dan brown

1) give the reader what they want
in a way they don't see coming


2) what is the world my story inhabits


3) what is this book about


4) what is the moral ambiguity question that is central to the story


5) what is the tension inherent to the world


6) what happens is not important HOW is


[I'm not sure I agree with these points completely, but they are different from what my focus has been]


7) location is a character &/or an inspiration
8) but don't get all tied up in location because people care more about people than places
[this seems like not something I needed to know at all]
9) heroes & villains [I don't think I have a villain and he thinks that's the most important] villain is the catalyst for everything-- I guess that makes you the villain of my thriller 😊