Authors Electric

  One way or another, all writers must solve one great challenge: tracking and pacing the flow of their work and timing the release of essential information. Fiction or nonfiction, mystery or history, hack work or high art...All afford plenty of room for writers to bring their singular talents to bear. Tell a tale in reverse or jump cut back and forth from the present to the past. Interweave philosophy with a gripping narrative as in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  The sky's the limit, baby. But know this when starting out:  Timing is still everything. And no matter how many chapters you have, the book's structure must be solid and efficient. The release of clues or key insights must be impeccably timed. And, ultimately, your work should have its own symmetry. I'm in trouble if my book has three distinctive parts, but the opening movement runs for 150 pages, while the middle runs for 90 and the ending stops short at 50. Just as bad, I doomed if I give the book...