The Writing Life How To Grip Your Readers - with Julia Crouch
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Nov 7, 2022 Crime and noir novelist Julia Crouch shares tips on gripping readers through character development, narrative tension, conflict, and twists. She discusses the role of dead bodies, creating intrigue, and sowing seeds of suspense. Julia's expertise in domestic noir shines as she offers technical advice for captivating storytelling.
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From Theatre To Illustration To Writing
- Julia's background moved from theatre to graphic design then MA in sequential illustration before she found writing came easiest.
- She discovered on the MA that words flowed for her while peers struggled with text, shifting her career back to writing.
NaNoWriMo Trained Her To Finish Drafts
- NaNoWriMo taught Crouch to 'write fast and write dirty' and stop stalling on early chapters.
- Writing 1,700 words daily got her past rewrites of opening chapters and produced a 50,000-word draft to iterate on.
Start With A What If And A Smell
- Julia starts novels with a situational 'what if' and an atmospheric 'smell' to set tone and seed plot.
- She treats setting as an initial catalyst but warns it can't sustain a novel unless characters and plot follow.