Writers' craft

They're the bogeymen of publishing. Along with prologues, adverbs, and semicolons, flashbacks may be the most vilified-and most misunderstood-of storytelling devices, ones that work only if they don't seem like devices.

Ken Follett's The Armor of Light is now available from Viking, so we asked him a few questions about his writing practice, his favorite books, and more.

I am not the kind of writer who finds every plot twist, detail of setting, and character description in my imagination. I am like a magpie when it comes to developing a story, shamelessly borrowing from and building on whatever I see and hear. Here's an example.  Read more

Ruth Ware's new novel Zero Days was published yesterday by Simon & Schuster. It tells the story of Jack, a hacker who arrives home after an assignment goes horribly wrong, to find her husband dead. It soon becomes clear that the police have only one suspect in mind: her.

What do you think is the most important element of a story? Some people say the plot. Others say the characters. They're both wrong. The most important element you need to develop for your story is a theme! So, today we'll learn how to write a strong theme.  Read more