A design for writing

A few people seem to possess a sort of inherent compass that guides their minds into creating stories that satisfy all the requirements of good writing in one fell swoop of the pen, or a single foray across the keyboard. I'm in awe of the one-draft author. That's because I’m the polar opposite. I constantly edit and revise as I go.

Every writer must find what works best for him or herself. I don’t advocate that anyone follow my style of creating a book, but if you find something here that validates what you do or in some way intrigues you into trying a different approach, I’ll feel I have succeeded in some small manner.

I approach a new a novel with a basic idea for an incident that could lead to lots of complications. In my second Greg McKenzie mystery, for example, I considered what might happen if a penthouse balcony collapsed during a party at a new beachfront high-rise condo, killing two people. That presented the questions: what caused the accident, and who was responsible?

With the major premise in hand, I needed a cast of characters. I’m not a detailed plotter or an outliner, so I depend on my characters to dictate the direction of the story. I decided on a young architect/engineer from the previous book to bear the brunt of blame for the accident. For potential bad guys I picked a developer, a contractor, and an inspector. I later added a female real estate agent.

At that point I needed a little initial research to put me on the right track. Since I knew little if anything about condo construction, I consulted a couple of friends. One was a civil engineer, the other a structural engineer who dealt with concrete, the material of choice for building beachfront condos. That gave me enough information to start writing.

I began with a Prologue that, thanks to later revision, introduced all the suspects and most of the major characters, except for my protagonists, Greg and Jill McKenzie. I set it at the penthouse party and used a third person omniscient viewpoint so I could let the reader know the balcony was in trouble from the opening line. Starting with Chapter 1, the story is told in first person from Greg's point of view.

The architect/engineer is found dead the next morning of what the sheriff calls a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The young man’s parents are the McKenzies’ best friends, and his father doesn’t believe he would commit suicide. He asks Greg, a retired Air Force investigator, to look into it.

After the first few chapters in Nashville, the story moved to Perdido Key, FL. It was time for more intensive on-scene research. My brother had a condo there where my wife and I had stayed a couple of times a year, which is how the plot idea came about. We spent two weeks there checking out various angles. Since the so-called suicide occurred at the Gulf Islands National Seashore, I interviewed the National Park ranger responsible for law enforcement. Following up on what I learned from him, I talked to a sheriff’s investigator, a medical examiner’s tech, and a man in the building inspection office.

I also researched locations and backgrounds on Perdido Key, in Pensacola and around Escambia County.

Although I don’t outline, I did extensive character sketches for the major characters and typed up detailed notes from my research. And early on I plotted out where all the main characters were each hour on the night of the murder.

By this time I knew who the murderer was (or so I thought) and had a pretty good idea of where the story was headed. I sat down to write in earnest. But things happen. About halfway through the book, I changed my mind about the murderer. It required going back to make sure I had left enough clues to make the ending believable. That’s what I love about fiction. You’re free to alter the past anytime you like. Makes you feel like God tinkering with the universe.

As I mentioned at the start, I am a constant rewriter. Each time I sit down to write, I go back at least to the start of the last chapter, read through it and make changes where something doesn’t quite fit. Now and then I’ll start from the beginning and do a quick edit up to the point where I left off. Sometimes I may change a line back to what I had on the first try.

When I get to the end of the book, what might be called a first draft is really anything but. I take this opportunity to go back through the manuscript looking for places I can make the writing more colorful, more dramatic, more scintillating (okay, so I don't scintillate all that much). I also delete those too-cute phrases that I got carried away with in their creation. I try to smooth out the rough spots Chris Roerden cites in her book Don’t Murder Your Mystery.

By the way, the book described above is Designed to Kill, the second of my Greg McKenzie mysteries. Like all my books, it's available on Amazon (see link below) in paperback and for the Kindle. You can read opening chapters at my website:

www.chesterdcampbell.com

Books on Amazon

8 reasons for a new writer to celebrate

If you’re the celebratory kind (and who isn’t), here are some benchmarks that should give you a reason to call in the cheerleaders, quaff a tall cold one, or otherwise laud the muse.

1. You have the basics of a solid plot.

After considering all the options, you’ve decided on a situation that feels right, a plot that gives you the opportunity to pursue a story that challenges your creativity. Take a bow.

2. You’ve successfully concluded the opening chapter.

You’re off to a great start. You’ve created a zinger of an opening paragraph, and you’ve set the plot in motion. Two loud huzzahs, please.

3. The dread middle third is in the can, to use an old movie term.

Most writers feel the middle portion of a novel is the most difficult to write. That’s where the story usually bogs down, where you need to work hard to keep the action from lagging. When you’re ready for the final arc, tip your hat and kick your heels.

4. You’ve finished the first draft.

For lots, maybe most, writers, this is the point where you have the basic story on paper (or in the computer), and you’re ready to go back and smooth out the language, beef up the descriptions, put things in shape for the final revision. Since I’m a constant editor, by the time I finish a first draft it’s about ready for the final revision. Whichever way you lean, it’s time to light up the sparklers.

5. You’ve passed the manuscript around your first readers, digested all their comments and suggestions, and penned the final revision.

This is the point where you trot out the trumpets and the snare drums. You’ve done the deed. Well, almost.

6. You have landed a publisher.

You’ve inked your name on a contract, either through an agent or with an independent publisher that doesn’t require agent submissions. This is the biggie. You fire off the Roman candles and the rockets. Buy a round for everybody at the bar.

7. At last you have a book, a bound volume with a colorful cover and hundreds of inside pages, in your hands.

This may seem anticlimactic to the non-writer, but it’s the arrival at the peak for you. Just sit down, feel the heft of it, turn the pages, and savor the moment.

8. You scrawl your name on the title page at your first signing.

Now you really feel like an author. You’ve sold the book to a reader. This is the most fulfilling moment. Enjoy it and celebrate all you want. Then prepare to embark upon the writer’s other journey–guess what, you are now a marketer.

All you pubbed writers, uh, authors, out there does this sound familiar, or did you have other high points in the process deserving of celebration?

Where mystery stories come from

Where do mystery stories come from? Out of a computer, my grandson would probably say. Indeed, I’ve heard there are computer programs you can feed info into and they will produce a story. But it seems there’s a little more to it than that.

Writers indulge in what is generally known as the creative process. According to Wikipedia, there’s no “single authoritative perspective or definition of creativity.” So they go on and give one, saying it’s “a mental and social process” that involves generating new ideas or concepts. Or, put more simply, it’s the act of making something new.

That’s always been my definition, creating something different than what was there before.

People with a scientific bent go into all this right brain vs. left brain stuff. They say the right brain flourishes in dealing with “complexity, ambiguity and paradox.” Hey, my mysteries are full of that. Also, the right brain isn’t necessarily interested in following the rules. That cinches it. I’m a right brain writer.

One other item mentioned in Wikipedia, creativity has been associated with genius, mental illness and humor. Funny they should say that. I don’t consider myself a genius, so where does that leave me?

Put simply, I think writers feel a compulsion to tell a story. They have great imaginations, the ability to form images in the mind that are far removed from anything present at the time. We may have a picture or notes pertaining to the subject, but the gyroscopes in our heads are busy twisting and turning them into something entirely different.

Since there are no really new plots out there, we grab an old one and give it our own twist. The mystery writer’s arsenal is full of motives and weapons and crimes and passions. We choose a place for things to happen, create some interesting characters, and set the story in motion.

If the protagonists we create are believable and worth caring about, if our settings are vivid enough to make readers feel they’re on the scene, and if our plots follow a trail of growing conflict and suspense, we’ve probably created a mystery that folks will be willing to plunk down a few bucks to read.

I don’t believe a computer could accomplish that without our help. Well, maybe Donna Andrews’ Turing Hopper could, but Donna created Turing.

More about my latest creation here: The Surest Poison

How the ending begins

Writing the ending to a mystery novel is always a challenge. When I first started working on mysteries, I would have a beginning in mind and an idea for what would happen at the end. Not exactly how it would happen, but a pretty good feel for the ultimate fate of the characters.

The more books I write, the more it all becomes a big mystery for me. About all I know for sure is that the bad guy or gal, maybe guys and gals, will get their comeuppance at the end. Since I’m learning the story along with my protagonist(s), I’m occasionally as surprised as they are at what occurs.

In listening to a bunch of panels at the SleuthFest conference in Florida last weekend, I found that most of the author panelists felt it best to plot out your mystery in advance. Maybe I’m too lazy, but I’ve never managed to do that.

I start out with a scenario for some kind of criminal enterprise that results in murder. I people it with characters who have a stake in the outcome, some innocent and some guilty as Obama’s tax dodgers. I write a character sketch for each of them. In that process, I learn from their backgrounds and actions how they’ll fit into the plot.

Then I start writing with an eye toward the ultimate solution to the crime and its resulting case of homicide. By that time I normally know whodunit, though in at least one case I changed the murderer in the middle of the book.

As the story moves closer to the final act, I begin looking for ways to get my protagonist in really big trouble. That’s when the fun begins. It can’t be a simple step up to the guilty party, show a weapon, and demand the surrender. The good guy must find himself in mortal danger before he manages to turn things around.

I’d like to cite some examples of how I do that, but I ain’t givin’ nothin’ away. You’ll have to read the books to find out. Some of them have surprise endings, particularly the one where I switched killers. A few readers said they thought I had cheated until they went back and saw where I had laid the foundation for what happened.

My new book, The Surest Poison, has a bit of a twist at the end I haven’t used before. I hope you like it. Go to Poison.htm for links to ordering the book.

How do you start a book?

I’m in the process of working on the plot for my fifth Greg McKenzie mystery. So far it has been mostly ideas stirring around in my brain. That’s been going slowly, I suppose, since the brain deteriorates with age. Doesn’t it? To paraphrase an old folk song, "the old gray matter, she ain't what she used to be."

Oddly enough, the first idea out of the box did not deal with character or setting or plot action. Well, setting, in one of its narrow aspects. We're talking about time. The series has been moving at a leisurely pace through the calendar. Designed to Kill took place at the first of November, Deadly Illusions followed with the first blush of spring (does spring really blush?), and The Marathon Murders sweated out the steamy days of August. So, I reasoned, the next adventure should occur at Christmastime.

Wouldn’t you know, in Greg years, it’s still 2004. If I could do that, I wouldn’t be quite 80 yet.

Okay, back to the plot. As all my fans (both of them) know, I am a seat-of-the-pants plotter. I don’t outline the whole story in advance. I take a basic idea, brief my characters on it, and shove them out the door. Heck, why should I do all the work?

The problem is I have to come up with more characters than Greg and Jill McKenzie, my indefatigable pair of senior sleuths. That’s where the fun begins.

With a one-paragraph plot summary on paper, I quickly came up with job descriptions for four possible bad guys. And just as quickly I spotted the one who really “did it.” I started out by giving him an age, then began to delve into his background. What about his early life would make him an interesting character? How did he become what he is today?

Okay, this is a mystery, and I’m not giving you any clues. I did a lot of Googling and bounced around the Internet quite a bit to track him down. I even used one site to pick his name. Hmmm, come to think of it, when I first began searching stuff online, Yahoo was the big thing. But you don’t hear of people Yahooing. They’ve been sort of left in the dust, haven’t they?

The subject of the plot is not one in which I’m particularly well versed, so I also searched about for some basic information on the business. I’ll give you a little hint there. It concerns professional sports. I decided my best bet to start my research in that field would be with a TV sportscaster. Interviewing one of the local guys will be my next step in the process.

I haven’t decided how Christmas will fit into the plot, but I’m sure Greg and Jill will be able to handle that. They’ve carried the day through four books so far. I have unlimited faith in them.

Sometimes I start a book before I’m ready with a full-blown plot by sitting at the computer and writing a first page. It may not be the same first page I end up with, but it gets the window open and the curtains blowing. I’m close to that point now. I’d better wrap this up and get me a cup of hot coffee. I think I here the Muse plodding up the stairs.