a man with a gun in hand

[marycatelli]

Glaring at an outline thinking I need, in Raymond Chandler's phrase, for a man to come through the door with a gun in his hand.  (Despite the tendency of that technique to make the story episodic.)

The problem with that is I don't know what that would be in this world.  Not even a wizard with a wand in his hand, because if it's a real threat, it would escalate the story too quickly.

If they were back at their own school, they would know what to do.  Perhaps this venture out was a bad plot decision and should be excised. . .

Ah, well, first I will let one of them ponder what they would do, back at their school, and then I will bring in the students who imitiated them but are now leaving their tutors for schools.  Then -- we'll see.

Comments

[lwe.livejournal.com]

I thought that was Cornell Woolrich, not Raymond Chandler.

[marycatelli]

Chandler definitely wrote it, though it's the sort of advice that gets passed around a lot so he may not be alone.