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How It Works

(Page 6 of 6)

Jon Papernick MFA ’00

Waltham, Massachusetts
Author of The Ascent of Eli Israel and Who by Fire, Who by Blood

The Product

An action-packed novel. “Who by Fire, Who by Blood is basically a literary thriller. This guy goes back to Brooklyn to take care of his father who was a controversial judge, and he gets involved in a terrorist plot that he thinks his father has started.”

The Problem

“When my agent first sent the novel out it was rejected by everybody. I realized there wasn’t enough story there. There was no urgency.”

The Solution

Adding more characters, which helped develop the plot, add narrative tension, and give the narrator somewhere to go. “I created an FBI agent who brought in a real tension because you don’t know what his intentions are or if he’s trustworthy.”

Why It Works

It energizes the plot. Toward the end of the novel, the FBI agent tries to get the main character on his side by revealing that the narrator’s grandfather had been a gangster in the 1930s—a piece of the story that Papernick was struggling to include in previous drafts. “What I had initially was good writing but it was dead on the page. Having the FBI agent tell him brought the material to life.”

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