Balancing Curiosity Seeds and Tension Without Making the Reader Feel Cheated

In today's Books with Hooks , Bianca, Carly, and CeCe discuss the need for external pressure in your major dramatic question; the three sets of questions that create tension at the beginning of a story; surprising your reader in your first five pages; the accuracy of third party manuscript wishlists; the need for world-building in a fantasy query; being too vague in your query; the concept of the 'new adult' genre; thinking about readers' expectations for certain types of stories; making sure that characters who appear in opening scenes are essential; and the importance of emotionality and interiority in your main character. After which, Bianca interviews Johnny Compton about his debut novel, The Spite House . The two chat about the psychology behind reading and writing horror fiction; the heavy-lifting that horror expects of its audience; the world-building that's involved; the idea of not needing an explanation for everything; how Johnny balances curiosity seeds and tension without 'cheating' the reader; the social commentary that Johnny weaves into his novel; and Johnny's advice for writing very young characters. Find us on our socials: Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_shit_about_writing/ https://www.instagram.com/biancamarais_author/ https://www.instagram.com/carlywatters/ https://www.instagram.com/cece_lyra_agent/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TSNOTYAW Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting.com , www.biancamarais.com , www.carlywatters.com and www.cecilialyra.com To ask a question, go to: https://sayhi.chat/TSNOTYAW Bookshop.org affiliate page: https://bookshop.org/shop/theshitnoonetellsyouaboutwriting More information about Johnny can be found at https://johnnycompton.com He's also on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/comptonwrites and Twitter at https://twitter.com/comptonwrites Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince: https://quince.com/tsnotyaw * Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: https://www.rosettastone.com * Check out Wayfair: https://www.wayfair.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands