The Night I Disappeared: My First Novel Obsession
Truthfully, the first book I remember being very proud I read on my own was The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I was in first grade and very interested in how a man without a head could steer a horse. Although this is my first vivid memory of reading, it wasn’t until I was twelve and picked up a book called The Night I Disappeared by Julie Reece Deaver that I realized how much I loved reading and writing stories. What captured me as a preteen was the mystery and use of suspense within the novel, along with an ending that’s worthy of being an M. Night Shyamalan twist.
This story broke many rules I thought existed, teaching me there are no rules in writing, only patterns. These patterns are what we become accustomed to and although they exist for reasons, breaking these patterns (and doing it well) is a sign of a great writer. When we shift our perception of what a story is, a door is opened that gives us freedom to interpretation and exercises our imagination. Mine was shifted by the author’s choice in keeping a big event in the character’s life a secret til the end of the novel. I learned good storytelling is knowing when to leave bread crumbs and when to expose information. It balances a fine line of how much you want the audience to know and what you want them to learn throughout the story. An author knows the ins and outs of their character, but deciding when the audience should learn these things shifts the way the story is told as well as a character is perceived.
The novel also taught me twist endings and deaths at the end of a story can be done well, there’s danger in throwing information at your reader that wasn’t hinted at or cohesive to the rest of the story. Although you don’t predict the ending it still has to be plausible, not only finishing the story, but also enhancing it. When a writer breaks the contract of expectation with the reader, there must be a reason or else the reader loses trust in the author breaking their suspension of disbelief. These ideas were instilled in me at a young age, but it took more reading and writing of my own to realize them. The Night I Disappeared became a foundation for my future readings by making me subconsciously aware of the art of “the unknown” within a story.