Turn, Turn, Turn...

I'm up against a deadline today, so forgive me if my post is rather brief, but with a nip in the air and the summer on the turn, I thought this fascinating remark made by the inestimable Hilary Mantel in the Guardian on 16th of August might provide food for thought over the weekend.

"In every scene, even the quiet ones, I try to create turning points, so the reader knows how it's going to turn out, but the reader's expectations of how and why is constantly challenged."

This is particularly true in the field Ms Mantel has made her own, historical fiction, as generally people know what happens in the story because it has already taken place. But in any genre, the manipulation of expectation is crucial. The relationship you develop with your reader is akin to flirtation - think writer as coquette - it's a constant dance of leading them on and then confounding them.

What I found interesting about the Guardian quote was the fact that Mantel doesn't focus on one or two key turning points in the novel as a whole, she sets up small acts of subversion, or change, in every scene. No wonder her books are unputdownable.