Non-Coincidences

There are many more literary conventions I will delight in ignoring in my first novel. Here are some:

1. Misleading foreshadowing. Good writers deliberately give hints about future plot developments but I'd rather include red herrings, to lead the reader astray. Imagine a crime thriller where a gang of robbers have an elaborate plan that relies on perfect timing to intercept an armoured car. The whole story is leading up to the heist, and there's an inevitability to the fact that it will go ahead. Well in my story, the getaway driver has forgotten to fill up his tank and runs out of petrol on the way to the heist. The crims will be stranded on the side of a country road and their mobile phone battery has died so they end up chatting about the football instead.

2. Genre switching. It's normal to stay within one genre, but I'll switch from one chapter to the next from sci fi to thriller to romance to satire to nursery rhyme.

3. Non-coincidences. An interesting plot is often built on coincidences. A romance will blossom after a chance encounter followed by another unplanned meet-up. Or a thriller might start with a mistaken identity and a coincidence of timing. My story will be devoid of synchronicity and fate.