Tuesday 3 April 2012

Quakes, Quacks and Queries

Q – Quakes, Quacks and Queries…
So, here I am at my favourite letter – Q.
What can I do with that, I ask myself. Well, first there is the word quack - an interesting noun - as in my kind of thriller writing there is often a quack (fraudster or charlatan) somewhere along the way. The world of the paranormal is littered with them. Introducing a character who is a fraud can enliven a plot and raise the tension – especially if the reader knows he/she is a fraud but the other characters do not. Fabulous! In one of my stories the fraud actually turns out to be the good guy too!
Quake is also a useful word too – as in quake with anger or fear. But there is also the larger than life plot that might well centre around an actual earthquake. This is the kind of natural disaster that often makes for gripping thrillers. Most of us have experienced mild earthquakes but to be in a severe one must be the most frightening thing imaginable.
Lastly my offering today is also about queries. Yes, that most scary of writerly things… I don’t know why most writers are so worried about composing queries. I suppose it is because they are our shop front, window display of what we are about and as such have the kind of importance attached that undoubtedly put the fear of God into most of us. A query is also rich with rules which can be difficult to stick to but without which - if we choose to ignore the said rules - we know our work will not even be read! 
Happy Easter, one and all!


4 comments:

  1. Happy Easter to you too. Query letters are the hardest thing to write. But I get it. When I was in advertising and designed billboards, I knew the graphics had catch the attention of drivers in just two seconds. Guess it's the same with the first sentence in a query.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy Easter! I'm afraid I'm terrified of queries - in fact they make me quake with fear (groan) ;-) x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Never been very good at rules, following instructions, so probably why my queries disappear without trace. Happy Easter. :0)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the comments! Have been away for Easter but back now and raring to go with new posts!! Watch this space...

    ReplyDelete