When you start your mystery, do you know who did it, and how
do you avoid signaling it to the reader?
This is an interesting pair of questions because it’s both
easy to answer and almost impossible to explain in a way others can use as a
guide. Every writer develops a rhythm for telling stories, and at least half of
us (the “pantsers” – seat of the pants writers) like to improvise as we go
along to keep our writing fresh. I start with a protagonist, a victim, a killer
and the core reason why the murder happened. I have a setting, a cast of
characters, and a sense of the time of year (for some reason, that’s vital to
me). That gives me a direction to start off in.
What invariably happens is that the characters make
decisions that only make sense as the plot unfolds and the details emerge. A
character I thought was only useful in passing leaps into the action. The
weather causes a problem for my protagonist and before I know it, someone else
is in danger. The killer’s actions back him into a corner I hadn’t anticipated,
and what does he do? He kills again – news to me!
If this sounds helter-skelter and not something you’d be
comfortable with, know there are an equal number of writers who outline, write
chapter summaries, animate every character fully before they even start writing
the actual manuscript. Works for them, and might for you. But I’m one of those
who likes being on the edge of her seat, who thrives on the excitement of not
knowing what the hell happens next until it does. Obviously, these turns and
twists aren’t random. My subconscious has been building the story all along,
but I was too busy putting words on paper to stop and take note. And at times
these serendipitous moments turn out to be dead ends or false trails and, as
much fun as they were, they have to be axed and I have to backtrack to solid
ground.
The second question is one I think most of us struggle with.
We know who did it and every clue seems to scream out, as if we wrote it in ALL
CAPS so the reader wouldn’t miss it. Beta readers help here, as does one read
in which you seek out and test every red herring and real clue to see how well
they’re scattered, flaunted or hidden. I think it was Rhys Bowen who said you hide it in the middle of a sentence in the middle of a paragraph and no one
will find it. Given her great success and thousands of ardent fans, I’m
guessing that’s good advice.
8 comments:
Good advice. I'm an outliner, so I know who did it when I begin writing. What I don't know is how it's going to be revealed, as my outlines are only one or two sentence descriptions of what has to happen in each scene. Most often, I find little opportunities present themselves in an otherwise innocuous conversation that can be show to have great significance later.
Susan--
The problems you discuss are part of the reason I stopped thinking of myself as a mystery writer, and am now a writer of suspense novels. In suspense, the questions isn't "whodonnit," but "what will the catastrophe I know is coming look like?"
Susan, like you I am a pantser and also thrive on heading into the great unknown of the storyline. Good post.
Great post, Susan. I'm a pantser too and wouldn't give up the exhilaration even if it meant escaping the drudgery of the clean-up!
Dana, sounds as though you have a system that works, and that's the goal!
Barry, LOL - that's one way to skin a cat. And you still have room for some surprises.
Thanks, RJ and Catriona. I take heart because if two such accomplished authors can make it work, there's hope for me.
Great post, Susan! PI novels are more concerned with character than the puzzle, so I typically outline a bit but leave plenty of room for surprises ... and am surprised on a regular basis! :)
I go back and forth between outlining and pantsing in a completely insane way.
I usually know some stuff, get surprised by other stuff, and try to hide things to make them fun for the reader.
It's all about the rewrites for me.
Enjoyed this, Susan—and does seem like the characters and events that surprise you while you're writing are also the ones that are guaranteed surprise the reader too. Same approach I take in my stories!
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