Writers in the Storm

by Jenny Hansen

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
~W. Somerset Maugham

Novel writing isn't for sissies.

I know we've talked about this before. I've even brought you people like Margie Lawson, Susan Mallery and Stephen J. Cannell who know way more than I do on the subject.

However, since this is Spring, it felt right to step out of my happy little pre-published cozy zone and share my "3 Writing Commandments."

We'll see if y'all agree (or disagree) that these three babies will help you keep your sanity while you go through the long, often lonely process of penning your stories. Just so there's no ambiguity, I even put them in my order of importance. *drumroll please*

Commandment #1 ~ Thou shalt not quit.

"The only way to guarantee failure is to stop trying."

Susan Mallery was the one who really brought this home to me in the talk I linked to above (just click her name). She freely admitted to being "an OK writer who didn't give up until she became a good writer."

Note: In my humble opinion, she's a damn good romance writer at least 95% of the time and I don't think you can ask for more than that in this business.

All the writers I know, except a few tentative ones who worked hard on their craft before they put their babies books out there, were rejected for years...

• By agents and editors they really, really wanted
• In contests they wanted to place in
• By critique groups
• By family members and friends who pooh-poohed their dreams

Did they give up?? No they did not.

They kept learning and working until the doors that were previously closed inched open. Maybe those doors only opened a teensy little crack but, like the prisoner who digs for freedom one spoonful of dirt at a time, these writers kept writing.

Our own Laura Drake went through 13 years of rejections before her door opened. Here's her post on the subject: 5 Things I Wish I'd Believed Before I Sold.

Commandment #2 ~ Thou shalt not adopt nonsensical rules.

The only rules that matter are the ones that work for you. Really. Truly. I promise.

I'm not saying you don't need to have great Craft and good structure. I believe you do. A novel without structure is a paper brick you'll end up heaving under the bed with your dustbunnies.

Those of you who've been at this for a while probably shake your head over your early work. This is what beta readers and critique partners are for, so you don't throw that brick onto Amazon before you know better.

The point of this commandment is you must write your stories in a way that allows you to finish them. Period.

It doesn't matter if you're surrounded by linear, plotting writers. If YOU aren't linear in your process, nothing -- not rivers of chocolate or jiggy dancing tunes -- is going to lure you to The End of that book.

No magic potion will help you zoom straight through to the end using "someone else's methods" because you can't. Your brain doesn't work that way. It works your way.

Learn good craft, but above all learn your own process! Part of why I'm unpublished is it took me so damn long to figure out I'm a scene writer. I don't write straight through a book. I simply can't do it.

And -- important side note here -- I was hung up on that silly, stupid, stopping "S" word: Should. *boo-hiss. throws virtual tomatoes*

I HATE that freaking word. It has wasted a boatload of my time.

What I can do is build a basic structure to work in, even though I write my scenes out of order. (I know all you organized linear peeps just got the heebie-jeebies over that last sentence.)

Here's how it works for me:

• I lay out some character sketches - often in the form of short stories.
• My critique group helps me hash out the basic 3-act structure and turning points.
• I scribble up a list of all the scenes I know (sometimes this takes a few sessions).
• I write those scenes as they come to me, with an approximate idea of what comes before and after each one.
• I stitch it all together later.

Diana Gabaldon and Lorna Landvik write like this too, which makes me feel better since I love their books.

Writing like my linear pantser friends gave me nothing but frustration and bad self-esteem.

Using other peoples' processes ensured that somewhere between page sixty and one hundred, I'd start moaning to the Writing Gods about what a failure I was. My old ways guaranteed that I'd grow bored with my books because I never progressed past the beginning of the second act.

My way lets me see pages pile up and allows me to participate in challenges like ROW80 and Fast Draft. Plus, now that I've figured out "my system," I've got about 9 books to finish. Sweet!!

This leads me to my third point, and the one I'm working madly at right now...

Commandment #3 ~ Thou shalt finish thy books.

I wrote a post called The Most Important Writing Lesson I Ever Learned about a conversation I had with my pal, Natalie Hartford.

Quick excerpt:

No one has a masterpiece on the first run. The key is to start writing. Remember, done is better than good, my friend. You can make your “done” into “very good” MUCH easier than you can make a little bit of good stuff into a finished novel.

We went on a bit longer, but basically this conversation was about fear. Like all writers, Natalie was floundering out of the gate because she felt like she had to get some “BIG IDEA” to run with.

There’s only like six story ideas on the planet so we all need to chill and just write. And never, ever forget that “done is better than good.”

If you’re staring at your blank screen and need brainstorming ideas, you might also enjoy this post.

One last thought:

Part of the writing pain that led to Commandment #2 was good old fashioned fear. It's hard to make rational decisions about your story when you're scared.

The best post I've ever read on dealing with this kind of fear is called Talking Back To Your Brain. Susan and Harry Squires wrote it here at WITS. I'm not going to say too much more because you really need to click that link but here's an example:

We’re not asking questions like: How can I make this a better book? Too big, too vague, and way too scary.

We’re not asking negative questions such as, “Why isn’t my heroine likable? A really long list of answers will just be depressing.

Keep it small (one scene, even one paragraph, one character, one action, etc.). Then let your brain work.

That's the kind of advice that helps me stay sane during this crazy writing process.

Do you have some hard and fast "writing commandments?" What are they? What's guaranteed to take you in the other direction and hold up your forward progress? What's your position on the "S" word?

Jenny

About Jenny Hansen

Jenny fills her nights with humor: writing memoir, women’s fiction, chick lit, short stories (and chasing after the newly walking Baby Girl). By day, she provides training and social media marketing for an accounting firm. After 15 years as a corporate software trainer, she’s digging this sit down and write thing.

When she’s not at her blog, More Cowbell, Jenny can be found on Twitter at JennyHansenCA and here at Writers In The Storm. Every Saturday, she writes the Risky Baby Business posts at More Cowbell, a series that focuses on babies, new parents and high-risk pregnancy.

As the March blog mistress here at WITS, I'm taking a page out of my personal blog's playbook and marking the beginning of Spring with a celebration of you.

You're going to get the chance to come out and play in the comments section today.

[Hey! I saw all you introverts go diving under your desks. You can come out now.]

Let me explain...

We're doing what I call "Pimp & Promote." We try to do this once every few months at More Cowbell and it's a habit I originally picked up from Chuck Wendig.

Note: if Chuck's name is unfamiliar, you are seriously missing out.

For those who are new at this…Pimp and Promote means you go down to the comments section and:

1. Promote: share one thing that you’re proud of (i.e. a new book, an idea, a blog).

2. Pimp: Do the same for someone else whose work has lit you on fire this week.

I'll get this party started with a quick PROMOTE of Susan Spann, one of our monthly contributors here at WITS. Susan has been sharing her experience as a legal expert in intellectual property, business and publishing contracts with all of us here at WITS for several months and we are grateful.

Not only is Susan the author of the Shinobi mystery novel, Claws of the Cat, coming in July from St. Martin's Press, she is also a literary attorney and a strong champion of author rights.

I've learned a ton from both her Author Business Plan series and her Publishing Decisions series. Plus, I attended her seminars on author contracts at last month's WANACon. When I need to have a publishing contract of any type looked at, Susan will be my go-to gal.

For my PIMP, I'm going to give a shout out to 4 amazing bloggers and one writing contest that have made me happy this week.

Below is a post from each of these rockstars:

• Cate Russell-Cole - Writing Rocket Fuel: Writer's Markets
• Marcy Kennedy - 3 Things Writers Need To Understand About Designing EBooks
• Kristen Lamb - How Being Tired Can Make You a Better Writer (Oh, thank God!!)
• Gene Lempp - Gene's Writing Resources make me want to genuflect every Saturday
• The Judy Blume Voices competition from the West Coast Posse

A note about the Judy Blume Voices competition:

The Judy Blume Project aims to become an anthology of moments and memories of the many people on whom Judy Blume had an impact growing up.  Good or bad, touching or funny:  WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR VOICES!!

Write about what Judy Blume meant to you, either when you were navigating the turbulence of adolescence, or stories about your own kids (catch any of them reading Forever??).  Don't be shy, and please don't feel like you have to be a writer to submit.

WITS wouldn't be what it is without all of you and this post is our small way of letting you know how much we appreciate your readership. Y'all rock our world.

Now it's your turn to try this "Pimp and Promote" business!

Feeling a little woozy at the idea of putting yourself out there? Here...take one more sniff of your flowers...

Don't be shy if you're new at this. We'll hold your hand...and approve your comments. You are encouraged to oooh and aaaah over each other's links and then pimp a little more. :-)

On your mark: You, comments, go...Pimp and Promote!

Happy Friday,
Jenny

About Jenny Hansen

Jenny fills her nights with humor: writing memoir, women’s fiction, chick lit, short stories (and chasing after the newly walking Baby Girl). By day, she provides training and social media marketing for an accounting firm. After 15 years as a corporate software trainer, she’s digging this sit down and write thing.

When she’s not at her blog, More Cowbell, Jenny can be found on Twitter at jhansenwrites and here at Writers In The Storm. Every Saturday, she writes the Risky Baby Business posts at More Cowbell, a series that focuses on babies, new parents and high-risk pregnancy.

Writers In The Storm is delighted to welcome back Elizabeth Craig, one of the most giving writers we know.

She released her latest Southern Quilting Mystery last month and stopped by WITS to help the rest of us take some of the guesswork out of writing mysteries.

************

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

So you’re a big mystery reader and decide you’d like to write one, yourself.  Or maybe you’ve already written a mystery or two and think you’re in for smooth sailing now.

I hate to say it, but each book is a little different, just like each mystery is different.  About every other book, I find that I run into a significant plot problem. The good news is that once you diagnose your issue, there are plenty of ways to troubleshoot it.

What I thought I’d do today, as a follow-up to my previous post on mystery writing here at Writers in the Storm, is to offer fixes for common problems you might encounter while writing your mystery.

Mystery writing problems and some possible solutions

#1 - The story isn’t long enough. 

If you’re writing for a traditional press, you’ll need a book between about 65,000 and 80,000 words.  There are plenty of solutions for making a mystery longer—the important thing is that the added words need to add to contribute to the plot instead of watering it down.

One way of approaching this is by adding a subplot to your story. This could be (if you’re writing cozy mysteries), the sleuth’s hobby. It could be a relationship between minor characters or between the sleuth and another character.

It’s even better when the subplot impacts the main plot in a surprising way: maybe the sleuth lost her day job and comes across an argument between suspects while she’s on her way to an interview. Maybe the subplot helps the sleuth solve the mystery or get out of a dangerous situation.

Other ways to add length to a mystery novel (and also some added interest for readers) are red herrings.  A red herring is information that appears to be a clue but then is later discovered to be a false lead.

You could also try putting your sleuth in a dangerous situation or upping the stakes in the story by adding another murder.

Another consideration: self-published books can be shorter.  If you feel your mystery would genuinely be watered down by adding more words, why not consider putting it up on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords, yourself?

#2 - Your amateur sleuth doesn’t have a good reason to be involved with this case.

Why is your amateur sleuth putting aside her comfortable life to go chase down a murderer?  There are different ways to approach this problem (and, unlike some of the other problems listed, this is an issue every writer who uses amateurs faces).

• Your sleuth could be unfairly suspected by police and needs to prove her innocence.
• Your sleuth could have a friend or family member who becomes a suspect.
• Your sleuth could be a personal friend or family member of the victim.
• Perhaps your sleuth discovered the victim’s body and feels personally involved.

This isn’t something that needs to be brought up more than once, but it’s important to establish the sleuth’s personal connection with the case.

#3 - The plot is too linear—I’m worried that it’s not complex enough.

Sometimes our stories might feel a little too pat.  If you feel like you’re just connecting the dots with your plot, you probably need to send your sleuth out in a different direction.

Consider having a few of your suspects lie...or having them tell the truth and tell a lie, so the sleuth must ferret out which is which.  Consider adding some more secrets to your plot.  What if your suspects have something to hide…something that isn’t the fact they’re murderers.  Maybe it’s obvious that they’re not telling all that they know, but the sleuth isn’t sure why that’s the case.

#4 - I’m not sure what to write next in the story. 

Are you stuck?  Going to your library and reading recent releases can help you determine a general pattern of events for mysteries.

Mine usually follow this pattern (which is based on a traditional mystery model):

• Introduction of suspects and victim.
• Discovery of victim’s body.
• Sleuth determines suspects, and then questions them.
• Sleuth investigates leads and re-interviews some suspects.
• Discovery of second body.
• More interviews and more information to consider…how does the crime connect to the first murder (if it does)?
• Moment of danger for the sleuth (frequently coincides with her uncovering of the murder’s identity.)

#5 - My motives for the murder all seem to be the same.  

This is a problem that I know editors and my agents don’t like to see.  If all the suspects’ motives are revenge, that might either confuse readers or bore them.

There are lots of reasons why we might want to kill somebody—most of us just never carry it out (a good thing!)

Since I set many of my books in small towns, I’ll sometimes focus on minor irritants between neighbors…the kinds of things that can build up over time. Those could be as minor as dog waste issues, property boundary issues, noise issues, forgotten Christmas light issues—you know the types of things. But there are big motives, too—revenge, love, hate, financial gain.

For more ideas to get you thinking, check out this post, “Murderous Motivations” by Beth Terrell on the Murderous Musings blog.  And Agatho on the Mysterious Matters blog also has a nice post on motives in “The Reason for Murder.”

#6 - I can’t think of any good clues. 

Clues can be anything that makes the sleuth follow a lead.

We all think of very clever clues from classic mysteries, but in most books, the clue is just something that simply leads the sleuth to discover the murderer’s identity.

• This could be a slip of the tongue—maybe the murderer says something that she shouldn’t know…unless she’s the killer.
• Maybe she says something to indicate that her alibi is faulty.
• Maybe there’s a bit of physical evidence (no forensics, if you’re working with an amateur)—an item that the murderer left behind—that points to the murderer.

Once you’ve got your clue or clues, you need to make sure you drop it so that it’s fair for the reader, but not completely obvious.  You can do this by distracting the reader immediately—drop something else that seems to be a clue, but isn’t.  Introduce two suspects having an argument. Anything to deflect attention from the clue you just planted.

#7 - The book’s beginning is boring. 

When is the body discovered? Can you push the discovery of the body up more?  My editors like to see a body in the first thirty pages. Before the body’s discovery, everything is just set-up—and that can definitely get boring.

#8 - Beta readers say that they’re confused by all the characters.

How many suspects do you have?  I try to use a maximum of five. In addition to suspects, you’ve got a sleuth and probably a sidekick…then you’ve got regular characters if you’re writing a series. The plot can get crowded with characters if you’re not careful.

#9 - I think my mystery is too easily solved.

One great solution: point to someone else right before the actual killer is unveiled.  Another solution to this problem would be to add another suspect…but that won’t be as quick of a fix as making it appear that another suspect is the murderer shortly before the end of the book.

Have you ever run into some of these problems while writing a mystery? How did you address them? Can you think of other potential issues that I’ve missed? Are there any other mystery questions you wanted to ask?

(Thanks to the Writers in the Storm bloggers for hosting me today!)

About Elizabeth

Elizabeth Craig’s latest book, Knot What it Seams, was released February 5. Her next release is Rubbed Out, which launches July 2^nd. Elizabeth writes the Memphis Barbeque series for Penguin/Berkley (as Riley Adams), the Southern Quilting mysteries for Penguin/NAL, and the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink and independently.

Elizabeth is also the creator of the Writer's Knowledge Base--the Search Engine for Writers, full of amazing links on every writing topic imaginable.

She can be found at her blog, Mystery Writing is Murder or on Twitter at @elizabethscraig.