The Long and (Hopefully) Winding Road

When you write mysteries, you hope you to lead your readers down a winding path, complete with roots to trip over and rocks to climb, instead of a smooth, straight highway. Unlike TV, where the general rule is to introduce the murderer by act 2 in such a manner that the character is often painfully obvious, a mystery writer hopes to hide the identity of the person responsible, giving the detective (and the reader) an exciting and difficult puzzle to solve. If the journey is too easy, it’s simply not entertaining.

But at the same time, a certain amount of logic is required, especially when you write forensic crime. Clues revealed at the crime scene have to make sense in the denouement, and the trail of evidence has to rationally and realistically trace back to the murderer, while not being such a straight line as to point directly at him in Chapter Two. This requires a fair amount of planning before the writing begins.

For most of our past novels, I always wanted to have a detailed road map of where we were going. Charts, maps, bullet points, chapter tables, timelines… I wanted it all laid out in black and white. One of the reasons I never get writer’s block is because once I know where I’m going, it’s always smooth sailing. Put me in a position where I don’t know where my story is headed, and suddenly I’m a deer in the headlights. So, in the past we’ve always done a very detailed outline, with all the questions answered before we even started.

But when we started planning for DEAD, Ann made a request. She was concerned that having such a detailed plan before we even started was limiting us creatively. We couldn’t take the left fork in the path because we’d already planned the next step in the case down the right fork. So, instead of planning the whole manuscript out from start to finish, she suggested that we outline in detail the first half or so of the manuscript, leaving the back half only lightly planned, allowing us some wiggle room to see where the writing took us. Additionally, planning is also the most stressful time when we’re writing as we’re both jockeying to get our vision of the manuscript into place, so this would allow us a break in the process.

I admit it, I was sceptical. After writing four previous novels with detailed outlines, I really didn’t think it would work. What if we got half way in and then found that we needed to rewrite the beginning because of a change in direction halfway through? What if part way through we ran out of ideas? What if we got half way in and whole thing simply didn’t work? We’d lose months of time.

But she finally convinced me that it was the way to go. We planned out the non-negotiable issues that had to carry through into the last half of the book ― including the scientific details that had to line up right from the discovery of the first victim ― but we allowed ourselves some latitude on motive, later character development of our leads, and the Act III climactic scene. Then we started to write, with the plan to come back to plan when we hit the end of the detailed outline we already had in hand.

And you know what? We didn’t need to rewrite the beginning, we didn’t run out of ideas, and the story worked just fine. In fact, taking time to settle into these characters and this case ended up being a crucial issue that I didn’t foresee. The case developed naturally and it allowed us to freedom to be creative where the tight restrictions of a detailed outline might have hobbled us. When it was time, we stopped writing for a week to plan out the rest of the storyline, and then we continued on to the end of the manscript.

Lesson number one: I should always listen to Ann when she speaks because she’s usually got something important to say. Lesson number two: There isn’t just one way to write a novel. Yes, it was crucial that some aspects of the storyline were planned ahead of time but some of the best twists that made it into the story were later additions, only made once some of the more detailed case issues were already behind us.

Ann and I are in the ending stages right now of our initial planning for our work-in-progress. I’ve already written several scenes because I simply had to get them out of my head, however the real writing begins this week. But I’ve looked at planning with a very different eye this time around. I’m not worried that while the beginning of the story is already firmly fixed in my head, the end is not. I know in round terms where we’re going and experience has shown me that we’ll have all the ends neatly tied off when they need to be. It’s all good.

How about you? Are you an obsessive planner with bullet points and charts or a discovery writer? Or somewhere in between?

Photo credit: Jess Newton

The Power of Community

When I first came back to writing a few years ago, I wrote by myself for my own enjoyment. Writing can be a very solitary art, and it certainly was for me back then. Ann and I joined forces shortly thereafter, and, for a while, it was just the two of us. But all that changed when a girlfriend, Kate, invited us to join a bunch of writers on LiveJournal, and my first experience with a writing community began.

Through LiveJournal, I met a large group of writers at various stages of their careers. Many wrote just for fun and were happy to keep it that way. But there was a group of us that strove to learn more about our craft and eventually focused on professional publication. Of that group, several are now agented writers, and several more are well on their way to reaching that goal. But more than what we accomplished individually, it was what we accomplished as a group that was important. We shared our writing freely and reviewed others’ material on a regular basis. We worked hard to encourage fellow writers in their writing habits, in finding their style, and improving their skills.

As social media platforms have increased in prevalence and size, the idea of community has expanded as well. Recently, Kristen Lamb started the #MyWANA community on Twitter, based on her book We Are Not Alone  ― The Writers Guide to Social Media (she also posts every Wednesday on this topic on her Warrior Writers blog). The #MyWANA community is a place where writers can share blogging experiences, tips on platform building, links they found helpful, and promote each other to the community as a whole. It’s an incredibly positive atmosphere, as can be seen in the number of writers who follow and return time and time again to contribute to the group.

Recently, a handful of Nicole’s clients found each other on Twitter and we’ve banded together as a small group to encourage each other, provide a shoulder to lean on when frustrated or discouraged, to share tips, trade ideas and even to give each other some healthy writing competition. We’ve had a few mornings when an e-mail has gone out to the group from one of us setting their word count goal for that day and others have chimed in to match it or with their own personal goals. It gives us something to be accountable for at the end of the day, and, if we don’t succeed, it gives us a cheering section to try again next time. Yesterday, in a great bit of teamwork, a tagline was bandied about until it was tweaked to perfection, with everyone available at the time tossing out ideas for discussion. And recently, one of our ranks, Amanda Carlson, announced her very first deal, a three book contract with Orbit. We were thrilled for her and immediately did what we could to spread the news through our respective social networks. This kind of community simply can’t be beat ― there’s no jealousy or negativity, just support and encouragement. We’re fairly new as a group, but I see a great potential for parallel growth and friendship within this group of women. I’m very thankful to have found them.

The power of community isn’t shared only in writing groups. It can be in cancer survivor networks like Livestrong, through hobby clubs, in on-line forums to discuss parenting, or within homeschooling support groups. Ann has found community in her work rescuing abandoned and abused pit bulls, and working with non-profit organizations such as Love-A-Bull and StubbyDog to improve the public image of pit bulls. It’s the connections within the group that are important, and the links between its members give strength to all.

How have you experienced the power of community in your life?

Photo credit: toffeehoff

I Can See London From My Saddle

There's been some great debate this past week over Kristen Lamb’s post Sacred Cow-Tipping–Why Writers Blogging About Writing is Bad. It certainly made me think about what I blog about here on Skeleton Keys. From the beginning, this blog has had a split focus because I’ve posted about both writing and forensics/forensic anthropology. But Kristen made me think about expanding my focus a bit to include other interests that apply directly to my current crime fiction series: architecture, science in general, and the history of Boston, Salem and Essex County, Massachusetts in particular. Combine that with Sarah Palin’s recent faux pas in Boston, and this blog post was born.

Mrs. Palin recently said about Paul Revere: “He who warned the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms by ringing those bells and making sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed.”

That’s not quite how it happened.

The Old North Church (Christ Church) in Boston

Revere, a member of the Sons of Liberty, spent the winter and spring of 1775 staying one step ahead of the British, riding from town to town to alert the townsfolk about the movements of the local British troops. Those troops mached through the countryside under orders to confiscate any and all armaments for their own use. But they found that each town they approached had already hidden away all their arms thanks to the tenacious Sons of Liberty, leaving the Redcoats humiliated and empty-handed. In an effort to circumvent the Sons of Liberty, General Gage, leader of the British troops, concocted a secret plan ― on the night of April 18, 1775, the British would move under the cover of darkness and conduct a surprise raid on Lexington and Concord at dawn when the patriots were unprepared. History suggests that either Gage’s wife or maid betrayed him to the Sons of Liberty, sharing the secret of the dawn raid. But on the night of April 18th, there was still some question about how the troops would move.

Revere intended to ride himself to warn local patriots, but he arranged for Robert Newman, caretaker of the Old North Church in Boston, to broadcast important information concerning troop movements by lighting either one or two lanterns in the church steeple. One lantern meant the troops were moving by land; two lanterns implied the British were crossing the Charles River by boat. A former bell-ringer himself, Revere knew that the signal would be clearly visible across the harbour, alerting his countrymen even if he was caught.

At 10 p.m. on the night of April 18, 1775, Newman climbed the steeple to hold aloft two lanterns for less than a minute. The light was seen across the harbour by patriot eyes, but the British in Boston also spotted it and the chase was on. Newman managed to flee the church by leaping through the sanctuary window (now known as the ‘Newman Window’) even as the British were trying to come through the front door. Today, hanging in front of that window is a replica of the lanterns that were used that night.

The Newman Window

Revere rode out that night, first crossing by boat from Boston to Charleston and then riding through Medford and on to Lexington. He didn’t ring bells or shout ‘The British are coming! The British are coming!’ ― this was a time of subtlety and espionage; secrecy was paramount because many colonists were still loyal to the British. But his ride set in motion a chain of fellow riders; it is estimated that there were over forty messengers riding that night, warning fellow patriots of the oncoming army.

Captured and questioned at gunpoint by the British, Revere did warn them of the size of the force they were about to confront in Lexington, recommending they abandon the attempt. Nevertheless, his captors continued towards Lexington. But after seeing the militia gathered there, they released Revere, confiscating his horse to ride east to warn the approaching army. As the sun rose, Revere helped John Hancock and his family escape Lexington, even as the opening shots of the American Revolution sounded as the Battle of Lexington began.

One of the best known versions of the events of that night was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a native of Cambridge. I’ve included a small excerpt from it here:

He said to his friend, "If the British march

By land or sea from the town to-night,

Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch

Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--

One if by land, and two if by sea;

And I on the opposite shore will be,

Ready to ride and spread the alarm

Through every Middlesex village and farm,

For the country folk to be up and to arm."

I Wrote THAT?

There’s nothing like a really good critique team to allow you to fully realize your shortcomings as a writer.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think this is a bad thing. Having fresh eyes look at your manuscript allows you to see it through the perspective of a reader instead of that of a writer. Things that are obvious to you as the story planner can sometimes leave your reader scratching his or her head in confusion. These are all fixable story issues, but you need to know about them before you can revise accordingly.

We were lucky to build a really solid critique team from women we met on LiveJournal over the course of several years. Of our core critique team, Margaret and Jen are both excellent writers in their own right and Sharon is a fantastic editor. Our last team member, Lisa, has been one of our long term readers, but, more than that, she’s worked hand-in-hand with us as our technical advisor  on several novels and is currently back on board with us again for our current work-in-progress. Each of our team members brought something different to the table whether it was an eye for long arc story issues, character inconsistencies, police protocol mishaps, continuity errors, or line-by-line nitpicking. It was wonderful because, as a group, they covered all the bases. Needless to say, I’m thrilled that they’re all back on board for our current work-in-progress.

But apart from story issues, a really sharp critique reader will also help you improve your prose. This was where our agent, Nicole, really stepped up to the plate. She’s a trooper, and she spent a lot of time carefully reviewing the manuscript. And this was really where I got hit hard with that I wrote THAT?? feeling. Nicole has a professional eye, so her critique involved a lot of issues that we hadn’t fully touched upon before.

Nicole’s revision notes were quite an eye opener. For starters, apparently I have a real issues with point of view. It’s funny how switching POV never bothered Ann or I. But when Nicole sent the manuscript back, even though she'd made specific in-line notes about POV, she suggested rereading through the manuscript and highlighting each different character’s POV in a specific colour to really understand the issue.

Wow. Let’s just say that the chapters were way too colourful. But the point was made... in spades.

Another prevalent issue was passive versus active writing. There were entirely too many 'watched/saw/felt/thought' phrases and once she pointed them all out (and when I say all, I mean all), the impact of it was really obvious to me. How on earth did I not see that before?

The other thing that Nicole stressed to make sure that the goal motivated conflict for the characters was solid. This was another one of those issues where the motivations were obvious in my head, but might not be to the reader, so we made sure that aspect of the manuscript was tightened up.

Did I mention that Nicole is a trooper? Because she really, really is.

It was a massive revision to fix all that, but as much work as it was, it was a great learning experience for me. In starting our current work-in-progress, I’ve got my eye firmly on POV and am planning out chapters ahead of time specifying which POV to stick with. I have a list of passive verbs to watch for in our first edit run per chapter to weed them out right away. They say that recognizing a problem is half the battle; my goal is to not allow that kind of writing to creep in at all, but if it does, I’m now on the alert to clean it out, hopefully before Ann even sees the first draft. As I said, it was an excellent learning experience. Yes, for a moment or two it makes you question your skills as a professional writer, but in the end you develop stronger skills and that's the true positive outcome.

Have any of you had that I wrote THAT? feeling when you’ve gotten revision notes or contest notes back? Surely I’m not the only one...

Photo credit: CollegeDegrees360