Amygdalia's Blog

Plotting . . .

I’m discovering so much about the complexities of writing a mystery.  I’ve started reading a great little book called The Elements of Mystery Fiction – Writing the Modern Whodunit by William G. Tapply.  I haven’t gotten very far into the book yet, but already I’ve gotten some terrific ideas.  His recommendation to write the crime from the antagonist’s perspective has spurred quite a few possibilities for me.  He suggests putting the writing aside for a week.  Any holes in the story that can lead to clues for the mystery should become more apparent upon rereading.  I’ll probably end up writing more BEFORE I begin chapter two, than I will IN chapter two!  And three.  And four . . . In any case, I’ve decided to take my list of suspects, and write an antagonist’s tale from each of their perspectives.  Then I’ll put them aside, and take another look at them in a week, as he suggested.  With a fresh eye, I’ll then make a decision about whodunit. 

In the meantime, while letting those tales stew for a week, I’ll take the time to write bios for each of my characters.  I’ve already started, mostly in my mind, on a few of the main characters.  All this writing, which no one will ever see!  At least I don’t need to worry about my grammar.

I thought I was doing myself a favor, by leaving out any future plot elements from chapter one, with the exception of the discovery of a body.  I knew from fairly early on in the planning that the body was going to show up in the backyard (see "Digging for Clues - Chapter One"  ).  But then I discovered the complexities of working with that particular plot element.  How did the body get there, without the killer being discovered?  How did the body remain undiscovered?  How was the body not dug up by an animal?  I spent an entire afternoon looking at snowfall data, trying to find a year with an early snowfall and continued cold temperatures, to keep the body buried.  I finally decided that I was being totally ridiculous, and gave up on that.  Are my readers really going to go checking snowfall data to make sure my timing is accurate?  Will they really care?  Chalk one up for Amy’s anal retentive attention to detail.  Bag it, girlfriend.  Just WRITE! 

After all, I’m in a race against my 12 year old.  She’s determined to write a book, get it published, and make a ton of money . . . by September!  I’ve no doubt in my mind that she’ll get there some day.  She’s far more creative and talented than I am.  But her pie in the sky dreams aren’t exactly realistic. 

So, there’s a lot of work to be done.  I wish it would go ahead and write itself already!