I’ve recently had some flashes of brilliance regarding the crafting of fiction, and what I find to be the failings thereof.

• I don’t like when the plot hinges on the audience not knowing something, or things. This isn’t always a bad thing — Usual Suspects, for instance, did this beautifully. I’d much rather a detective story where you can ALMOST see the entire plot, but you’re responsible for putting the facts together if you want to avoid the surprise. Think, “Encyclopedia Brown.” On the other hand, however, telling the audience everything then makes the person’s enjoyment of the book at risk of the individual being smarter, or dumber, than you give them credit for.
• First person (action)stories betray the conclusion. If I’m reading a book that claims to be somebody’s diary, I know the person writing it has to survive. Anne Frank is an exception, but as non-fiction, I’m not intending to include it — but you can always have the diary up to the critical moment, and then “Editor’s Note — this book was found in the remains of…” etc., but still. Everything up until that point has to have a known result. If there’s an entry talking about this death-defying stunt the narrator is going to attempt, you know he’s going to survive — in some form or another.
• You should take notes when thinking about your story. Why? ’cause I forgot the rest of my brilliant thoughts!

I’m done for now.