Emerson Ward Mysteries

The Boring Writer's Life

Suspending Disbelief

November 18, 2009

Tags: mystery, crime fiction, author, Michael Sherer, writing, writers, mysteries, thriller, "Private Practice"

It’s a requirement of fiction (if writers truly want readers to indulge them and buy their books) to suspend the reader’s disbelief. That is, to make the characters’ actions plausible. Readers don’t have to believe; in fact, in many cases we want them to doubt, to misjudge, to be misdirected. But (more…)