Write Away
by Elizabeth George
Hodder $119
What she lacks in literary style, Elizabeth George makes up for in the ability to tell a good story. Here, she takes a break from crime fiction to explain how she approaches her craft. As with most writing guides, she begins with the importance of creating strong characters. Less obviously, she shows that landscape and setting are important in creating the tone, building character and driving the plot. Dialogue is about people speaking, but conversation in novels always has a purpose. Suspense is one of the most misunderstood elements of fiction. The key to leaving readers keen to know what's going to happen next is making them care about characters. George says she gets ideas from everywhere: newspapers, personal experiences and gossip. She illustrates her points with lengthy extracts from her own and other novels, along with samples from her journal.