Spoilers or no spoilers?
The delicate balancing act of telling true stories suspensefully
I’m currently preparing for the first few speaking events to promote my new book.
As I put together my presentation slides — selecting the right images, queueing them in the most compelling sequence — I find myself in a quandary.
Do I reveal plot spoilers or do I encourage my readers to experience the story as if it’s for the first time.
I should explain.
Maybe the Titanic won’t sink this time
My new book, The Lady in the Lake: A Reporter’s Memoir of a Murder, is true crime, my account of the notorious Coniston Water murder from 1997. I was one of the first journalists to cover the case.
The details are in the public domain. But my book has been constructed for the reader so that he or she experiences the story as if it is unfolding before their eyes.
I want them to experience the sense of suspense, disbelief and horror of a crime story as you would when reading a fictional thriller.
You might think that’s an unrealistic goal for a non-fiction writer. But I would say, knowing that the ship sinks at the end doesn’t make James Cameron’s movie Titanic any less gripping. Perhaps it won’t sink this time, you think as you will on Leo and Kate to survive.
Even though the outcome of the Coniston case is well known, I think I will focus in my talk on how and why I came to write the book, rather than what actually happened. I don’t want to spoil the reader’s experience.
What do you think?