  Mystery
This week: Criminal Intent Edited by: Gaby  
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Playing the game, and unfortunately, playing the gangster game is very profitable.
~ Quincy Jones
The mystery at the center of 'Burial Rites' is not who killed whom on the night of March 13, 1828. It is the mystery each of us encounters: Can we every truly know another? Can we ever truly know ourselves?
~ Hannah Kent
Don't become a mere recorder of facts, but try to penetrate the mystery of their origin.
~ Ivan Pavlov
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Who, if anyone, watched the show Moonlighting? I loved it, and naturally, fell in love with Bruce Willis. What about Matlock or Columbo? Then there was Remington Steele with Pierce Brosnan. Another actor with whom I fell in love with. Aside from the fact that I had a tenancy to be mesmerized with the main characters - which hasn't changed to this day! - the shows were good. That was then. Now I see Matlock reruns and I change the channel right away. It all feels outdated and perhaps it is.
Today's world requires more excitement. They want to feel that rush of catching the bad guy all in one episode. Even a murder which happened some decades ago is solved within the 60 minute time frame on Cold Case. The Mentalist had a bit of a twist to the show, seeing how the main character had been rather ordinary, other than the fact that he was psychic and his wife was murdered by someone which took forever to catch. Every other case had been a piece of cake except that one. Then there was the attraction between him and lady cop, of course. Drawing the attention of more than one audience is a must on television. Castle is another show that has romance incorporated into it, along with a writer. The writer part is the biggest reason why I got into watching it. There are others such as Criminal Minds, Law & Order, NCIS, The Listener, The Profiler, Dexter, X-Files {however Sci-Fi it may be), CSI, just to name a few. They are all set to solve a crime within a certain amount of air time.
Out of all those mentioned, Castle and Dexter have grabbed my attention the most. The first one being an actual writer who is doing his research out in the field and not behind a screen googling the World Wide Web how to murder a subject and then catch the killer. We'd all love to be out there, smack in the middle of everything, rather than behind a computer, trying to come up with ideas. World works differently. Dexter, on the other hand, had something completely different to offer. An actual murderer who is sitting in a police station as if there's nothing unusual about that. While the show had some rather slow episodes, the fact of the matter is, Dexter was portrait as an ordinary guy to those around him, while the viewers got to see his true side. It was a twist not many could or would try to pull off.
Writing a book won't happen in 60 minutes. The whole plot line won't be developed in that amount of time. There are books with a main character who keeps going on and on, catching a different murderer or solving a different crime in each book. Janet Evanovich comes to mind. It means you'll spend hours and hours plotting, planning, redoing things, and starting fresh.
What most of us learn and have learned when it comes to this particular genre has been mostly from watching such television shows and movies, reading those kinds of books, and using our own imagination. The problem develops when the imagination goes only so far and you have to look for the cold hard facts before you can make your story have some truth to it. While you can invent a new agency, certain things will have to stay the same - the law they abide by.
Now that you've covered the basics, learned as much as you can from television and from books, what do you do?  You write, of course! It sounds so simple, doesn't it? Before you can jump into the story, you might want to ask yourself and your character a few basic questions.
 What Agency is your character working for?
This will determine the fate of your character. Is it PD? FBI? CIA? NCIS? CSI? What is it that they focus on? What's the history of the agency? Is there even a history? How does your character fit into all that?
Is your character new to the place?
In theory, you don't have to explain anything to anyone, but for your sake and for your character's sake, you have to know certain details, even if you don't include them into the story. You never know what could happen and minor details can help you get the story going.
In the show NCIS, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs played by the handsome Mark Harmon, has been with the agency for a long time, but once in a while, his past pops up and shows what he used to do before he became part of it. It also shows his more softer side as well as the side that he hides from his team.
Who is this character?
Uncovering the truth about a murder and the suspect can only be half as much fun as it is to learn about the main character. Their background is very important. Those around him speculate, question, wonder, but never find the entire truth about him. Of course, you have to focus and make sure that the character is likable by those around him. Just because he can uncover the truth doesn't make him very special. His traits are very important.
What is his main job?
Everyone does something! What are your plans for the character? A blood spatter analyst? Computer geek? Behavioral analyst? Looking at a board and solving the crime? What?
What's the purpose of characters with less significance?
Not every character has the special powers to solve a crime by himself. Who's included? What is their job? They aid each other to find the truth. In which ways?
How does the murder affect him vs. catching the criminal?
The emotional aspect of a character is a very important one. At times, it can be overlooked and taken for granted but it matters to the reader. It's how you form the connection between the reader and the character. The reader has to cheer for someone!
Now, that's just the beginning. Where are the twists and turns? Is there a love story brewing in there somewhere? Occult? Who did it and why in the first place? Oh, you have so much to do! Better get to it.
'til next time!
~ Gaby 
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Quick-Quill wrote:
I recently watched Maze runner with my son. Great movie with plot bunnies scampering all over the place. then I saw the end and the beginning of the next movie..... I'm so confused. This could be a great concept, but I'm afraid its going to go off into deep space and so far out of reality I can't accept it. I want things real. Its possible to happen. Even Hunger Games is plausible to me...to a point. the later books got too far out of plausibility for me.
I liked the Maze Runner. Haven't seen the beginning of the next movie, but I'm guessing we are going into the deep end with it, right? Hunger Games. I've watched every movie of it, haven't read the books yet, but I feel like the idea of it is far fetched a bit. It could be a reality, but then I'm going to have to start second guessing humanity in general. The Divergent series was much better for me, but it seems that the last book is rather disappointing. I'll have to wait and see. 
Thank you for taking the time to read my Newsletter and for commenting. 
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Mystery: January 20, 2016 Issue [#7428]
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