Listen now (34 mins) | First pages are impossible… so we’re hearing from authors about how they got they right. In this episode, Marisa Crane discusses the first pages of their debut novel, I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself. We talk about how the novel grew out of a great first line, how Marisa accomplished world building while also avoiding unnecessary explanations, and how they followed their obsessions to keep the story going.
I love Benjamin Perci's advice of changing one thing in speculative fiction.
The other thing I admire is the originality of the immediate idea. Whatever crime one commits, this person has one more shadow. The concept is so unusual. But how can a new baby have a shadow other than living in a corrupted world?
Passages: Marisa Crane on I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself
I absolutely love this first sentence and the story of how it led to the entire novel.
I love Benjamin Perci's advice of changing one thing in speculative fiction.
The other thing I admire is the originality of the immediate idea. Whatever crime one commits, this person has one more shadow. The concept is so unusual. But how can a new baby have a shadow other than living in a corrupted world?