A few years ago, I attended a Poetry Ireland event at which the poet Don Patterson spoke. Someone asked what he thought of themed collections, noting they seem to have become more popular in recent years. Though Patterson wasn’t exactly dismissive, there was the sense that he could take it or leave it, the idea of the themed collection of poetry. It was neither here nor there, for him, whether the poems within one book cohered along the same topic. What you want, he said, was if someone opened your book at any page, for it to be good.
I've heard it said that psychological thrillers have to be plausible in the sense that they could happen just once, with very specific characters and circumstances - rather than plausible in the sense that they are the kind of things which happen every day.
Thanks for the interesting reading, and the film recommendation!
That's interesting. The 'just once' idea particularly ... if a novel captures the sense that this is *the* extraordinary event in the protagonist's life, then I guess that could be key to making its events plausible. Makes the sequel a tricky one for this genre maybe!
I've been thinking about this question of sequels.
I suspect most psychological thrillers do tend to be one-offs for this very reason. But I have come up with two exceptions, although there may be more.
It's a while since I read them, but the Nicci French Freida Klein novels may be one example. I think there's a series story arc but also individual ones, which would be based around the client
And Sophie Hannah's Simon and Charlie series works too. She alternates chapters from the points of view of the investigating police officers with first person chapters which work in a psychological thriller kind of way - so they are a kind of hybrid.
I've heard it said that psychological thrillers have to be plausible in the sense that they could happen just once, with very specific characters and circumstances - rather than plausible in the sense that they are the kind of things which happen every day.
Thanks for the interesting reading, and the film recommendation!
That's interesting. The 'just once' idea particularly ... if a novel captures the sense that this is *the* extraordinary event in the protagonist's life, then I guess that could be key to making its events plausible. Makes the sequel a tricky one for this genre maybe!
I've been thinking about this question of sequels.
I suspect most psychological thrillers do tend to be one-offs for this very reason. But I have come up with two exceptions, although there may be more.
It's a while since I read them, but the Nicci French Freida Klein novels may be one example. I think there's a series story arc but also individual ones, which would be based around the client
And Sophie Hannah's Simon and Charlie series works too. She alternates chapters from the points of view of the investigating police officers with first person chapters which work in a psychological thriller kind of way - so they are a kind of hybrid.