September Issue - On Writing

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INK DRIFT MAGAZINE something, knowing you might never do anything with it. There’s no instant gratification, just complete dedication. Nikita D’Monte: What is the one thing you would like to change or include in your writing that you haven’t been able to until now? Oksana Marafioti: Up until now, I’ve been writing a lot of non-fiction but I’d like to transition into writing fiction. Just test out the waters in different genres and see if there’s another I’d like to explore. Nikita D’Monte: What according to you is the one genre or topic that is the most misrepresented and exploited when it comes to written fiction? Oksana Marafioti: I’d have to say fairy tales and folklore. Both have gone out of style and are reduced to literature only children or anthropologists read. However, these are the foundations of all story-telling we know, across all cultures we know. Folklore is the heartbeat of human identity. It would be interesting to see more contemporary writers explore the idea of a modern fairy tale, and feel that beat again. dp/0374104077 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/ show/5060152.Oksana_Marafioti Website: https://us.macmillan.com/americangypsy/oksanamarafioti/9780374104078 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Oksana-Marafioti-Author-149370741764790/ Grab a copy of American Gypsy: A Memoir on Amazon! Nikita D’Monte: Is there anything else that you would like to tell us that I haven’t included above. Oksana Marafioti: I have another book coming out sometime next year. It’s a paranormal fantasy novel called, Donatti’s Lunatics. It follows the adventures of a group of ghost hunters, as they fight malefic forces attempting to take over the world. It will be available through Amazon and other retailers. LinkedIn link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ oksana-marafioti-79508733/ Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/ American-Gypsy-Memoir-Oksana-Marafioti/ www.inkdrift.com PAGE 16
INK DRIFT MAGAZINE Three Tips for Thriller Writers Archana Sarat Thriller spells action Something needs to happen as soon as you open a thriller novel. If it happens in the first scene, it is good. Action in the first paragraph is better but action in the first line itself would be excellent. For instance, this is the opening sentence of my book, Birds of Prey, ‘Anton hoped the bloody bastard would slip on one of the ragged stones.’ While a few well-meaning folks were scandalised to read the phrase ‘bloody bastard’ on the first line, the legendary Shri. B. S. Raghavan, who has worked directly under the first three Prime Ministers of our country, agreed to launch the book only because of that first sentence. So, don’t be scared to throw in a dead body or two there. Please do not speak about the weather or the locale unless you plan to pull them into the action too. Jerry Pinto does this beautifully in ‘Murder in Mahim’. It starts off with this sentence, ‘Bombay doesn’t do night.’ After Tolstoy’s opening sentence in Anna Karenina, this is my most favourite opening sentence in literature. The sentence not only speaks about the city, which plays a major part in the novel, but also speaks about it in action. Bombay doesn’t do night. Thomas Harris doesn’t do a gripping first sentence in ‘Red Dragon’. Damn, he doesn’t even do a gripping opening scene! Do you know why? He is building up the atmosphere for the second scene which is sure to make your stomach lurch. Thomas Harris could have easily interchanged those two scenes while structuring his novel but he doesn’t because he knows that it wouldn’t have the same impact that it has now. And that brings me to the second point… Pay attention to structure Unlike a few novels that ramble on without any clear storyline, a clear-cut story is a prerequisite for a thriller. There must be a clear conflict and a rational solution for the same, without any ambiguity. You cannot introduce your murderer to the audience after they have read more than half the book. To take it one step further, a thriller novel needs to be divided into scenes and each scene needs to logically lead to the next. If you are interested to know more about structuring a novel, I would suggest reading these three books: i) Aristotle’s - Poetics ii) Joseph Campbell’s - The Hero with a Thousand Faces iii) James Scott Bell’s - Plot and Structure Since my novel dealt with two different points of view, and because there had to be a balance between them, I had to carefully structure the novel. The fact that I had panted my way through the first draft made sure that the story was all over the place. So, I made index cards with a scene for every card and arranged them (on the floor) in various ways to see how best it would work. <strong>On</strong>ly after that became clear, did I start rewriting the next draft of Birds of Prey. Whether you do it on paper, cards or excel doesn’t matter, but give a thought to how you structure your book. Many authors are excellent storytellers that the process happens organically. However, most thriller writers give a careful thought to the plot and structuring of their book. PAGE 17 www.inkdrift.com
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