keith's mother walks unhurriedly away into the evening sun, towards the end of the street.  I should be out there after her, watching from the corner as she enters the tunnel, from the near end of the tunnel as she reaches the far end...but how can I, when I'm being watched myself?

If these are anything to go by, I think it does hold water.  JG Farrell combines a comic take on petty rivalries while hinting at an imminent catastrophe; Flaubert leads us into murky waters where manipulativeness and duplicity are rife and with Frayn we find surveillance with added spin.

The reason I'm mentioning this is that it is easy to get hung up on creating impact at the opening of a novel or story and to overlook the need to sustain this well into the middle of the book.  It's a classic trap to write a brilliant first three chapters and then to come unstuck.  If you are going to hold the tension, you need to think ahead, to anticipate.  If it inhibits you to plan in too much detail, do be aware of the need to have some forward momentum.  You need to know where you are going, even if you're not sure how you will get there...