[Giovanna Clairval]

Telling a story requires the building of suspense. It's what makes the reader turn the pages instead of putting down the book, unless you are writing a literary novel based on the stream of consciousness. But we are talking about popular literature, aren't we? And the word "popular" doesn't make Fantasy or Science Fiction less "artistic" in any way. Well, when you write this kind of novel, it's the story that counts. Storytelling is an art that has been perfected since mums began telling bedtime stories (that's how I practiced, by the way).

Every story has an exposition, followed by rising action, etc. This is the basic structure that keeps the reader (or the listener) intent on what is going to happen. The underlying structure accounts for the reader's satisfying experience when the dénouement arrives.

But of course, the execution should be personal and original.

Knowing that a good story has a structure does not undermine the imagination; on the contrary, it supports it, exactly as knowing the gamut makes a soloist more effective when she improvises.