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Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction

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Patricia Highsmith, author of Strangers On a Train, The Talented Mr.Ripley, Found In The Street, and many other books, is known as one of the finest suspense novelists. In this book, she analyzes the key elements of suspense fiction, drawing upon her own experience in four decades as a working writer. She talks about, among other topics; how to develop a complete story from an idea; what makes a plot gripping; the use (and abuse) of coincidence; characterization and the "likeable criminal"; going from first draft to final draft; and writing the suspense short story.
Throughout the book, Highsmith illustrates her points with plentiful examples from her own work, and by discussing her own inspirations, false starts, dead ends, successes, and failures, she presents a lively and highly readable picture of the novelist at work.

Anyone who wishes to write crime and suspense fiction, or who enjoys reading it, will find this book an insightful guide to the craft and art of a modern master.

145 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

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About the author

Patricia Highsmith

399 books4,153 followers
Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist who is known mainly for her psychological crime thrillers which have led to more than two dozen film adaptations over the years.

She lived with her grandmother, mother and later step-father (her mother divorced her natural father six months before 'Patsy' was born and married Stanley Highsmith) in Fort Worth before moving with her parents to New York in 1927 but returned to live with her grandmother for a year in 1933. Returning to her parents in New York, she attended public schools in New York City and later graduated from Barnard College in 1942.

Shortly after graduation her short story 'The Heroine' was published in the Harper's Bazaar magazine and it was selected as one of the 22 best stories that appeared in American magazines in 1945 and it won the O Henry award for short stories in 1946. She continued to write short stories, many of them comic book stories, and regularly earned herself a weekly $55 pay-check. During this period of her life she lived variously in New York and Mexico.

Her first suspense novel 'Strangers on a Train' published in 1950 was an immediate success with public and critics alike. The novel has been adapted for the screen three times, most notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951.

In 1955 her anti-hero Tom Ripley appeared in the splendid 'The Talented Mr Ripley', a book that was awarded the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere as the best foreign mystery novel translated into French in 1957. This book, too, has been the subject of a number of film versions. Ripley appeared again in 'Ripley Under Ground' in 1970, in 'Ripley's Game' in 1974, 'The boy who Followed Ripley' in 1980 and in 'Ripley Under Water' in 1991.

Along with her acclaimed series about Ripley, she wrote 22 novels and eight short story collections plus many other short stories, often macabre, satirical or tinged with black humour. She also wrote one novel, non-mystery, under the name Claire Morgan , plus a work of non-fiction 'Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction' and a co-written book of children's verse, 'Miranda the Panda Is on the Veranda'.

She latterly lived in England and France and was more popular in England than in her native United States. Her novel 'Deep Water', 1957, was called by the Sunday Times one of the "most brilliant analyses of psychosis in America" and Julian Symons once wrote of her "Miss Highsmith is the writer who fuses character and plot most successfully ... the most important crime novelist at present in practice." In addition, Michael Dirda observed "Europeans honoured her as a psychological novelist, part of an existentialist tradition represented by her own favorite writers, in particular Dostoevsky, Conrad, Kafka, Gide, and Camus."

She died of leukemia in Locarno, Switzerland on 4 February 1995 and her last novel, 'Small g: a Summer Idyll', was published posthumously a month later.

Gerry Wolstenholme
July 2010

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Profile Image for Robin.
509 reviews3,075 followers
October 30, 2021
Patricia Highsmith died in 1995, so I'll never get to write her the love fan letter I have had brewing in me for years, now. I'll never get to ask her questions that have been burning in my mind, about her writerly process and opinions, either. This book is as close as I'll get, and I'll take it, with thanks.

Anyone who knows me knows I love Pat. This year I read four of her novels, and re-read two. She's never too far from my thoughts these days. And how could she be? I see her name everywhere, whether in reviews of her books here on Goodreads, or a new movie adaptation poised for release (hello, Adrian Lyne's Deep Water, come out, come out, wherever you are...), or the recent publication of a massive volume of her diaries. Forget Sally Rooney, people, Pat is IT. Over 70 years after the publication of her debut novel, Strangers on a Train, she remains a singular force in the literary world, primarily in (but not limited to) the realm of suspense fiction.

I started reading this "how to" book of hers earlier in the year, but because she was using many of her own works as examples, I was fearing plot spoilers, and so I put it aside. This week, I picked it up, because I realized I was being a bit silly. There was only one book she referenced that I haven't read yet (The Glass Cell - I have it on my bedside stack, though), and by the time I get to it, I'm sure all the plot points she mentions will have faded into a goldfish-quality memory.

What won't fade, however, is the sheer pleasure I experienced in these pages. THIS is how to write a writer's manual. With personality, with wit, with honesty. She puts her money where her mouth is, too, by using her own books as examples for the things she discusses (including failures, so this isn't an ego fest). She also doesn't make "rules" - because, as she says in her preface, It is impossible to explain how a successful book is written. A few things she said, though, I believe to be gospel:

* The first person you should think of pleasing, in writing a book, is yourself.

* Creative people do not pass moral judgments - at least not at once - on what meets their eye. There is time for that later in what they create, if they are so inclined, but art essentially has nothing to do with morality, convention, or moralizing.

* One need not be a monster, or feel like one, to demand two or three hours' privacy here and there. This schedule should become a habit, and the habit, like writing itself, a way of life. (...) Writing is a craft and needs constant practice.

Some other delights: She makes the wonderful observation that Dostoevsky, if writing now, would be considered a writer of suspense (but would need heavy editing). She complains about the term "reader identification" and the annoying need to make characters "likeable" (something I have personal experience with, currently) even if they are psychopaths. And, she makes the (astute) declaration that her books shouldn't be made available in prison libraries.

This was written in 1983, and is a little dated, especially in the "Second Draft" and "Revisions" sections when she discusses typing and re-typing a manuscript on a manual typewriter. I wonder if Pat wrote her final books on a computer? No matter, honestly, I liked the visual I had of her, typing and refining, a cigarette burning and an empty glass of scotch being refilled, a rather serious bulldog expression on her face.

It might very well be true that these writing books don't help much in the creation of a wonderful novel, because the combination of magic and genius intrinsic in the act of writing goes beyond explanation. But, I'm inspired by and grateful for this one. I hope even the smallest portion can rub off on me, in my efforts. Thank you, Pat.

Profile Image for Orsodimondo.
2,265 reviews2,135 followers
January 4, 2019
SENZA PUDORE

description
Francis Bacon (Dublino, 20 ottobre 1909 – Madrid, 28 aprile 1992.

Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction è del 1966. In Italia è uscito presso l’editore La Tartaruga con questo titolo un po’ balordo, alla ricerca dell’effetto (con quel punto esclamativo che fa tanto messaggistica da cellulare), e poi di nuovo presso Minimum Fax che ha risistemato il titolo in Come si scrive un giallo – Teoria e pratica della suspense.

description
Francis Bacon

Ma non è un manuale di scrittura giallistica o di suspense come i titoli vorrebbero lasciar credere: non so proprio quanto aiuti a scrivere storie con sorpresa e azione, che ruotino intorno al pericolo, a uno o più delitti.

Aiuta, invece, a capire il mondo di questa scrittrice che io ho molto amato e frequentato, autrice poco mainstream, sia nell’opera che nella vita: eccentrica, diva in tono non plateale, rifiutava compromessi, amava le donne, tante, ma le descriveva (e scriveva) con misoginia, quando le rimandavano un’immagine avvilente del suo sesso, al punto da farle desiderare di non essere una donna, quando non le trovava all’altezza degli uomini, e cioè in grado di realizzarsi, raggiungere e gestire potere, creare.

description
Francis Bacon

Scriveva storie basate e imperniate sull’assenza di principi, su quella che si suole definire amoralità. Personaggi che non esitano a uccidere per raggiungere il proprio scopo. Storie che rifiutano l’idea codificata del bene e del male.
Non scriveva indovinelli lunghi trecento pagine, come Borges definiva i gialli, ma giocava il tiro alla fune con la credulità del lettore, lo conduceva in quel territorio dove l’attesa, il mistero, e la sorpresa non nascono dalla soluzione di un enigma, dall’individuazione del chi, ma, caso mai, del perché: lo spettatore al corrente di ogni (mis-)fatto potrà beneficiare di una tra le forme più pure di suspense, sussultando impotente e consapevole davanti alla realizzazione di un orrore preannunciato, drammaticamente ineluttabile.
Prendeva per mano il lettore e lo portava a contatto, in intimità con l’assassino, con chi commette ciò che si considera Male.

description
Francis Bacon

Per avvalorare il concetto che la sua letteratura è lontana dalla tradizione giallistica, da Agatha Christie o Ellery Queen, i colleghi che Highsmith cita qui sono: Shakespeare, Eschilo, Poe, Proust, Kafka, Flaubert – e soprattutto Dostoevskij ed Henry James (su “Gioco di vite” scrive che non riesce a immaginare la governante partecipare a una battaglia di cuscini coi due piccoli Miles e Flora, ma le reazioni di quella donna davanti alle cose che vede, o immagina, fanno rizzare i capelli). Da Graham Greene riceveva apprezzamento e complimenti che qui ricambia con manifesta gratitudine.
Ma gli artisti che sentiva più vicini a sé, più che altri scrittori erano pittori: su tutti, Francis Bacon.

description
Francis Bacon
Profile Image for Nandakishore Mridula.
1,261 reviews2,386 followers
June 11, 2015
I like to read these "writer's tips" sort of books once in a while, just to get to know how their minds function.

Patricia Highsmith's book is nothing great: very light fare, in fact. The advice is pretty much standard: jot down your ideas, allow them to develop, pay proper attention to plotting, the first draft, the second draft, revisions...But it was very enjoyable to read how she actually plotted her stories. Two pieces of advice stayed in the mind:

The plot: It should be tight - absolutely waterproof. Patricia explains how she laboured over and over to get the plotting and pacing just right. Gone Girl is an example of how a plot can be full of holes, like a sieve, BTW - according to me, at least.

The characterisation: Even though it is sometimes given short shrift in suspense novels, the ones with the stronger characters endure. (The recent suspense movie in Malayalam, Drishyam, is a fine example of how strong characterisation helps suspense, IMO.)

Patricia gives us one chapter on the germination and development of one of her novels, The Glass Cell. This was very enjoyable reading.

However, the book may be said to contain spoilers, so be warned.
Profile Image for Repellent Boy.
520 reviews561 followers
April 14, 2022
2,5. Por regla general, no soy un lector al que le llamen especialmente los libros sobre escritura o sobre el proceso de una autora o un autor para crear una obra. Pero, como en todo, hay excepciones. Y es que cuando una o uno me gusta mucho, sí que tiendo a interesarme por su es escritura, para ver de donde sale todo eso que me gusta de sus historias. Esto se incrementa con autores que, además de admirar sus libros, me interesan por la persona que hay detrás de la obra, por lo que intuimos de su personalidad, más allá de su propia obra. Eso es lo que me pasaba con Patricia Highsmith, sin embargo, leer este libro ha conseguido que deje de interesarme en ese sentido.

En “Suspense”, Highsmith da consejos a los nuevos escritores, sobre como escribir una buena novela de suspense o, directamente, una buena novela. A través de su experiencia y numerosos ejemplos de sus propias historias, la autora establece los elementos que no le pueden faltar a una obra de misterio, haciendo hincapié en los fallos típicos de autores novatos. Creo que es un libro muy interesante para escritores del género, pero para el resto, quizás, pueda resultar algo repetitivo, y más si esperas encontrar una personalidad atractiva en la mujer detrás de grandes obras como “Carol” o “Extraños en un tren”, y ocurre lo contrario.

Cuando leí “Carol” no solo me impactó la valentía de la autora al escribir una novela así en los años cincuenta, si no que el libro venía precedido de un prólogo escrito años después para su reedición, donde la autora hablaba de la necesidad de dar visibilidad a las relaciones entre dos mujeres y la poca o nula representación que había en la época. Rápidamente sentí que la autora era una adelantada a su época, sin embargo, al leer “Suspense” y ver ciertos comentarios machistas me sorprendió bastante. Esta realidad terminó por confirmarse cuando la autora menciona entre relatos y novelas más de veinte de sus obras y, salvo en una, en todas las demás el protagonismo recae en uno o varios hombres, la mujer solo sale para morir o para motivar la relación entre ellos. La propia autora cuenta que le gusta escribir desde el punto de vista de los hombres, porque son más “activos” y las mujeres “se dejan llevar”. Pereza de argumento.

Creo que ha sido un fallo cogerlo sin haber leído antes la gran parte de su obra de ficción. La autora habla demasiado de la trama de sus libros y destripa prácticamente todas las historias de principio a fin. Por otra parte, me han parecido tan igual entre sí todos los libros que mencionaba, que me ha dejado de resultar todo lo interesante que hasta ahora me resultaba basándome en los dos libros que ya había leído y amado, los ya nombrados “Carol” y “Extraños en un tren”. Por lo que ella misma cuenta, todas las obras tiene a un hombre a dos hombres inmersos en un crimen, la mujer que los une casi siempre acaba muerta, y la historia es narrada desde el punto de vista del asesino o criminal. Repetitivo al máximo. En fin, que lo que pensaba que iba a ser un acercamiento a una figura que me resultaba muy atractiva, ha conseguido justo lo contrario, que me guste menos la autora y me llame menos su obra. No sé si volveré a leerla (puede que sí, porque tengo bastantes de sus libros en casa), pero realmente no es algo que vaya a pasar pronto. Quizás nunca, no lo sé, porque he descubierto más cosas de la autora, fuera de “Suspense”, que me han quitado un poco las ganas. El tiempo dirá.
Profile Image for Toby.
842 reviews360 followers
January 20, 2013
In 1972 The Authors League reported that 95% of writers in America must hold another job all their lives to make ends meet.

A sobering thought to end this book on the writer's craft from one of the greats of 20th century storytelling. Remind me, why do I want to do this?

The talented Ms Highsmith is not at her most comfortable with this educational piece especially, as she says herself, she doesn't really consider herself a writer of suspense fiction or a fan of the label created by American publishers. There are a lot of interesting anecdotes and she doesn't hold back in her contempt of "hack writers" and an unnamed author of the time who liked to have buildings or bridges explode in his forgettable tales peopled by nonentities. This is less a self-help or how-to guide than an exploration of how she crafted her novels and approached the creative side of things, with useful pointers thrown in along the way and as such it may be more interesting for people to read as biographical material and less for beginners looking for tips on how to write.

What I have learned from reading this is that Patricia Highsmith loved being a writer and quite often hated it too.
Profile Image for carlageek.
289 reviews26 followers
October 13, 2021
Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction is a delightful read, charming, humble, and generous. These are, perhaps, not words one typically associates with Highsmith, yet the voice that comes alive in the pages of this little guide is thoroughly genuine and warm. The tone is not prescriptive or authoritative; not “here is how you do it,” but rather “here is how I did it; perhaps it will help you, too.”

The advice itself is insightful, thoughtful. You won’t find the minutia of craft in here (turn to someone like Sol Stein for that); rather, the book describes a way of interfacing with the world, of gathering observations and allowing them to percolate in one’s subconscious, of being open to ideas wherever they may find one. There is also some substantial discussion of process, of outlining and revising, of developing the germ of an idea into a plot with interesting complications.

Highsmith relies on examples, almost exclusively from her own work, though again without the braggadocio that characterizes the aforementioned Sol Stein. Notably—and charmingly—she addresses her failures as well as her great successes, revealing something of the stories that did not sell, the books that had to be torn apart and rewritten once or even twice before any editor would buy them, the ones that she wasn’t particularly pleased with even when they did sell. Toward the end there is a detailed “case study” of The Glass Cell, a book she was quite proud of, but that took much reworking before it would sell. In analyses like these, Plotting and Writing demonstrates Highsmith’s tremendous work ethic. Writing for her was an artistic compulsion but it was also a job; she did not avoid the hard work of it in life, and she doesn’t here in the book, either.

Only at the very end of the book does Highsmith allow herself a little pride and indignation, in a discussion of the diminishment of her work that comes with the label “suspense,” as opposed to literary fiction (what she calls “straight” novels, with no irony, though it’s hard for me not to read some in). She recites a litany of accomplishments in this section, and indulges in a bit of a rant in defense of the merits of her work. (I sometimes say that Highsmith’s work is “suspense” only in the sense that Crime and Punishment is a suspense novel; she makes the same comparison, which delights me no end.) But to my mind, she earned every bit of pride and defensiveness about the literary qualities of what she did, and at any rate she reserved it for the epilogue; it doesn’t interfere with the bulk of the book’s insights.

It happened that while I was reading this book, The New Yorker published some excerpts from Highsmith’s diaries, from early in her professional life—a time of great hope and confidence, great doubt and fear, great turmoil, and a coming-to-terms of sorts. The combined effect on me of these excerpts and Plotting and Writing has been a tremendous surge of affection and tenderness toward someone with whom I was already thoroughly obsessed. In my review of The Blunderer, I wrote that this obsession was “itself rather Highsmithian, made up of equal parts fascination and revulsion.” There is a third part now, this gentle tenderness and sympathy.
Profile Image for Lisa.
Author 43 books8,395 followers
August 19, 2019
Patricia Highsmith is the godmother of psychological suspense; I would go so far as to say that she is one of the most important influences on modern crime fiction. This book is less nuts-and-bolts than its title implies, and more the philosophies and observations of a writer at work.
Profile Image for Korcan Derinsu.
283 reviews120 followers
January 13, 2024
Patricia Highsmith’ten kurmaca yazarlığına dair tavsiyeler. Başlığından ötürü, “gerilim” yazma üzerinden bir yol alacağını düşünmüştüm ama yazar bu kavramı “dramatik çatışma” olarak genişletmiş. Gündelik hayattaki en ufak şeyden bile nasıl ilham alınabileceğini anlatırken, bir roman oluşturmanın da farklı aşamalarını anlatıyor. Highsmith’i sevdiğim için merakla okudum ama yazarlığa dair bir kitap olarak ortalamanın biraz altında kaldı bence.
Profile Image for Josh.
Author 13 books38 followers
February 5, 2024
Not much of a guide, but like King's On Writing, a brilliant look inside the mind of a master storyteller. Well worth a 150 pages of your time.
Profile Image for Dina.
594 reviews364 followers
January 28, 2018
Un libro sobre escribir, de una escritora que sabe de lo que habla. Es entretenido y muy didáctico. Es genial averiguar como la buena de Patricia era toda una señora y como se ven ciertas pinceladas de crítica social sin que ella parezca darse ni cuenta.
Me ha encantado saber como nacieron algunas de sus novelas y "como" desde su punto de vista debe construirse una novela desde cierta distancia.
Profile Image for Merl Fluin.
Author 6 books48 followers
October 19, 2019
I don't write suspense fiction, and have no intention to do so. But I adore Highsmith, and I'm dazzled by her ability to grip the reader, even in stories where nothing much actually happens (a case in point is The Tremor of Forgery, which I reviewed a little while ago here). So I was happy when someone gave me this book as a present.

In truth, the practical tips she offers on how to write a novel (suspense or otherwise) are more or less the same as you will find in any book on writing. But what makes this one unique is its emphasis not on technique, but on the attitudes a writer should try to adopt to the world around them. What you do is important, but how you bring yourself to the point of doing it is more so.

Which, come to think of it, is not a bad description of how her fiction unfolds too.
Profile Image for Patricia Ayuste.
Author 0 books262 followers
July 2, 2021
Puntuación: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

Un libro sobre el género de misterio escrito por una de las grandes en el que aborda no solo sus éxitos, sino los pasos en falso que le ayudaron a despegar y escribir algunas de sus más conocidas obras.

Patricia Highsmith traslada numerosos consejos basados en su propia experiencia y que pueden aplicarse en la escritura a nivel general.

✔️ Puntos fuertes: lenguaje sencillo de entender y seguir, Un estilo intimista que conecta con el lector, libro breve, recopilatorio de buenos consejos y explicaciones sobre el origen de algunas de las exitosas novelas de la autora.

❤ Te gustará si: te estás iniciando en la escritura, buscas mejorar tu estilo, conocer los secretos de una escritora consagrada o si estás preparando una novela.
Profile Image for Eric Novello.
Author 50 books550 followers
Read
June 2, 2017
Opinião rápida:

- É mais interessante se você já escreve alguma coisa.
- As dicas sobre suspense em si são poucas.
- Vale como registro de uma época em que o ofício de escritor e o mercado literário eram muito diferentes.
- Papel carbono e máquina de escrever, aqui tem! :)
Profile Image for Kressel Housman.
976 reviews239 followers
September 6, 2016
Once upon a time, about five to ten years ago, I was obsessed with becoming a writer. I used to spend most of my time writing fiction, often to the point of neglecting my kids. It was some time during that period that my husband gave me this book as a present, but I didn't read it because "suspense fiction" was not my genre.

Although I did eventually finish a novel (Harry Potter fanfic) and manage to sell a few short stories, I basically stopped writing when I began working 9 to 5. I'm a much more responsible mother and wage-earner now, but I often feel bad that all I write these days are book reviews for Goodreads. I enjoy doing it tremendously, but I want to get published again, and work is the only way that can happen. So to jump start my writing, I took a class called "How to Write Page-Turning Fiction" this summer when my kids were in camp. This book is a follow-up to the class.

Probably the biggest flaw in my fiction is that it's not exciting enough. My stories are like my reviews: observational. My themes are like my personality: contemplative. The feedback I got in class was that my writing flows readably and my main character was likable, but there just wasn't enough tension to keep the pages turning. The lesson of Writing for Story - follow the complication - became clearer to me in that class than when I originally read the book eight or so years ago. Every page must have tension and suspense, some problem that must be resolved or the characters will suffer some loss. To do that, I have to separate myself from my characters a bit because tension is something I try to avoid in my real life.

So you see why a book on suspense fiction seemed the ideal follow-up to the class. But my initial reaction was also correct: suspense is just not my genre, at least not in the way author Patricia Highsmith defines it. I suppose I care more about education than entertainment, but most readers prefer the latter. So this was not the ideal writing book for me. Greater familiarity with Highsmith's own work would have helped because her examples are taken from her own writing. So good writing advice, but not a great fit for me. Too bad.
Profile Image for Jack Getze.
Author 11 books556 followers
March 25, 2016
This book offers few tips on writing suspense fiction, which was the reason I picked it up at a used book store, but few books on writing have inspired me more than this one. Ms. Highsmith was an artist in every sense of the word, and through her own thoughts and explanations of the subject, the reader gets to know her own singular artistic sentiments and temperament. What a wonderful time it would have been to sit with her during a meal, although I suspect she would have found me boring. The writer of the Mr. Ripley sagas gives readers much outdated information about agents and publishers and contracts, although perhaps hanging onto your film and foreign publishing rights will always be a great idea for writers. Most important to me were the passages on art and how an artist should live her/his life. Few of us artists will ever be rich and famous, Ms. Highsmith says, so it's best to focus on the art itself.
Profile Image for Julie.
Author 5 books223 followers
December 22, 2020
Really useful for anyone writing crime or suspense fiction. I always enjoy finding out how other writers work.
Profile Image for Feuerfux.
38 reviews1 follower
May 20, 2022
Durchweg inspirierend. Es ist, als säße man bei einer Tasse Kaffee zusammen, und Highsmith würde einfach mal aus dem Nähkästchen plaudern.
Profile Image for Joey.
420 reviews4 followers
March 22, 2018
Attn: The Writer, Inc. , not to be confused with Murder Inc.

HEY YOU!?!?

Have I captured your attention?

Are you a lazy agent?

I am a writer with an invisible antennae. I have filled dozens of notebooks with my words.

In 1988, Patricia Highsmith, the author of The Talented Mr. Ripley and Strangers on a Train lamented that many American magazines that used to buy short stories have folded. It is thirty years later and prospects are even gloomier. She also began The Talented Mr. Ripley in a cottage in Massachusetts and read Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America in preparation. She hangs her writing awards in her bathroom.

“A book is a really long continuous process, which ideally, should be interrupted only by sleep.” (73)

The objective of the writer is to write something saleable.

“Maybe much of luck for the writer comes from having the right publicity at the right time, and this I do discuss here.” (ix)

“To all beginners, I give credit for being writers already, since they intend, for better or worse, to rusk exposing their emotions, their quirks, their attitude toward life, to public scrutiny.” (ix)

Stories need to be gripping.

Suspense stories have a threat of violent physical action and danger.

“A book is not a thing of one sitting, like a poem, but a longish thing which takes time and energy and since it takes skill, too, the first effort or maybe the second may not find a market.” (15)

SUSPENSE SHORT STORIES CAN TAKE PLACE OVER A SPAN OF 5 MINUTES!

“write down all those slender ideas.” (36)

Stories can develop in six weeks or three years of “slow brewing.”

“If the writer can thicken the plot and surprise the reader, the plot is logically improved.” (38)

DO NO USE THE SAME PERSONALITY AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE OF SOMEBODY THAT YOU KNOW.
OUTLINE THE PLOT.
PLOT SHOULD NOT BE RIGID.

“I create things out of boredom with reality and with the sameness of routine and objects around me.” (49)

SOME BOOKS DO NOT HAVE A CLIMAX.
CHAPTER OUTLINES ARE HELPFUL TOOLS.
SURPRISE YOURSELF AND YOUR READER.

“It is often possible to give the gist of a conversation of forty lines in three lines of prose.” (71)

SOME FIRST DRAFTS ARE TOO BRIEF.

“If the writer thinks about his material long enough, until it becomes a part of his mind and wakes up thinking about it- then at least when he starts to work, it will flow out as if by itself.” (76)

“A sense of pride in your work is essential.” (77)

“Writing is a way of organizing experience and life itself.” (80)

TAKE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE’S PROFESSIONS.

The joy of writing cannot truly be described in words.

“It is then good to remember that artists have existed and persisted, like the snail and coelacanth and other changing forms of organic life since long before governments were dreamed of.” (145)

“The most important thing is: Does the film work, is it believable?” (132)

“All the above is rot.” (5)

Sincerely, The Writer
Profile Image for Daniel.
754 reviews58 followers
July 20, 2020
Writing books are much like the self-help books. They generally present some sort of methodology the reader has absolutely zero probability of following long term, whatever their intention in the moment. At best they provide a minor short term boost in motivation, but more often are simply a convenient excuse to put off actually doing anything. Both types of book are generally written by people you've never heard of before, and who appear nowhere else on the library shelves.

I've been intrigued by Patricia Highsmith since the 1999 movie version of her novel The Talented Mr. Ripley which disturbed me in a way no other movie has and left me unable to even say whether or not I "liked" it. In the twenty years since I've been unwilling to rewatch it, and have made several false starts at reading a number of her novels, but failed to get very far into any of them.

The very first sentence in this fairly short book, written in the 1960s, says: "This is not a how-to-do-it handbook." It is, instead, a much more interesting glimpse into Highsmith's process, covering the initial seed of an idea to published work. She discusses specific short stories and novels and has no compunction about spoiling same in the service of example. Mostly her own, but details of one or two stories by others are recounted. Chapters generally correspond with various stages of the process, and the penultimate chapter is an end to end case study of her novel The Glass Cell.

In addition to the detailed breakdown of Highsmith's process, this was interesting in that Highsmith herself comes off quite different to the mental image of her I'd built up over the years from references to or articles about her.

As I could definitely see myself revisiting this in future it gets the magical five star rating.
Profile Image for Sara.
598 reviews63 followers
September 26, 2015
Highsmith gives relaxed and honest advice and steers clear of the self-organizing, process nonsense mistaken for creativity today. People who write habitually will find the lack of a "system" and her description of certain pitfalls familiar and soothing. Beginners will find her accessible and no nonsense. Those preferring business style organizational tactics and quick fixes with little respect for a stubborn unconscious should give it a pass.
Profile Image for Ana.
446 reviews11 followers
August 6, 2023
Adorei ler este livro e fiquei com vontade de (re)descobrir os policiais desta senhora. Achei incrível a persistência, o rigor e o esforço para tornar a escrita mais interessante para o leitor. Gostei muito da simplicidade e da objectividade do texto 😎 O segredo para o sucesso de um escritor: a sua individualidade 💛
(este livro ainda tem os pormenores do século passado do uso da máquina de escrever e a utilização de papel químico. Isso também tem graça)
Profile Image for Lee Klein .
831 reviews915 followers
July 21, 2013
Poorly titled collection of recollections about the author's experience writing novels and stories. A few insights here and there, and worth a look, but nothing particularly inspiring. She's unwilling to make general pronouncements or to preach, which is admirable but makes the book seem almost lesson-less. Liked the bit about writing stories based on a memorable emotional experience.
Profile Image for Margarita.
449 reviews
February 6, 2016
145 pages of hard selling prior books and introspection..,
Do not recommend it for those who actually want to learn elements of the writing craft.
Profile Image for Gavin Armour.
511 reviews112 followers
June 28, 2016
Betritt man heute eine "moderne" Buchhandlung, findet man ja zumeist wenig Bücher, dafür umso mehr Bastelzubehör, Bürobedarf oder Schreibwarenartikel. Hat man sich dann zu diesen Gegenständen mit den harten Außenseiten und den weichen Blättern innendrin vorgearbeitet, stellt man fest, daß man es keinesfalls mit Literatur, nicht mal mit Spannungsliteratur zu tun hat, sondern mit....Ratgebern. Der Ratgebermarkt scheint jenes Feld an Büchern zu sein, das am schnellsten und stetigsten wächst. Ratgeber gibt es so ziemlich zu allem - Garten, Seelenlage, Finanzanlagen, Drehbüchern - und natürlich auch zum Thema "Wie schreibe ich einen Beststeller und werde reich und berühmt". Es wäre zu wünschen, die Autoren letzterer würden sich zumindest die Zeit nehmen, ab und an einen Blick in einen Ratgeber für Ratgeberschreiber zu werfen - oder aber in den vorliegenden Band der großen Dame des Suspense-Romans, Patricia Highsmith.

1966 erschien PLOTTING AND WRITING SUSPENSE FICTION (Originaltitel). Seitdem wurde es durch die Autorin mehrere Male redegiert, sonst wäre es ihr nicht möglich gewesen, den Leser u.a. auf den Erfolg des bei Kritikern und Publikum sehr beliebten Romans EDITH`S DIARY (1977) hinzuweisen. Doch gibt sie - naturgemäß - vor allem Auskunft über Entwicklung und Entstehungsprozeß solcher Werke wie THE GLASS CELL (1964; dt: DIE GLÄSERNE ZELLE), A SUSPENSION OF MERCY/THE STORY TELLER (1965; dt: DER GESCHICHTENERZÄHLER) oder THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY (1964; dt: DIE ZWEI GESICHTER DES JANUARS) - also Büchern, die sie relativ kurz zuvor geschrieben, veröffentlicht oder beendet hatte. Highsmith, zu diesem Zeitpunkt schon lange eine etablierte und gefeierte Autorin, gibt in SUSPENSE - erstaunlich bereitwillig und unprätentiös - die Geheimnisse ihrer Arbeit preis und bietet erstaunliche Einblicke in ihr - auch in ökonomischen Belangen - ausgesprochen pragmatisches Denken. Sei es die Frage nach Ablehnung durch Lektoren, sei es jene nach Kürzungen, sei es Kritik oder die Angst davor, sich im Plot oder Aufbau eines Romans zu verstricken, Highsmith berichtet ebenso gleichmütig wie offen von ihrem Umgang mit all diesen Widrigkeiten des Schriftstellerlebens.

Beginnend mit der Idee zu einem Roman, einer Geschichte, einer Story, folgt Highsmith der gesamten Genese eines Suspense-Thrillers, macht einen Abstecher in die Welt der Short Story, arbeitet die unterschiedlichen Anforderungen von Roman und Kurzgeschichte heraus, erklärt die Entwicklung von der Idee, über den Plot hin zur ersten Fassung eines Buches. Sie widmet sich dem Unterschied zwischen den sehr konkreten Problemen, vor denen gerade ein Suspenseautor steht (Polizeiarbeit, medizinische Details, Ablauf des Gefängnisalltags etc.) und den eher abstrakten, die den Autor sogenannter ernsthafter Literatur umtreiben (Beziehungsprobleme, Atmosphäre, Psychologie der Figuren etc.) und verdeutlicht wie nebenher, daß die des einen durchaus auch die des anderen sein können. Sie erklärt die "Stolpersteine", die sich dem Schriftsteller in den Weg legen: Wie wähle ich die richtige Perspektive? Wähle ich eine Ich-Perspektive oder eine auktoriale Erzählperspektive? Wie verschaffe ich mir Einblick in unterschiedliche Leben und Berufe? Wie erkenne ich eine Idee, wie kann ich eine Idee ausbauen? Wie gehe ich mit Sackgassen und Schreibstau um? Wann breche ich ab und fange von vorn an? Wann muß ich kürzen, wie entwickle ich ein Gespür für eine Story, für die Länge einzelner Kapitel oder Abschnitte einer Geschichte? Schließlich geht Highsmith anhand des Romans THE GLASS CELL den gesamten Ablauf, den sie zuvor theoretisch und an Einzelbeispielen abgehandelt hatte, noch einmal konkret durch. Man sollte dieses Referenz-Buch vielleicht erst gelesen haben, könnte dieses Zerpflücken der Story, der Personen und des Aufbaus das Lesevergnügen doch nachhaltig beeinträchtigen. Abschließend wendet sich die Autorin dann noch einmal dem Begriff 'Suspense' zu und untersucht ihn theoretisch.

Es sind auch gerade die letzten Abschnitte des Buches, die ein wenig von Highsmith´ Verbitterung zeigen. Sie wusste wohl, daß sie sehr viel mehr schuf, mehr konnte, als herkömmlichen 'Suspense' zu schreiben. Im Essay unterscheidet sie - leicht sarkastisch - zwischen "Romanen" und "Thriller-Romanen", bzw. "Suspense-Romanen", um den Abstand zwischen "ernsthafter" Literatur und der als Unterhaltung geltenden Spannungsliteratur zu markieren. Es ist interessant zu lesen, daß gerade die amerikanischen Kritiker den Unterschied deutlich machten, Thriller eher nebenbei besprachen, selten bereit waren, sich darauf einzulassen und die entsprechende Qualität zu erkennen. Umso erstaunlicher, wo doch gerade die Amerikaner so vehement darauf bestehen, daß zwischen E und U, zwischen 'Hoher Literatur' und dem Trivialen kein Unterschied bestünde. Die Kunst der Patricia Highsmith wurde in Europa, gerade in Frankreich und Deutschland, sehr viel früher er- und anerkannt, denn in ihrer amerikanischen Heimat. Eine gewisse Verbitterung ist, wie angesprochen, durchaus aus dem Text heraus zu lesen. Doch ebenso berichtet sie vom Glück des Schreibens, davon, wie es ist, in diese inneren Welten abzutauchen und sich darin zu verlieren. Sie macht Autoren Mut, sie ermuntert zum Schreiben und - was den europäischen Leser dann natürlich stutzen macht mit seiner durch und durch universitär-elitären Ansicht, Literatur und die Kunst, die bestünden durch und durch nur sich selbst zuliebe - hat immer auch einen Blick auf die ökonomischen Notwendigkeiten. Es stimmt natürlich, daß man von seinem Schreiben wird leben müssen, was bedeutet, daß man seine Bücher auch verkaufen muß. Dementsprechend muß man dann natürlich auch bereit sein, den Lesergeschmack, was Länge, Story, Personal angeht, zumindest zu bedenken. Herrlich jenes Zitat ihres amerikanischen Verlegers zu THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY, der ihr mitteilt, ein Roman vertrage ja vielleicht zwei Neurotiker, niemals aber drei, und gleich gar nicht, wenn das die Hauptpersonen des Romans seien. Es ist ermutigend zu lesen, daß selbst eine Autorin, deren Erstling immerhin vom großen Alfred Hitchcock verfilmt wurde (STRANGERS ON A TRAIN; Verfilmung 1952), noch Probleme dieser Art mit späteren Werken bekommen sollte. Doch auch in Bezug auf diese Widrigkeiten äußert sie sich eher zurückhaltend. Sie redet dafür umso mehr der Begeisterung das Wort, die es braucht, einen Roman zu schreiben, auszuarbeiten, fertigzustellen und vom Glück des Schreibens und des Fertigstellens.

Über Kollegen äußert sich die Autorin entweder anerkennend - wie über den von ihr verehrten Graham Greene - oder mit der ganzen ihr zur Verfügung stehenden Noblesse nur äußerst dezent. So wird man hier keine Schmuddeleien, keine dreckige Wäsche, keinen Tratsch und keine Kritik oder gar Verunglimpfung anderer erleben. Was man allerdings erleben wird, ist, wie es dieser zu Lebzeiten viel zu wenig geehrten (der Rezensent geht so weit und behauptet, sie hätte den Nobelpreis verdient gehabt) Schriftstellerin gelingt, sogar aus einem Auftragswerk, einem Essay, in dem sie sich unaufgeregt und mit der ihr eigenen Genauigkeit, ohne Hektik, mit ihrem Handwerk auseinandersetzt, einen durchgehend spannend zu lesenden Text fabriziert. Das ist dann allerdings schon wirklich große Kunst. Denn man folgt diesen 155 Seiten Fließtext mit eben jener Spannung, mit der man sonst den eigentlichen Werken der Autorin folgt. Selten, daß ausgerechnet einem Essay solches gelingt. So hat man mit SUSPENSE eine wunderbare Ergänzung zu den vorliegenden Werken dieser fabelhaften Schriftstellerin, aber auch eine Erweiterung ihres Schaffens aus dem rein fiktionalen Raum in den ebenso spannenden des realen Herstellens von Kunst. Das ist wunderbar!
Profile Image for Maria Rosas.
356 reviews13 followers
December 23, 2023
Este ensayo la autora nos comparte su proceso creativo al momento de escribir sus obras más notables , la importancia de la trama para atrapar el lector . Además menciona lo que vive los autores tan contrastante entre el trabajo con el gusto de escribir,una profesión tan individualista e introspectiva
Profile Image for Keren Verna.
Author 5 books98 followers
March 9, 2018
Interesante de leer para conocer más de la autora pero no aporta nada nuevo. Lo que dice, es demasiado básico, rondando el cliché.
Profile Image for Άννα Μακρή.
Author 2 books28 followers
September 27, 2019
Θα του έβαζα δύο αστεράκια με βάση το πόσο βοήθησε εμένα, (ή τουλάχιστον πόσο το βρήκα ενδιαφέρον), αλλά του χαρίζω ένα ακόμη για να μην το αφήσουν πίσω στο ��άφι οι άνθρωποι στους οποίους θα πει λίγα πράγματα παραπάνω: όσοι, δηλαδή, ξεκινούν μόλις να γράφουν λογοτεχνία.
Το πρώτο μέρος είναι καλύτερο, ενώ το δεύτερο ασχολείται με τα βιβλία της και γιατί έκανε ό,τι έκανε με τις ιστορίες και τις πλοκές τους, αλλά με τρόπο που δεν είναι και πολύ αναλυτικός ή βοηθητικός.
Profile Image for Tim.
524 reviews22 followers
June 10, 2020
Any serious fan of either Patricia Highsmith or suspense fiction (the term she preferred, rather than mystery) ought to read this. This was my second time around with this book. I liked it so much that I failed to return it to my town library and paid the replacement fee (lol, it was out of print at the time).

Highsmith offers up a collection of pointers, discussions of her books and working methods, and her opinions on writing and the publishing world in general. We learn how she got the label suspense writer, following on the success of her first book, even though she never set out to be anything other than a fiction writer. She does not provide checklists or required elements, nor does she spend much time on the cliches of the genre or the expectations of readers. Instead she gives some general advice, and details how she went about writing and organizing a few of her works, a couple of her novels in particular, The Glass Cell and The Blunderer. She says little about her personal life or why she was drawn to twisted, troubling scenarios, other than to mention that she was fascinated with criminals and abnormal psychology from a young age.

Stories grow out of "story germs" says Highsmith, and this struck me as being very true. The germ could be an idea that pops into one's head, an image, a feeling about a certain place or person. The writer starts with these germs, and then adds themes and complications. She would typically have a few story elements in mind and would try to organize them in a way that would keep readers engaged with her stories. Highsmith discusses her struggles making certain stories work, and the rewriting involved. She talks about how her books were often rejected by editors, or sent back for revisions. A number of things that she wrote were never published at all, and she accepted that. These things are all part of the game, part of the life of a writer.

Throughout the tone is direct and a little distant, but not unhelpful. She treats the reader like a potential colleague, which is absolutely a correct approach. She is not one to offer cheery encouragement or support for the egos of those who may not have the fortitude to go down this difficult path.
Profile Image for Jigar Brahmbhatt.
297 reviews144 followers
June 27, 2016
Plotting is an intuitive act, IMO. We learn more about it from other writers than we consciously register. In fact, the best way to learn more is to read more. Plotting is something a writer makes personal peace with. There is no trick of the trade.

For instance, what works for me sometimes is the slow unraveling of the material, like an onion being peeled calmly, almost in a state of repose, because the subdermal violence or a moment of unreality that I try to suggest in a story is enhanced by the preceding stillness. And it is all I seem to be working towards as far as the intrigue factor of the story is concerned, while in the background, I can work on the themes that matter to me. Though this method can change based on a lot of factors... say, a chance encounter of a Jim Thompson novel can make me redo everything!

Can't really say that this book is unmissable. Anyone who has tried writing can figure out most of it. But speaking of suspense fiction, it certainly can't hurt to know what the creator of The talented Mr. Ripley, the tensest yarn ever weaved around a charmingly repulsive character, has to say about her home turf:

1) I can only suggest giving the murderer-hero as many pleasant qualities as possible - generosity, kindness to some people, fondness for painting or music or cooking, for instance. These qualities can also be amusing in contrast to his criminal or homicidal traits. I think it is also possible to make a hero-psychopath one hundred percent sick and revolting, and still make him fascinating for his very blackness and all-round depravity.

2) I create things out of boredom with reality and with the sameness of routine and objects around me. Therefore, I don't dislike this boredom which encroaches on me every now and then, and I even try to create it by routine.

3) A very fast or slow tempo should not be attempted, if one feels strained and unnatural writing in it. Some books are nervous from the start, some slow all the way through, underplaying, analyzing and elaborating on the events. Some start slowly, pick up speed, and rush to the end. Can you imagine a suspense story by Proust? I can.

4) It is a cheap trick merely to surprise and shock the reader, especially at the expense of logic. And a lack of invention on the writer's part cannot be covered up by sensational action and clever prose. It is also a kind of laziness to write the obvious, which does not entertain, really. The ideal is an unexpected turn of events, reasonably consistent with the characters of the protagonists. Stretch the reader's credulity, his sense of logic, to the utmost-it is quite elastic-but don't break it. In this way, you will write something new, surprising and entertaining both to yourself and the reader.

5) A beautiful young girl is faithfully tending her grandfather who is in a wheelchair, and is shutting out the world because of him. This really can't go on forever-not if you're writing a book about it! In the book, she may come out of the wheelchair world for a while, then go back to it at the end of the book-but if it is a suspense book, very likely she stays out. There should be either action or the promise of action in the first chapter of a suspense book. There is action or the promise of it in every good novel, but in suspense stories, the action is apt to be of a more violent kind. That is the only difference.

6) The snag in a book is a lurking problem that has to be solved, however, and that fact cannot be swept away by pretending. Of course it can be very easily pushed aside, if you are not really involved in the book. But if you are involved and care, your unconscious will come up with the solution to the problem.

There is also a case study at the end which is like a mini-MFA in writing suspense fiction, the most enjoyable part of the book.
Profile Image for David Leemon.
301 reviews2 followers
May 13, 2018
She has a number of great insights on writing suspense fiction, which also apply to any other sort of fiction.

This is not one of the technical how-to's, but a collection of essays on her own views and methodology of writing.
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