“My approach to newspapers was based on the idea that when you looked at the front page you said: 'Good heavens', when you looked at the middle page you said: 'Holy smoke', and by the time you got to the back pagewell, I'd have to utter a profanity to show how exciting it was.” SaidIdeasShowsHeavenMiddleFrontsHolyApproachPagesExcitingNewspapersSmokeProfanity Author:Arthur Christiansen
“This used to be about sex. The literature of my people was pornography, filled with cries for mercy, drama enacted on people without prolonged negotiation, partners engaged in a dance in the middle of a bonfire. Now, it's 300-page manuals about how to make sure nothing bad will happen.” PeopleHappensUsedLiteratureSexMiddleCryDramaPagesMercyFilledPartnersUsed To BeEngagedNegotiationPornographyManualsBonfire Author:Laura Antoniou
“I better make the plot good. I wanted to make it grip people on the first page and have a big turning point in the middle, as there is, and construct the whole thing like a bit of a roller coaster ride...” PeopleFirstsWholeBigsWantedMiddlePagesPlotConstructsTurning PointsRoller CoasterCoastersRoller Coaster Rides Author:Mark Haddon
“Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle. They read it to get to the end. If it's a letdown, they won't buy anymore. The first page sells that book. The last page sells your next book.” IfsWritingFirstsBookEndsLastsNextLiteratureMysteryMiddlePagesSellsDetective FictionLetdowns Author:Mickey Spillane
“Most readers look at the photograph first. If you put it in the middle of the page, the reader will start by looking in the middle. Then her eye must go up to read the headline; this doesn't work, because people have a habit of scanning downwards. However, suppose a few readers do read the headline after seeing the photograph below it. After that, you require them to jump down past the photograph which they have already seen. Not bloody likely.” PeopleIfsFirstsLooksEyePastSeeingMiddleReaderHabitPagesPhotographBloodyHer EyesHeadlinesScanning Author:David Ogilvy