Friday, July 19, 2013

The Fine Line Between Mystery, Adventure/Thriller, and Intrigue

Currently I am trying to grasp how Martin is able to incorporate the element of mystery into his writing. He seems comfortable adding intrigue into each chapter. He either leaves a cliffhanger, or the discovery of a question that needs answered, or drops a bomb that leaves you reeling from the intensity of the situation. Here are just a few examples of how Martin raises the tension through foreshadowing and backstory:
  • Who is John Snow’s mother?
  • If Tyrion didn’t send the dagger to kill Bran, then who did?
  • Is there something magical about Daenerys and the blood of the dragon?
  • What are the Others?
  • Is Benjen Stark still alive?
  • What happened to Aryas direwolf?
  • Where is Rickon?
  • What kind of magic does Melisandre have, and can she be trusted?
  • What did John Arryn discover and who killed him?
  • Why did the dragons die off?
  • What exactly happened to Daenerys and Drogo’s child?
  • The death of Ned Stark
  • What about the connection between the direwolves and their masters?
  • Bran gets pushed from the window

These are all seem to elements of a mystery more than an adventure. So, I am posing the question to myself, how can I write mystery into my adventure?

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