Writing Mysteries

 When I read the fall quarterly CRRL @YourLibrary publication this summer, I realized I was scheduled to make a presentation on writing mysteries to each of the library's three Inklings Writing Groups. And I was only to happy to do this. The handout follows below, but I told them that although it is critical to keep learning the craft of writing, sometimes rules need to be broken. Writing is first and foremost about YOUR creativity.  

The question I am often asked is: "What's the difference between a mystery and thriller?" The question should be: "What the difference between a mystery, suspense and thriller?"

At the recent CRRL Writers Conference, Traci Hunter Abramson described the differences with the bomb comparison: 

Mystery - The bomb has gone off - protagonist has to find out who done it

Suspense - Reader knows about bomb; protagonist doesn't

Thriller - Lost of bombs; lots of action

I told the group to put the word "usually" in front of everything I say, because sometimes our stories don't exactly fit the mold.

Mystery is a genre of fiction usually involving a mysterious death or a crime to be solved. Often with a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a reasonable opportunity for committing the crime.

Mystery Subgenres:

Traditional: A mystery must have certain elements to be considered a mystery.  Essentially, a mystery will have a puzzle or secret, or layers of puzzles or secrets, a setting that fits the type of book, a sound motive, red herrings, and clues. Most traditionally accepted mysteries have a murder. This is the element that compels people to keep reading. (Think Agatha Christie)

Cozy: Traditional cozies are light, sometimes humorous, slow paced (as compared to the other categories), the murder (usually quite civilized) and sex happen off scene, and the solving of the crime is a battle of wits between the reluctant amateur sleuth and the villain. The setting is most often in a small town or community and the sub-characters are quirky and fun. The sleuth falls into the mystery by accident or circumstance and uses common sense/gray cells to solve the crime. Usually first person. (Think Janet Evanovich)

Detective:

Hard Boiled

The hard boiled mystery is a detective story with attitude and action. It’s a tough mystery that takes place in a city or urban setting. It’s gritty. It’s violent. The blood and violence (and sex) takes place on screen. Usually the detective is a professional who’s been hired to investigate. Usually first person with a bare-bones or abrupt narrative style. This is not your emotional mystery. (Think Raymond Chandler or Michael Connelly)

Soft Boiled

The soft boiled mystery falls somewhere between the hard boiled and the cozy. It’s not as violent as the hard boiled, but can have more on scene than the cozy. Many soft boiled mysteries have humorous elements. The detective can be a professional or amateur. Misa’s Lola Cruz Mystery Series is an example of soft boiled. Janet Evanovich is also soft boiled (with some caper thrown in).

Police Procedural

The detective/sleuth in a police procedural is almost always a law enforcement agent of some sort. The details of the mystery plot are the focus, as opposed to the heavier character development of the other categories. The term police procedural is used because the procedures are detailed and accurate. Rules must be followed and crime details are key. (Think PD James and Tony Hillerman)

Think hard about the kind of details, POV, setting, level of violence in your book and how to categorize it. Not every book fits neatly into a category, but you should be able to see it in one of these categories (even if you have to push or shove a little bit!). Just a caveat, things that aren’t easily marketable–meaning your agent or editor doesn’t know how to explain what it is–are less likely to sell. If you can categorize your book, in general, all the better.

http://misaramirez.com/for-writers/types-of-mysteries/

In a thriller, "who done it" is usually known to the reader, and often times to the main character. The goal is not to solve a mystery, but rather to catch a criminal, or stop a crime from being committed. A thriller is a mystery that de-emphasizes cerebration, and emphasizes action and suspense. The protagonist is in danger from the outset.

Subgenres: Legal, Medical

Suspense: the main character may become aware of danger only gradually. In a mystery, the reader is exposed to the same information as the detective, but in a suspense story, the reader is aware of things unknown to the protagonist. The reader sees the bad guy plant the bomb, and then suffers the suspense of wondering when or if it will explode. Suspense gives a feeling of pleasurable uncertainty.

Mysteries have the same basic elements as all prose

Characters

Setting

Plot/storyline/your reason for writing

Suspense/Action/ What’s at stake/Hold readers’ attention/

Hook the reader on the first page

Character Rules:

Character bios – protagonist and supporting characters (not too many)

Each character should have a role

Mirror characters – the protagonist needs someone to talk to, bounce ideas off of

Avoid stereotypes

Be ready for your characters to take over and change the story

Develop your protagonist:

What crime (or bad thing) has been committed and needs to be solved.

Who is he/she? Why does your protagonist care about the crime? Make it personal.

What is your protagonist’s problem, goal, need, desire?

What are his/her motives for solving the crime and what resources will he/she need?

What obstacles stand in his/her way? Develop a crisis point.

Show readers something your protagonist wants, and then threaten it.

Build tension. Get into each character’s head. How would they react in any situation?

How will your characters change by the end of the book?

Mechanics:

Point of view (POV)

Dialogue – keep crisp, clear

Plotter or Pantser? Do you plan ahead, outline, or just write and see what happens?

What is this story about? What do I want this story to be about? Keep asking that question.

Red herrings – suspects/clues/misdirection – but play fair

Pacing – give your readers a break! After a fast-pace chapter, slow it down

Research – Readers are smart, and will catch any little detail you’ve gotten wrong

Editing – make every word work

Closure

Think of your story as a three act play – setting the stage, climax, tying up plot lines

How will the story end? Write the ending first.

My Writing Toolbox

George, Elizabeth, Write Away. Harper Collins, New York, NY, 2004.

King, Stephen, On Writing; A memoir of the Craft. Scribner, New York, 2000.

Lamott, Anne, Bird by Bird. Anchor Books, New York, 1994.

Mills, Elizabeth Shown, Evidence Explained; Citing history sources form artifacts to cyberspace. Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, MD, 2009.

Munier, Paula, Plot Perfect.  Writer’s Digest Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2014.

Munier, Paula, Writing with Quiet Hands. Writer’s Digest Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2015.

Provost, Gary, Make Your Words Work. Writers Digest Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1990.

Roberts, Gillian, You Can Write a Mystery. Writers Digest Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1999.

Stone, Todd A., Novelist’s Boot Camp; 101 Ways to take your book from Boring to Bestseller. Writer’s Digest Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2006.

The Chicago Manual of Style, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. 14^th Edition, 1993.

Writer’s Digest – Subscribe to get all the latest information on writing process, finding agents, best websites, and unlimited how-to’s for writing.  [http://subscriptions.writersdigest.com/Writers-Digest/Magazine]

Dictionary and Thesaurus

Description

For the October Fiction Writing Critique Group meeting at the Howell Branch Library, I prepared this handout, thanks to great articles from Writers Digest and Jane Friedman's blog.  I also wanted folks to get started thinking about NANOWRIMO. And to encourage them to plan their own writing goal for the month of November.

NANOWRIMO –  Do It Your Way

·      NANOWRIMO begins 1 November 2018 – one month, 50,000 words (1,167/day)

·      Our writing goals don’t always fit the mold

·      Make a writing commitment and then make a plan

·      Set your own/reasonable goals

·      Partner with a friend

·      Utilize the library’s NANOWRIMO space – days and times will be announced

·      As a Fiction Critique Group let’s state and track our progress

·      Why wait? Start now!

Description

Showing rather than telling is part of the magic that you have to work as a writer. In fact, it’s one of the most vital parts. Your reader has to make his way through your story or novel and then finally come away from it with a sense of characters and settings.

Example: “The city suffered significant damage in the blast.” [Too cold, too distant, too all-inclusive]

Instead: “Among the ruins, the reflection of the sun on the pieces of broken glass on the road was so strong that it was difficult to hold your head up as you walked. The smell of death was a little fainter than the day before, but the places where houses had collapsed into tile-covered heaps stank vilely and were covered with great, black swarms of flies.”

In To Kill a Mockingbird, never does Scout say her father is a good man. But throughout the novel, we know it; at the end, one of the strongest images is his goodness.

If your character is a fireman – you could say, “His job was exciting.” Or, you could say, “His heart rate elevated when his truck approached a fire.”

Balancing Act: * Your fiction has to be a balanced blend of both show and tell.*

Keep description short; get specific. “It was a beautiful sunset,” says nothing.

Describe a person through another character’s eyes;

Sprinkle description throughout the story;

Utilize the senses – sight, smell, touch, sound, taste

Setting is character; [Louise Penny’s Three Pines; Jan Karon’s Mitford] The truer your setting, the more believable will be the fictional world you invite your reader to enter. Setting can also set the mood or tone of your story, time period of your story.

“Readers’ love writing that brings the world in your head to life in theirs.” [Elizabeth Sims/WD Jan 2013]

* When describing people, stay away from hair and eye color, as well as height and weight. Many writers make the mistake of describing their characters like the people in a police blotter. Think, instead, about the way you might describe your friends. Do you know the height and weight of your friends? Do you ever think about their eye color? These features are not as interesting as other, more complex descriptors. Consider your characters' gestures, the shape of their facial features, their gait, their dimples, their scars, the way they laugh, the quality of their teeth, their stance, their fashion sense, their odor, their vocal tone, and so on.

*Think in terms of "telling details": details that let the reader see your characters while also revealing something about their minds. In this way, your descriptions can do double duty: giving the reader a physical picture while also showing an inner, mental trait. If a woman has unkempt, flyaway hair, that lets the reader see her, and it also reveals something about the character's sense of self and level of vanity. If a man has rimless, tinted glasses and a dry, taut mouth, that lets the reader see him, and it also reveals a lot about the character's personality.

*Each new scene in a story should have at least one paragraph of description to clarify where the characters are and who is present. This should happen fairly early in the scene. Whenever your readers are unsure about the physical logistics of the story, they will be unable to fully suspend their disbelief and dive in; they will be too busy trying to figure out what's going on. You never want your readers to be unsure about who, what, when, and where. Give us the situation right away. Tell us who is in the room. Locate your story in a distinct place and time.

*Too much description can bog down a story, but not enough can have the opposite effect, making the characters seem weightless and detached from reality. However, this is something to think about only during the process of revision. You should not worry about it while actively writing something new. When it comes to description, finding the right balance will take time, space, and the clarity of mind that comes from editing a finished piece, not creating a new one. While you're actively writing, don't worry about whether you're using too much or too little description. Feel free to try things and make mistakes. When in doubt, write more description than you think you'll need. You can always take things out afterward. [Abbi Geni/Jane Friedman blog 3 June 2016]

Caitlyn and Emilie – an update

It has been a busy summer, and I can’t believe it has been three months since I posted a blog.  I have been posting a few blogs and Caitlyn Jamison news on my website: memaki.com

The third Caitlyn Jamison mystery, set in Virginia’s beautiful Northern Neck region has given me some challenges. I’ve been back and forth with the plot line (s). Basically, I had too many plot lines, too many characters, and the story was not working. I’ve had to cut back on plot and characters, making all the tweaks, and simplifying the story so that it is more powerful and now moving along.

To make matters worse, I recently added a new first chapter, a prologue of sorts, which prompted another round of chapter shifts. As in my first two books, I am dealing with my characters' personalities and their desire to run the show.

I recently read 20 Master Plots by Ronald B. Tobias and he describes what authors experience as they develop their stories. My favorite quote from the book is: “Once characters take on lives of their own, they become difficult to control. They may not share your sense of plot. They may have their own agenda and leave you astounded by their imprudence. They defy you. They taunt you.” Boy, did he hit the nail on the head.

While I’ve been working on the next Caitlyn Jamison mystery, another book idea emerged. The protagonist is named Emilie, and she has been quite persistent. She does not want to wait to have her voice and opinions heard. So last weekend I started her story that will be set in Savannah, Georgia, one of our favorite places to visit. I won’t say any more about the story line now, because knowing character development, she might change everything that I had in mind. I hope in a month or so I can report on how Emilie is progressing.

In the meantime, I’m getting ready for NANOWRIMO - my way - again this year. What will you be writing?

Anatomy Lesson

I’ve been putting a lot of thought into what I would cover in my first Fiction Writing Critique group that will meet one month from now. There is so much information to share on writing the question is, where do I begin?

It occurred to me I should start out with an anatomy lesson. The first question is: what's your genre? Is it romance, mystery, cozy mystery, thriller, sci-fi, fantasy, or literature? Maybe they don’t know yet, but I think it’s helpful to have a genre roadmap. And that roadmap should include geographically where the action takes place. If the story is sci-fi and another world is developed, that world has to have rules. Know what those are.

Stories are made up of scenes. I recently read an informative blog by Rebecca Monterusso on Jane Friedman’s site. The blog is titled: “What does it mean to write a scene that works?” Rebecca states that a book is made up of multiple scenes. It’s the time when the character is pulled out of their comfort zone. Scenes are the basic building blocks of the story and together they build the novel.

Which brings me to pacing. No matter what genre you are writing, some tension, stress, force for change has to happen. Pacing means keeping paragraphs tight, chapters of varying lengths. If the tension is too high, readers will need a chapter with a slower pace for some relief.

Character development has to be done first. Who is the protagonist? Their mirror character? Supporting characters? A writer needs to understand the characters, their physical characteristics, their emotions, psychological profile, and their history. If the writer knows their characters, he/she will know how they will react in various situations.

What is the plot line (s) of the story? How will your character work through the situation?  And how will it be resolved? If more than one plot line will they connect at the end or resolve separately?

I also want to cover formatting. I’m a visual person. When I’m writing I need to have the manuscript look like a book. I format when I start – for a 6 x 9 trade paperback, which my books are, the perfect margins for publishing through CreateSpace are: Left: .8; Right .8; Top .95; Bottom .8; Header and Footer at 1.0.  I also number chapters as I go – although this is sometimes time consuming when I’m moving chapters around, I find it is helpful to find my place when I return to the manuscript. I also page down with each chapter, keeping everything consistent – four returns from the top with chapter number centered on that fourth line. Then two returns before first line of text, with that line starting on the third return. The first line of text for each chapter is aligned on the left margin, with following chapters indented one quarter inch. I’ve trained myself to this consistent formatting which saves me a lot of time and effort at the end.

And we haven't even gotten to dialogue . . . that's for another session.

Everyone writes differently, but I hope these guidelines will be helpful to the critique group.

The Uninvited Corpse

It’s always exciting when a new mystery series is introduced. It is even more exciting when the book is written by one of your friends, and she has a three-book deal with a major publisher. That is what Debra Sennefelder has accomplished. The Uninvited Corpse, the first book in her Food Blogger Mystery Series, was published in April.

Her protagonist, Hope Early, is a foodie. She loves to cook, she loves to bake. She loves to take photos of her recipes, and then write about her cooking experiences. She also has a strong sense of justice, especially when her sister is accused of murder. Although Hope is warned several times to stay out of the investigation, those warnings fall on deaf ears. She is determined to find the truth—who killed realtor Peaches McCoy?

Some of Hope's favorite recipes are included at the end of the book. Ethan's Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies anyone?

Debra’s second book in this series, The Hidden Corpse, will be available in April 2019. The Uninvited Corpse can be found on Amazon.

Author Presentation at Celebrate

Getting ready for the presentation

Last Sunday I gave an author talk to Celebrate Virginia’s mystery book group, the Page Turner’s. They in turn invited the community, which resulted in a wonderful turnout. Now, I’m not so naïve to think they were all coming just to hear me! Members of Page Turner’s provided Finger Lakes wine, crackers and cheese as accompaniments to my talk. 

 

 After a brief background introduction, I shared information on what is involved in writing – anything. The number one ingredient is passion. Whatever they are writing, they need to be passionate about their subject. That will make the writing fun, and readers will sense it. What do you wish to accomplish? What is the story really about? And this question will come up multiple times throughout the development of the work. Because the characters will change, the plot will change. To keep yourself on track, you have to keep asking – what is this story about?

I then went into decisions an author has to make: Genre, main characters, plot line (s), time frame, setting, and will you be a plotter (outlining) or pantser (just write and see where it goes)?

I shared some funny stories about how my some of characters took over, and the results of their demands. And when you type “the end” it isn’t. You need to have beta readers, and you need to edit, edit, edit. (But know when to stop.)

Listen to the music of your works, I told them. If the words and sentence structure are correct, the words will be like music to your ears. If not, then a sour note will be evident.

I finished by explaining the latest in the publishing world, why I chose to self publish, and the marketing process. Yes, you have to have a social media presence.

I think everyone had a great time – at least they told me so – and I think I gave readers a better understanding of how books come about.

Finger Lakes Book Tour

Lansing New York Community Library

After a book is written, edited, and then published, an author has to prepare to market their book. Actually this preparation should have begun months earlier with the development of a social media presence alerting readers a book is coming and providing teasers to keep readers on the edge of their seats while they wait for publication.

An important step in marketing is meeting readers, and that is done through bookstore appearances and signings and presentations at various venues, such as book groups and libraries. I met a lot of readers this past week when I gave a forty-minute Keynote presentation at four rural Upstate New York libraries. It was wonderful to be greeted by so many readers and to be able to share my writing journey with them. I answered a variety of questions about the writing and publishing process. One of the attendees was about ten years old and when I asked her at the end of my presentation if it was helpful, she said, “Yes. I’m just thinking about what I have written.” I told her there were handouts at the back with a list of things I have learned, and I hope she was able to grab one.

Creative poster at the Ulysses Philomathic Library

 - "with a candlestick"

An important part of my tour was my hubby who drove me around and was responsible for getting the laptop hooked up to each library’s projector (we brought our own projector just in case), and my sister-in-law who listened to the same presentation four nights in a row (I suggested she bring a book after the first night – she did not – she enjoyed listening and learning a little more each evening). She set up the book table and sold them before and after the event. That was a godsend as it freed me up to answer questions, talk with people, and sign their books. My sister-in-law intended to keep track of the number of books sold, but she quickly learned that they go so fast, there was no way she could do that, talk to people, and make change.

Engaging with the Lansing Library attendees

 A week before the tour I contacted each library director to confirm day and time, A/V requirements, whether there was a screen (or blank wall for projection), and whether I would be allowed to sell books. Normally an author donates a book to each library where the presentation is given, but in this case, I had already donated several of each to the Finger Lakes Library System.

I returned home energized about the next Caitlyn Jamison mystery. I know there are many readers waiting.