I'm putting together a framework for what I want to write, not that I'll stick to it, but I find I can't begin without an idea, a glimmer, of what's going on. I know one mystery writer (and I'm sure there are others), Valerie Wolzien, who writes the whole thing, knowing her killer will reveal him/herself by the end. He/she always does, and Valerie then goes back through the manuscript making sure clues are planted. More often than not, they're already, mysteriously, there, she says. (I think that's what she says. I'm paraphrasing what I heard in a panel at Malice Domestic a few years ago. Anyway, it's close.)
Not me, though. I have to know who my killer is. Although I had a second one crop up once. A nice complication!
No matter what you're writing, if not mysteries, you're still either a person who plots beforehand, or a seat-of-the-pants writer. None of us can figure out how the other half does it! I have written into the mist and come out okay, but it's too scary for me!
And, no matter if you're a plotter or a pantser, your story still has to have the structure a reader expects. Many resources can define it for you: SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder, a book about screen writing that has much in it for the novelist; THE WRITER'S JOURNEY by Christopher Vogler, a book that delves into classical forms, adapted for writers from THE HERO'S JOURNEY by Joseph Campbell; HOW TO PLOT YOUR NOVEL by Allison & Busby Writer's Guides (which I've had recommended to me but don't have--Christmas hint here!); and, lastly, a terrific book I'm about half way through, WRITING TO SELL by Scott Meredith.
Alexandra Sokoloff has been blogging on plot, especially geared for NaNoWriMo, too! Check out her excellent posts at http://thedarksalon.blogspot.com/. She uses the Three Act structure used by many.
Or you can use the tried and true plotting method. Put your heroine up a tree; throw things at her; get her out of the tree. You are, of course, free to use a hero instead. Happy writing, all who are doing NaNo!
Showing posts with label plotting mystery writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plotting mystery writing. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
PLOTTING AND CHARTING (pre NaNoWriMo)
Since I'm starting to plot a new novel, I thought I'd use this space to go over how I do it. (Partly so I'll get it all straight in my head--I seem to forget completely, every time, how to start a new project!)
First, I take advantage of a couple of excellent courses I've taken. Margie Lawson created a class especially for a group I belong to called Guppies (the Great UnPublished online chapter of Sisters in Crime) and I start my plotting with her excellent guidelines. She has inexpensive lecture packets of most of her courses available on her webpage, http://www.margielawson.com/index.php/lecture-packets. I can recommend them highly! I also use a course I took from Mary Buckham on synopsis writing. Her method of doing synopses finds all the plot holes! You can find Mary at http://marybuckham.com/, BTW.
But here's the part that's original to me, my timeline spreadsheet. (If it's not original, then I don't remember where I got it. Sheesh. If you want to take credit, go ahead.) When you're writing a mystery, it's important to know where everyone is all the time. The characters have a tendency to skulk about in the shadows, but I have to hunt them out--the writer has to know what they're up to!
It's a simple spreadsheet. Across the top, I label the columns with the names of the important characters, and sometimes a few unimportant ones I want to keep track of. Except for the first several columns. The very first column is a list of the events of the story, the scenes, the clues, the happenings. These define the rows. The second column, for my benefit, is the date and time of the event. I use the third column to put what thread this event is concerned with, a clue, a red herring, a suspect, and I sometimes color code them. Sometimes I put the chapter number in the fourth column, then the character columns start. The protagonist owns the fifth column, since she's in the majority of the scenes.
As the scenes unfold, I note, beside the scene and under the character, what their role is in the scene--what happens to them, or what they're thinking or feeling or planning. If one of them gets dead, I color the rest of that column a dark color, usually gray. Since the first murder is an important defining point in a mystery, I can tell at a glance if I'm before or after the killing. I can also tell at a glance when some minor character is getting too many scenes, or when a major player has been out of the picture too long.
I use another worksheet to keep track of how I've described the characters, making sure their eyes don't change color, or a short person doesn't suddenly become a six footer, but that can just as easily be done in a word processing program. It's just handy for me to have it all together.
That's it! My nifty spreadsheet. I have it open most of the time I'm writing so I can insert the action as it unfolds. If you've ever written fiction, I don't have to tell you that, no matter how carefully a plot is structured, it changes. One of my characters in the last novel jumped from minor to major character, changed his name three times, and told me, in no uncertain terms, that HE was the romantic interest. What could I do? I adjusted the chart.
If someone can use this to keep things straight, let me know!
First, I take advantage of a couple of excellent courses I've taken. Margie Lawson created a class especially for a group I belong to called Guppies (the Great UnPublished online chapter of Sisters in Crime) and I start my plotting with her excellent guidelines. She has inexpensive lecture packets of most of her courses available on her webpage, http://www.margielawson.com/index.php/lecture-packets. I can recommend them highly! I also use a course I took from Mary Buckham on synopsis writing. Her method of doing synopses finds all the plot holes! You can find Mary at http://marybuckham.com/, BTW.
But here's the part that's original to me, my timeline spreadsheet. (If it's not original, then I don't remember where I got it. Sheesh. If you want to take credit, go ahead.) When you're writing a mystery, it's important to know where everyone is all the time. The characters have a tendency to skulk about in the shadows, but I have to hunt them out--the writer has to know what they're up to!
It's a simple spreadsheet. Across the top, I label the columns with the names of the important characters, and sometimes a few unimportant ones I want to keep track of. Except for the first several columns. The very first column is a list of the events of the story, the scenes, the clues, the happenings. These define the rows. The second column, for my benefit, is the date and time of the event. I use the third column to put what thread this event is concerned with, a clue, a red herring, a suspect, and I sometimes color code them. Sometimes I put the chapter number in the fourth column, then the character columns start. The protagonist owns the fifth column, since she's in the majority of the scenes.
As the scenes unfold, I note, beside the scene and under the character, what their role is in the scene--what happens to them, or what they're thinking or feeling or planning. If one of them gets dead, I color the rest of that column a dark color, usually gray. Since the first murder is an important defining point in a mystery, I can tell at a glance if I'm before or after the killing. I can also tell at a glance when some minor character is getting too many scenes, or when a major player has been out of the picture too long.
I use another worksheet to keep track of how I've described the characters, making sure their eyes don't change color, or a short person doesn't suddenly become a six footer, but that can just as easily be done in a word processing program. It's just handy for me to have it all together.
That's it! My nifty spreadsheet. I have it open most of the time I'm writing so I can insert the action as it unfolds. If you've ever written fiction, I don't have to tell you that, no matter how carefully a plot is structured, it changes. One of my characters in the last novel jumped from minor to major character, changed his name three times, and told me, in no uncertain terms, that HE was the romantic interest. What could I do? I adjusted the chart.
If someone can use this to keep things straight, let me know!
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