: Re: Writing a novel largely composed of question-answer sessions I am a novice writer, just starting on a mini novel in the Science Fiction genre. The crux of the novel is about 4 or 5 discussions

@Cugini967

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and welcome to the site.

I do not know of any novels that follow the format you are describing, but that is a good thing. I believe one of the reasons World War Z stood out from the mass of zombie fiction out there is because it had a different format: letters. That format made it stand out from the crowd, and I think a novel made primarily out of Q&A would have the same effect, as long as it is written well.

As for whether or not the novel you are describing would be an interesting read: It's hard to gauge the general interest, as we are all individuals and have our own opinions, and the format you are describing is very rare. For example, my first instinct of such a book would be that it would be boring. Q&A? No action? What is this?

Then again, that would have been my first impression of World War Z had I known the format. Therefore, your job is to overwhelm what the reader expects. Your key in doing this will be tension.

A discussion is inherently not the most gripping thing on earth. You need to add tension to it on every page so that the reader will be on the edge of his seat. Pretty much all tension can be summed up as questions:

Why is he nervous? Why did he ask that? Why is he glancing towards the door? Why did he word it that way? Why is this guy so tense? What did that mean? Who is this guy? What's this person's agenda?

The list goes on and on. Get the reader to ask himself these questions through the dialogue/narrative, and you will have high tension. Remember: there can never be too much tension.

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