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Emergency Supplies & Preparation – Part 2

EMERGENCY WATER SUPPLY – Part 1

After a lot of research over several years, and living through several Florida hurricanes, I came to the following conclusions about emergency preparation and the best way to prepare for food shortages.

Second freezers vs. Canning Foods:

This freezer is from Amazon and it is approximately $179.  They come in all sizes and all price ranges.  However, if the electricity goes off for a few hours, it is virtually impossible to save frozen foods.  No matter how many second freezers you have with extra food, they will all spoil at the same time.  And eating everything in the freezer is not going to do anything for you except make you too full and maybe get sick.

On top of that, there’s an emotional toll watching all of your food go bad one minute at a time takes on you.  No matter how many bags of ice you buy and how many Styrofoam chests you get, you won’t be able to keep up with the food spoilage.  I know, I’ve been there.  You’ll be lucky if you save some coffee milk.

Buying food on sale and keeping it in a freezer is a great hedge against inflation.  That’s where having an extra freezer or two can really pay off, especially in times when inflation is getting worse every week.  But if you anticipate being in a situation where you there electricity may go off, then you will wish your food was canned.



PRESSURE CANNING:

Investing in a Pressure Canner is much cheaper than the cheapest refrigerator.  This canner, which is the one I have, is only $131 dollars.  I have canned meat in this many, many times.

I got into canning when signs of civil unrest became too great to ignore.  By watching YouTube Videos, I have taught myself to can and I mainly can meat.  I don’t bother canning vegetables as I believe they will be easier to find during tough times.  We have local farms in the area and I even taught myself to grow lettuce, celery and tomatoes.  So instead of canning vegetables, I always make sure I have plenty of seeds on hand.  I keep them refrigerated.

WHAT DOES CIVIL UNREST LOOK LIKE?

Most Americans, including myself, don’t now what war looks like as none of us remember the civil war or the revolutionary war.  We also don’t know exactly what happens when civil unrest occurs.  However, during the summer after 2020, we saw BLM and Antifa jump into action, and there were fires, riots, looting, cars set on fire, police stations attacked, and even a section of a city was taken over in a few places around the country.  That was only a glimpse of what a mob can do when it decides to.

So canning enough food to be able to hide out for a few weeks until the worst of the unrest occurs will be one safety measure you can take.  By canning about $120 worth of chicken, you can feed a family for over 30 days — as long as you have pasta or rice to bulk out the meals.

HERE ARE MY OWN TEACHERS:

Linda’s Pantry

Im Still Working

These are two channels I watched and I was able to teach myself how to can chicken, beef and pork.  They both have great channels and you’ll enjoy lots of their videos.


CANNING INSTRUCTIONAL:

I will assume that if you are really interested in learning canning that you will watch a few of the above-referenced videos.  It’s important to see a few people canning as everyone has their own techniques.

Above are the tools that you will need.  The canner and lid.  I use one that requires a pressure weight (in the yellow box), canning jars, canning rings and brand new lids.  Everything can be reused except the actual lids.  So each time you do a new canning session, you can wash and sanitize everything except the lids.  They must be new.

When you buy a package of canning jars, they all come with lids and rings.  But once you use those lids, you need to purchase a small package of new lids as shown in the picture above this one.

TO BROWN THE MEAT OR NOT:

I don’t like the way raw chicken or beef looks in the jars, so I always brown my meat just a tiny bit.  To do this, I use a small grill that I picked up at Walmart.  At the time it was $20.  They are probably $25 or $30 now.



HOW LONG OF A CANNING SESSION WOULD BE GOOD FOR YOU?

If you’re young, you can do this whole process in one long afternoon.  However, if you are over sixty like me, you may be more comfortable breaking this down into two days of work.

DAY 1:

On Day 1, I go to the store and buy the chicken at my local Sam’s or Aldi’s in a big family size tray.  Then I come home and cut it up into the small  2 inch square pieces. I set up my electric grill and brown the meat just to give it some color.

At the same time, I put 8 empty mason jars into my dishwasher and run it on the sanitize cycle.  This cycle takes a while but they will be sanitized and ready to go in the morning.

Once all the chicken has been lightly browned — not cooked, only browned — I put the chicken in a covered container in the refrigerator.  I brown the chicken for 2 minutes on each side just to give it a little color.  I mention this because the chicken will be “cooking” when being canned for over an hour so thoroughly cooking the chicken at this point is unnecessary.

DAY 2:

Then the next morning, I take the chicken out of the refrigerator and place it close by where I’ll be working.

On one stove burner I heat up the water with the bouillon cubes on medium heat and allow them to melt.  On another burner, I fill my pressure cooker with the manufacturer’s suggested amount of water.  In my pressure canner, it’s about 2.5 inches from the bottom.  I set this on medium heat.

As the bouillon cubes are melting, I get the jars out of the dishwasher and line them up next to where I will be working.

Then I run the sink water until it gets really hot.  I fill a small saucepan 1/2 way with the very hot tap water.  I place the brand new canning tops into the water.  This will allow the reddish waxy substance to soften a little and give you a good seal.

Once the bouillon is good and hot, I begin to fill each jar with chicken and then ladle the bouillon over it until it is 1/2 inch from the top.  This is where you will use the funnel that comes in the canning tool kit.  Then I plunge the air stick, which also comes in the canning kit, into the jar to remove any air bubbles.  Once or twice into the jar is good.

Then I wet a paper towel with white vinegar or pour it into a little dish to have beside me.  Once you are finished filling each mason jar, use the vinegar soaked paper towel to clean off the top of the mason jar, the area that will touch the new lids.  Then using the magnet stick, which also comes in your canning tool kit, take out a top from the hot water and place it onto the top of the new-clean jar.  Once the top is on, then twist on a ring and make it finger tight.  Finger tight means you would be able to open it without using any arm strength, only finger strength.

Now the jar is ready to add to the canner, with the can mover tool that comes in the kit.  The water in the canner will be slowly heating up, so the cold chicken from the refrigerator will get a chance to come up to heat slowly.  By placing the jars in the canner one at a time, they will heat the chicken up a little at a time.

Fill all the 7 or 8 jars with chicken and bouillon and place them into the canner.  Toss in any extra white vinegar that you poured out and didn’t use.  This will prevent your jar contents from getting cloudy.



CLOSE THE CANNER AND BEGIN THE CANNING PROCESS:

Then following the manufacturer’s instructions, properly close your canner.  There will be instructions on how to create a vacuum.  On my particular canner, I need to bring the heat up and allow the canner to heat until there is a stead stream of steam escaping from the top hole on the lid for a full 10 minutes.  This allows the canner to work properly.

After the steam escapes for a full ten minutes, then I place the weight on the little stack that sticks out of the top of the pot lid.  Then I must watch the canner until it comes to the proper pressure.  I live in Florida and canning meat requires 1 hour and 15 minutes at 11 pounds.  You will need to check the little book that comes with your canner to find the right pressure for your elevation and area.

The first couple of times, it can get a little tricky to figure out how to keep the pressure at a stead level.  I have an electric stove and I need to start my canner on high to get it to get up to 11 pounds.  Then I need to put it down to just under half in order to maintain 11 pounds.

I set my cell phone to check it every 15 or 20 minutes to make sure it doesn’t go below 11 pounds.   If it goes below your mark, then you have to start over.  So when you are first canning, have a chair handy and be ready to watch it like a hawk and even take notes on how your stove works.

TIMINGS FOR FLORIDA:

MEAT:
Pints: 75 minutes at #11 (1 hour/15 minutes)
Quarts: 90 minutes at #11
Head Space: 1 inch

CHICKEN WITHOUT BONES:
Pints: 75 minutes at #11 (1 hour/15 minutes)
Quarts 90 minutes at #11 (1 hour/15 minutes)
Head space: 1.25 inch

 

If you want to download the above  Canning Instructional, click below:

 

 



Emergency Supplies & Preparation – Part 1

Everywhere I turn there are economists, political thinkers, ex-military generals all warning about the coming of World War III or some other impending doom.  These don’t seem to be people who are just trying to get internet attention, which makes me worry a little.

As an American, I can’t even envision what a war on our soil would look like.  And whether we have to worry about an outside invasion, or the invasion of fighting age men who have already arrived, many of us — especially woman — may need to baton down the hatches.

Which raises the issues, what does one need to baton down the hatches?



EMERGENCY WATER SUPPLY:

There are rain water supply systems that can be installed alongside your house that cost thousands of dollars and for those of you who have the means, this may be something you want to consider.   This would be done by an expert whose whole business is installing these and it would come with all the labor included.  I don’t have any idea of what something like this would cost, but I do know it’s an option.

A second choice is a garden rain barrel system.  Now, this doesn’t have to be in a garden, but it has to be somewhere in the open where it can catch rainwater.  It can be next to your house or even on a balcony or a cement yard as long as it is able to catch the rain.

This would be too big for a single woman living alone to handle, in my humble opinion.  I’ll cover a system for us next!



THE BUCKET SYSTEM:

 

In any true emergency, after several days, people will begin to get desperate.  They may begin to roam around looking for these easy-to-spot water barrels with the intention to take them or even take a supply of water for themselves from them.

By using small buckets with a “mosquito netting shower cap” on top, this may be a more stealth way to collect water in not only emergency times, but times of danger.

These buckets can be hidden behind bushes or even placed outside while you are able to watch them a bit.  They won’t look as inviting as the more professional systems above — at least that’s my opinion.

These are also more female-friendly as you can more easily move these buckets.  A 53 gallon system would be impossible for most females to move without the aid of a husband or other male.  It may even be hard for any male to move on his own.

If you get the food grade buckets, you can also put some food in them and you may even feel more comfortable collecting water to drink in them too.  These are easy to pick up in any home store and they can be a life saver in times of emergency.

Besides the buckets and mosquito netting, you will also need to pick up 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch elastic that you can tie around the top to hold the mosquito netting in place.  They sell this in fabric and craft stores, but the home stores may have a reasonable replacement for this.



FOOD SUPPLIES:

I’ve lived through enough hurricanes to know that when the electricity and internet is out, people tend to eat snacks more than anything.  However, if the electricity is off for any extended time, you will need to have a stash of food in case there are any emergencies that require you to stay home.

Below is a list of food combinations that will create a “complete protein”.  In my next posting, I’ll cover the basics of canning meat, but if you don’t have canned meat, you can create complete proteins by combining the following foods:

Rice & Beans – Individually, rice and beans lack certain essential amino acids, the building blocks of protein.  Rice is low in lysine but high in methionine.  Beans are high in lysine but low in methionine.
When eaten together, they complement each other. Rice provides the lysine beans lack, and beans provide the methionine rice lacks.
This combination creates a protein source with all nine essential amino acids, making it a “complete protein.

Below are other combinations that work together in the same way:

  • Brown rice with peanuts or almonds.
  • Whole-wheat crackers with sunflower seeds
  • Quinoa with pumpkin seeds
  • Corn and Beans: A classic combo in many cultures, like corn tortillas with beans or succotash (corn and lima beans)
  • Peanuts and Whole-Wheat Bread: A peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread is a complete protein source
  • Soy products: Tofu, tempeh, edamame, and miso are all excellent sources of complete plant-based protein.
  • Certain whole grains: Quinoa, buckwheat, and amaranth are all considered complete protein sources on their own.
  • Seeds: Hemp seeds, chia seeds, and nutritional yeast are all good sources of complete protein
  • Eggs: Scrambled eggs with chopped red potatoes or a potato omelet would create a complete protein dish
  • Oatmeal with nuts and seeds
  • Oatmeal and milk or yogurt
  • Oatmeal with Almond milk and sliced banana
  • Oatmeal with a scoop of protein powder and a fruit

LET’S HOPE THIS WILL ALL BE UNNECESSARY:

In mid-June of 2024, Russia moved a fleet of warships into the waters off Cuba.  The alleged purpose of these warships is to conduct military exercises in the Caribbean Sea.  This move by Russia was seen by some as a show of force amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West due to the war in Ukraine.  PBS News.

These warships reportedly included:

  • A frigate (Dictionary:  “any of various types of modern naval vessels ranging in size from a destroyer escort to a cruiser, frequently armed with guided missiles and used for aircraft carrier escort duty, shore bombardment, and miscellaneous combat functions.”)
  • A nuclear-powered submarine
  • An oil tanker
  • A rescue tug AP News

Let’s hope this is only saber-rattling of some kind and that it will be resolved in some peaceful way.  I live in Florida, and the craziness is getting a little too close for me.  It’s time to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrivener – Creating a Theme, Downloading a Theme and Importing a Theme

HOW TO CHANGE SCRIVENER'S DEFAULT THEME:

The first thing you need to do is click on File => Options.  It's down at the bottom of the options list under the File Tab.  There is a picture to the right.

Scrivener-File-Options

This will open a dialogue box.  Choose the Appearances Tab.  You can see it in the second picture above.

Organizing Information for an Infographic

WHO DOESN’T LOVE INFOGRAPHICS?

Infographic about Character ArcsI’ve always found that infographics can give you an instant bird’s eye view of any information, system, or strategy that makes understanding the information so much easier.

I’ve also found that organizing information in a way to make an infographic is a good way to actually study a subject.  Most of the style of infographics come from color, symbols, icons, and shapes.  The test of it is made up on bis and pieces of organized information.

INFOGRAPHICS AS A WAY TO LEARN INFO:

writers-block-at-nightThe last few times I was wrestling with learning something, I “took notes” and then organized them into an infographic or two.  What I found was that the process was easier than I thought.

After analyzing what makes an infographic, I realized that it all starts with the organized information set up in some kind of hierarchy, sectioning or divisions

Once you know how many containers of information you will need, your design begins there.  The rest of it is color choice, container sizes and shapes, and whatever illustrations, charts or icons you want to use to dress it up.



INFOGRAPHICS AS A WAY TO PASS ON WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED:

passing-on-infoOnce you are done, you know the material much better.  And with an infographic now in your hands, it’s easy enough to pass it on.  People love to have easy-to-understand information or directions at their fingertips!

If you would like to download an infographic about organizing information for infographics, sign up below.  This list only gets one email newsletter a month with other infographics, sales, deals and steals.

Writers Research – Gypsies from All Over the World

ROMANI (GYPSY SUBGROUPS) EXPLAINED:

Look what I found!  This young man explains all of the different subgroups inside the World of Romani.  These are the gypsies that are often referred to in fantasy and even vampire stories.  I thought this was a great find because these subgroups exist all over the world.

He gives the names of each subgroup on screen, so if you want to do further research, it will be easier to do.  This was a great find, so that’s why I’m including it in my Writer’s Research section.

 



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WRITING EXERCISE – Analyzing a Murder Mystery TV Show

BRITISH MYSTERY SHOW WHERE EVERYONE IS A SUSPECT

I've started watching several British Midsomer Murder Mysteries during the last two weeks while I proofread my latest novel, Where is Lucia.  I love the British mysteries as they are famous for having several suspects in the story, all of whom seem guilty.  And the real murderer is always a shocking surprise.

I decided to analyze one or two of the stories to see how the script writer handled the suspects and hid clues of the real culprit.

I watched this on YouTube where it's free.  I'll have the show below where you can access it on YouTube if you want to watch it too.

MY PROCEDURE FOR THIS IN CASE ANYONE WANTS TO TAKE A SHOT AT DOING THE SAME WITH ANOTHER SHOW:

I chose a murder mystery that I had already seen.  I knew how it ended and I was then able to focus only my author mind on watching for clues, subtext and foreshadowing while I watched the show.

The name of the show I chose was DEATH AND DREAMS.  I used my cellphone and an app called "One Note".  It has a dictation feature on it. I also had a small notebook that I jotted down a few notes on so I wouldn't forget to mention in my dictation review.  I paused the show and dictated my notes.   When I opened my laptop, I copied and pasted them into this blog post and cleaned it up.

Many British script writers specialize in murders where everyone is a suspect and there are more than two or three suspects in each drama.  And the real culprit is always a surprise.

Below is the analysis I did after watching a Midsomer Murder Show on YouTube.  It's free with ads.  I'll post the video below in case you want to read my analysis and see what you think.



THE OPENING SCENE VS. THE SHOW OPENING:

This show opened with the camera walking through a common middle-income family home.  A radio was playing a call in show.  The woman speaking was referring to her kids being downstairs and probably laughing at her for calling the show.  The announcer had the usual fake enthusiastic voice talking with her.

The camera moved slowly during two minutes of this show talk and then you saw a man sitting in a chair with his head back.  His eyes were closed but it was not possible to determine if he was sleeping or dead.  The camera then showed an elaborate knotting system of fish wire that was strung around to a shotgun on the other side of the room.  Then you heard the explosion and the camera showed you a grizzly scene of a man blown down into a bloody mess against his stove.

The next scene was the usual opening of the Midsomer show, which is an introduction of very sweet music showing various scenes from English village life.  Each scene is beautiful, cottages, ducks waddling around, beautiful weather, long windy roads, lots of trees.  This opening made the last scene seem even more ghastly.

As an author, I think following up a ghastly scene with a scene of domestic life would have the same effect.

INITIAL CLUES - SUICIDE:

The next scene shows Det. Barnaby and Sgt. Troy show up and discuss what they see.  Troy draws a conclusion that it has to be suicide.  Det. Barnaby is not so sure.  He wonders why the guy didn't just go outside and shoot himself; why the elaborate fish-wire setup.

Barnaby notices a silver trophy that is present on the table.  He smells what's inside and he also sees a bottle of wine present in the kitchen.  They mention that the housekeeper is the one who found him.



INTERVIEW WITH THE HOUSEKEEPER:

The housekeeper, Mary May, confirms she found him when she showed up at 8:30.   Her affect is off, however.  This is one way the writer cast some doubt about her.  She was too contained, too reserved in her reaction with the cops.

She goes on to say that she and others may have seen this coming.  Mr. Martin Roth was a mean man.  He hadn't paid her for 4 weeks before he died.  She went on to say he owed a lot of people money.  She also said a lot of people didn't like him.  This too creates the possibility that maybe someone else wanted to murder Mr. Roth.

NOTIFICATION OF THE ESTRANGED WIFE:

Barnaby and Troy go to notify his next of kin which is his estranged wife, Sarah Roth.  She says he was a miserable drunk, gambler and cheater and also physically abused her.  She is shocked however when they say her husband killed himself.  She is now living with another guy, Gordon, who is a part time chemist/pharmacist and local musician who leads a small town marching band.  They have a small baby that she is taking care of.

The wife does show some guilt when she says she hopes it wasn't over her.  It comes out that her husband wanted her back and he kept coming over when he was drunk and shouting things at her from outside.  When Barnaby is there, he sees similar trophies to what he found at the murder scene.  Silver cups.  This casts suspicion on the wife or her new boyfriend.  Her ex made all kinds of trouble for her and her new husband who were set to be married as soon as the divorce went through.  This, of course, could be a motive as well.

Somewhere in the beginning Barnaby gets a report that Mr. Roth was on a large amount of Tenzine and this is an antidepressant but it would have rendered him incapable of pulling the trigger.  He was killed first and then blown apart.  The cops know it's murder not suicide.



THE CHEMIST FINDS OUT:

In the next scene, Mary May, the housecleaner, runs into the pharmacy and tells Gordon -- Sarah's Baby Daddy -- that she found Martin Roth shot dead.  He almost rudely escorts her out of his shop without explanation.  It makes you wonder if she is just a gossiping troublemaker.

BARNABY'S OLD COLLEAGUE FROM MERCY PARK ENTERS THE STORY:

Next we find out that Martin Roth was receiving psychological treatment at a local psych hospital that was run by his old pal, Dr. Jane Moore.  Jane runs the institution and is widowed now.  Her husband died on a climbing expedition a few months earlier.  She is now taking care of her three step children, two of whom witnessed their father's death, but they all appear to be a happy family.

Dr. Moore is referred to as a psychological profiler and she worked a case with Barnaby in the past.  He has great respect for her, but Troy resents a chumminess that exists between them -- probably because Barnaby is a married man.

Dr. Moore is shocked to hear her ex-patient killed himself.  She admits she used to go there and check in on him.  You get the impression it may have been friendship or she is just being a good doctor.

 

THE DOCTOR'S FIRST PARTY - THE ANNIVERSARY:

Dr. Moore has a party to celebrate her hospital being open for a year.  Barnaby brings his wife and Toby comes with Barnaby's daughter, I think her name is Cilly.  This is where the young resident says he would do anything for the doctor and the two daughters are standing next to him.  They roll their eyes at him and the younger one giggles at him.  They think he's a fool.

Troy still doesn't like the closeness between his boss and Dr. Moore.  He decides to leave with Cilly and he wants to go to the obstacle course at the hospital and climb the elaborate rope climbing.

Cilly sees movement in the bushes, but she dismisses it because it was only a second.  The viewers know there's someone in the bushes.  Troy tries to climb but he's a little tipsy from drinking and he falls down onto the ground and laughs.  Cilly says, I'll show you how it's done.  She climbs up with no trouble and as she comes to the top, she looks up and the young resident is dead and hanging from a hangman's rope.   Cilly tells her father the next day at lunch about seeing the bushes move and thinking someone else was there but she can't be sure.

The medical examiner says that this victim was drowned in the creek behind the climbing equipment and dead first before he was strung up.  They also found Tetrine in his pocket, the same pills that Martin Roth had taken.   It's starting to look like maybe it was the resident who was the murderer.

THE DRUM MAJORETTE OUTFIT HAS ARRIVED:

Now, in the next scene, the chemist is on the phone and he's whispering to someone that a little something has come in the mail and maybe you'd like to come and see me sometime.  You hear his baby in the background which makes him seem even more sleezy.

DR. MOORE STICKS UP FOR HER RESIDENT:

The two cops are in the hospital looking through a bunch of stuff.  Troy tells the doctor that the resident had Tetrine pills in his pocket and she replied that he probably had them to give to the patients.  Troy asked here, why did he bring them to the party.  You can tell there's a little tension between the doctor and Troy.

Then the older cop shows the doctor that there's a letter he found.  He's holding a letter about Dean Honeysette, stating that in light of his recent behavior, he recommends that all of his privileges are suspended.  Being a gardener off premises is a big privilege.  It was signed by the resident.  This makes the viewer believe that this would be a reason for Dean to kill the resident, to protect his privileges.



THE COPS TALK TO DEAN AT THE HOSPITAL:

The cops find Dean in the hospital and he's very guarded and  uncooperative -- also still pretty weird too.  And they asked him where he was last night when the resident was killed and he claims he has an alibi.  He was in the wing of the hospital and there are 4 people who saw him.  It was lights out at 9:30 and he claims he was in bed.

They ask him about his criminal record and it comes out that he was a car thief but he did resort to strangling someone then.

Dean tells the cops that he didn't kill the first guy and he said he didn't kill the second guy (the resident), but he thinks the second guy who died was weak.  He said this place needs strong people like him and Dr. Moore.  He claims that people look up to him and feel that he has been through everything and is still okay.

Dean also tells them that he told the doctor not to put the obstacle/exercise course along the river creek in the back, but the rope guy insisted that's where it should go.  He knew it was going to be trouble.

THE COPS GO SEE THE ROPE GUY:

As the cops pull up to see the Rope guy, he is acting weird and says that he loves rope, the feel of it.  He asks the cop to smell the rope and reveals it's the best rope in the world.  It's from the middle east somewhere.

He goes on to tell them that his family before him were Rope Guys.  He had a distant relative who was a hangman.  He says this with pride.  He comes off like a nutball and he could easily be the culprit.  It also comes out that Martin Roth also owed him money.  They were supposed to go into business together.  He shows the cops a stand that has a few handmade toys or some kind on it.  That was the money Roth never gave him.

THE CLOTHESLINES BEGIN TO DISAPPEAR:

Then in the next scene, with no explanation to the viewer, you see a woman taking clothing off of a clothesline, an innocent domestic scene.  She has her children in the yard with her.  After she leaves, someone off camera comes up and cuts the clothesline at both ends and takes the rope away.  No explanation.

MEET THE BABYSITTER:

The cops both go to talk to Gordon the chemist and Sarah his wife but they are out.  The Doctor's daughter, Hannah, is babysitting.  She gives him a cup of tea and they make pleasant conversation.  She tells him she's nervous about what's happening all around them in the village.  He tells her not to worry, they are on the case.  She tells him she wishes they could all move away from there and go someplace where they could all take care of their mother.  She asks Barnaby if he will be going to her mother's second event -- the second party.  I can't remember what the occasion is, but it's the second party the doctor has at her place.  Barnaby says, oh yes.  Barnaby asks Hannah if she likes the marching band music.  She says, oh, no, it's so silly with those outfits they wear.  She rolls her eyes.  She has no interest in it.



DR. MOORE'S SECOND PARTY:

They go tot he party but this one is set up like a little town bizarre or carnival.  Gordon and his band are all dressed up in their uniforms and they are playing music at the affair.

In the background, the rope guy is present and acting generally weird, but nothing relevant, just weirdo stuff, looking mean and dastardly as he was playing one of the carnival games.

Dean is also there and he is wearing his Nazi look and demeanor.  He's eating something and just pushing it into his mouth like a complete nut ball.

Mary Mays husband is a referee and he is organizing them into a tug of war.  On one side is Dean the weirdo and his bunch of other guys.  On the other side is The Rope Guy and his bunch of other guys.  As Mary's husband counts down, the guys begin to pull before he says go and they all wind up falling down.  The ref begins to scold them and Dean comes up and starts strangling him.  The cops come and wrestle them apart.

Just at that moment, Mary Mays shows up and says what's going on here?  And she reports on a terrible crime that just occurred at her house.  They go and her clothesline has been put down.  Hers and her neighbors.  She left the crime scene alone, in other words, the clothing was still on the ground.  Troy is about ready to roll his eyes when she refers to it as a crime scene.

Troy also tells Barnaby that he should arrest Dean because he's dangerous and he had the motive and means to be the killer of all of of them.  Barnaby doesn't want to act yet.  Troy thinks he is allowing his feeling for the doctor to get in the way.

THE CHEMIST GOES ON HIS SECRET RONDEVOUS:

The camera shows Gordon put son a new uniform he bought, adjusts his hat, opens the door and says, "I'm glad you were able to come".  Viewer can't see who is at the door.  Scene ends.



ANOTHER ROPE CUTTING:

Mary May's husband throws the garbage out from his business on Main Street.  He looks across the street and someone has cut the rope that was holding his English flag up and it's now laying on the ground.  He's outraged and like his wife, he considers this a serious crime and call the cops.

As Troy is dealing with Mary's husband, he looks over and sees Sarah with her baby in a carriage knocking on the pharmacy door calling out her husband's name.  Troy goes over and finds out Gordon never came home last night.

Two musicians show up to the music room for practice and knock, but no one answers.  They think it's odd, but wait.  Then they go in and see Gordon has been hung from the back of the door in the music room.  He's dead.

When Barnaby and Troy show up, they see scuffle marks and they believe that he too was killed first, and then strung up.  It's all about the rope.  His wallet and valuables were still present.  It wasn't a robbery.  They notice a package wrapping that is left on a couch.  They trace it and find out it was for a majorette's outfit.

MORE CLOTHESLINES:

There is another inexplicable scene where you see a farmer riding on his tractor.  Off to the side he sees something.  The camera shows rows and rows of clotheslines that are holding some kind of brownish muslim sacks.  There's no explanation.  In the midst of these sack is a the new Major music jacket Gordon bought for himself.  The scene ends without any real explanation.

DR. MOORE IS AGAIN HORRIFIED:

The cops go and tell Dr. Moore and she says it's horrible.  She comments that he was harmless. She can't fathom why anyone would kill him.  She tells them she has to show them something.  She brings them into the back of the hospital and all the ropes have been removed from the obstacle/exercise course.

THE COPS VISIT THE ROPE GUY AGAIN:

The two cops go to visit the rope guy and when they arrive, he is walking out of his business.  He tells them he was about to come and see them.  He shows them that he has been  cleaned out.  Every rope he owned is gone.  All of it.   He only left to get something to eat, he couldn't have been gone fore more than an hour or so.

BARNABY MEETS WITH SARAH:

Troy still thinks the killer is Dean.  Barnaby is still investigating.  He goes to see Sarah Roth, the Chemists grieving girlfriend.  She is upset about losing Gordon.  Barnaby asks her if she ever noticed the trophy missing.  She said, no, she didn't.  He asks if her husband every told her it was missing.  She said no.  Barnaby asks if maybe Hannah the babysitter could have taken it.  Sarah scoffs and says, no, she would never do anything like that.

Barnaby asks her if she knows anything about her husband getting a drum majorette's outfit.  She said, no, he didn't mention it, but she knew he wanted to get majorettes for his band, but she told him she thought the village was too conservative for that.  She wasn't alarmed at all by his behavior.  Sarah tells Barnaby that Gordon thought her ex-husband took the trophy and that could be because he was always hanging around, watching them, and starting trouble.



BARNABY CHECKS OUT THE FARM WITH ALL THE CLOTHESLINES:

Next scene is Barnaby going to talk to the farmer and there is a cricket game or some other English sport going on with the doctor's step son.  The two girls, Hannah and her younger sister are sitting on a blanket with food and tea.  They give Barnaby a tea.

The younger sister gets weird and asks Barnaby if he's ever been on a picnic with their mom.  He says no, and she says, I bet you would like to.  Her sister tells her to be quiet.  Barnaby takes it all in.  He takes the musician's coat that was hanging on the clothes line and he goes into his car.  He puts his head back and closes his eyes like he wanted to take a nap.

When he wakes up, it's dark outside.  He looks around and he sees some kind of movement over by the clotheslines.  He gets out and goes over to see what is going on.  Someone throws a rope around his  neck and begins to strangle him.

Just in the nick of time, Troy pulls up and beeps his horn.  Whoever was strangling Barnaby is thrown to the ground.  He is taken to Dr. Moore's house and given some whiskey or something to settle him down.  Her kids are all there with her.   Barnaby is nursed back into shape by Dr. Moore and her kids.

THE COPS GO LOOKING FOR DEAN:

After this, the two cops go looking for Dean. He hasn't returned to the hospital. They find all kinds of rope in his closet.  Then they go back on the grounds to another area that he used to work in.  They open up a shed and there's more rope inside there too.

Dean shows up and tells them that he saw Troy and his girlfriend in the yard that night.  He was ready to cut the doctor down, but they showed up.  (This resolves who was in the bushes when Cilly saw them moving).

He then says that he had to remove all the ropes so the killing would stop.  It was the only thing that would stop the killing.  Barnaby asks him how many are we talking about?  He doesn't answer.  He then refuses to talk.

BARNABY FIGURES IT OUT ON HIS OWN:

In the next scene, a white van pulls up and the school kids get off.  Dr. Moore's kids are on the bus.  They are then taken into custody and separated for questioning.   Barnaby starts with the older sister.

She is snotty and scoffing and basically unresponsive for awhile until she figures out they have evidence on her.  She finally comes clean and admits that they killed everyone and she ends by saying "no one will ever take our mother from us."

THEN THE REAL PSYCHO ENTERS THE SCENE:

The next scene is when the younger girl comes in for questioning.  She asks where her mother is.  There is a guardian there for her but not her mother.  At first she just looks nervous.

Barnaby asks her a few preliminary questions and she is a little more cooperative than the sister.  He asks her if she loved her dad and she said yes but goes on to admit she loves her mother more.  Barnaby asks her if her brother and sister witnessed their father's death.  She giggles and whispers to him that he didn't fall from the cliff, her brother and sister pushed him.  She giggles and giggles.  She's weirder than all three previous weirdos in the show.  The actress playing the sister had spaces between her teeth and this made her seem crazier and more psycho when she giggled.



THE LAST SCENE - BARNABY IS REALLY A GOOD HUSBAND:

In the last scene, the older cops wife pulls up in her car and she seems like she doesn't know what's going on.  She asks him why have you asked me to come here?  He tells her I may need you for this.  They stand together as a couple as Dr. Moore meets them.

The show ends by Barnaby putting his arm around Dr. Moore's shoulder and walking with her and his wife into her hospital.  He is telling her that her kids are all psychos and they were the ones who killed all the people.

The only thing that was left out of this narration, to the best of my knowledge, is that when Hannah and Barnaby were talking, it showed Hannah pulling the fish wire to fire the gun.  It also showed all three kids holding the Resident underwater to drown him.  They also showed the brother strangling Gordon while the two girls taunted him by mimicking drum majorettes.

WHAT I LEARNED AS AN AUTHOR:

I found it surprising that they had about three scenes where nothing happens except characters act mean and crazy.  Like other viewers, I didn't think twice about it as I watched the show the first time.  I just thought these guys looked guilty or crazy and could be a suspect.

Secondly I learned that there was very little if any foreshadowing about the sisters during the entire show.  Aside from their connection to the head of the hospital, there was no real connection to them until almost the end when it was time to wrap up the 1.5 hour murder show.  I didn't think anything of this when I watched the first time which means the author got away with it!

Thirdly, I learned that bookending grewsome scenes in between two sweet domestic scenes makes the horror worse somehow.  This is an important takeaway.

Fourthly, I learned that you don't always have to offer a reason right away for a character acting weirdly.  It's okay to have some scenes where something strange happens with no explanation until later on.

Next I learned that there was no mention of the absurdity of having this serial killer on the loose in a small village in England and there's no press around and people seem to just take it in their stride.  In the same way that a person agrees to suspend belief in a horror or science fiction movie, they will also suspend belief about the level of murder for the sake of a good murder mystery.

I also noted that the two sisters were not weird at all during the entire show, but in the last scene, for the sake of a little horror, the writer made the girls quite ruthless and horrible.  To me, this also relies on the reader/viewer agreeing to suspend belief for the sake of a good mystery.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

If you would like to discuss this show, email me at rshannon at readfirstchapter dot com.

 

Book Marketing – Where Do I Start?

BOOK MARKETING STARTS BY SETTING MARKETING GOALS:

wooden-figure-reading-bookEach writer or author will have slightly different goals.  My blog post will speak directly to website bloggers and/or to fiction authors.  However, if you publish low-content books or children’s books —  or even coloring books, all of these techniques will be relevant to you because they are about basic marketing.  Just change up whatever technique is mentioned and make it more fitting to whatever type of marketing you need to do.

ESTABLISH REALISTIC MARKETING GOALS:

Marketing is not something that you do.  It’s something that you build.  Everyone has a first day and sits behind a computer not knowing what to do first.  So let’s start there.

BUILD A READERSHIP:

-readership-illustration

If you are self-publishing any kind of books or launching a blog  from scratch, you will need to build a readership.  Building a readership is also something you build over time.  Everyone starts with no readers but their parents or spouses.  However, once you establish a building process, the readers will accumulate slowly but surely.

One of the only things left that professional publishers can offer authors is an automatic reader list.  They have gathered millions of names, addresses and emails over fifty years or more.  So that is a valuable commodity and the one and only reason you should think about being with a professional publishing company.

However, some younger people who are social media savvy have been able to build millions of followers as an “influencer” so don’t count yourself out as someone who may have good luck with self-marketing.

If you are authoring fiction and selling books, your first order of business is to start collecting emails into a reader list.  A reader list is referred to as a “newsletter list” in the industry, but when you are building a readership, I prefer “reader list”.  Going forward, just know they are the same thing.

email-graphicSTART COLLECTING EMAILS:  Collecting emails to send to people about your book or books.  I would recommend MailerLite as they are the least expensive but professional platform for a beginner.  Everyone starts with a free account.  They allow you to collect a couple of hundred emails before they want to get paid.  And then they charge you per hundred or so.  So your expenses keep steady with your marketing results.

JOIN GOODREADS:  Establish a presence on GoodReads.com where the most avid and voracious readers hang out.  Sign up for an account with them and you will get a chance to upload your book cover.  It can be a little confusing at

Goodreads so I’ll post a video about joining and navigating around there.

The biggest tip I can give you is that Goodreads is a website about readers.  When you log in, it recognizes you only as a reader until you go to your author dashboard.  It took me a long, long time to figure this out.  I was always looking for my book and I was disoriented within five minutes.



ESTABLISH LOCAL COMMUNITY CONTACT:  Every library would be interested in who their local authors are.  You can set up a talk and sell some books when you do a book launch.

I personally am too shy (and too old) to go this route, but if you happen to be a bit younger or extroverted, this can create a HUGE BUZZ.  Local people become fans, they tell people they know you, they buy paperbacks and hardcovers — and many want you to sign them!  So don’t underestimate the life of the buzz you can create by talking about your book in front of a few people at the local library.

KINDLE SELECT:  Seriously consider entering your book into Kindle Select on Amazon so you can give away many books each quarter.  This is the quickest way to get attention and reviews.  The more readers you have, the better the odds of getting a review.

Many new authors get too hung up on how long it took them to write the book and they don’t like the idea of not getting paid for it.  However, Amazon is the biggest search engine for books.  That means that your competition is Steven King, Nora Roberts, Lee Childs, Agatha Christie, etc.

It’s important to understand that allowing people to read your book may create a fan, a repeat reader.  That’s your realistic goal.  Unless you have hundreds or thousands you can put into marketing each month, you will be building a readership one reader at a time.

LOW-BID AMAZON AD STRATEGY:  And the last step for absolute beginners is to learn strategies for low-bid strategies (going for the low-hanging fruit) using Amazon Ads.  This is where you bit .12 cents a click.  You won’t rocket to the top of the best seller list, but this is a great strategy to begin to crawl your way out of oblivion.  I’ll have a dedicated blog post about how to set up a low-bit strategy.

BUILD A SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE:

First-things-first-arrowI personally don’t like social media — the whole thing.  However, I also don’t really like marketing either!  But in today’s world, if you want to self publish, you need to market your books or blog and there are lots of ways to market even if you are shy or introverted, like I am.

First establish Social Media Accounts in your professional Name.  This could be your author name, pen name, website name, blogging handle, or some other name that is dedicated to your business.  Don’t blend any personal social media with your professional social media presence.

So the first thing to do is to establish accounts at all of the following social media platforms:

FACEBOOK – Facebook is the biggest arena for Boomers, who are retired and have the most money and the most time to read.  So you need to establish a presence on Facebook even if you are younger and don’t use it yourself.  As stated above, create a Business Page in your author name, blog name, website name or pen name.  This will be dedicated to subjects around your writing.  If you don’t know how to do this, just search on YouTube for “How to start a Facebook Page”.

TWITTER-NOW-KNOWN-AS X:  This website is growing quickly.  It has the largest political group and finance group, both left and right, on the internet.  This group too also tends to be economically comfortable and will buy what they want.  If you don’t write about politics, it’s okay.  You will be  “posting to google analytics”.  More on that below.

Posting to Google Analytics means that Google spider bots crawl the internet without stop.  They are constantly cataloguing and making decisions about who is an authority on what subject all the time.  So even if you don’t get a lot of views or reposts, the google bots are still absorbing what you are doing.

I don’t get that many reposts, but the most traffic that comes to my website is from Google.  So it’s still working.  It’s important to know this so you don’t feel like you’re being ignored or wasting your time.

LINKEDIN – If you write on business or off any type of service, anything business people would need or like, then you want to establish a presence on LinkedIn as well.  Most people don’t look for their next book or interesting blogs on LinkedIn, but again, you are posting to the algorithms.  In the next installment, I’ll be going over how to find complementary products and/or interests to post about, especially if you only have one book.

GAB – This website is a bit controversial because they had a big fight years ago with the ADL, but it is still a place that has a huge Christian presence.  I’ve never seen anything anti-Jewish or antisemitic posted so I’m not sure what the big todo was about, but in any event, I thought I would mention this.  It could have been just a big ego fight between two guys.  But if you write Christian fiction, like I do, or write things that fellow Christians, patriots, or other spiritual people may be interested in, you will want to establish a presence on Gab.  Just don’t let this be your own social media because it really specializes in Christian and Patriotic users and they are not the only readers out there.

INSTAGRAM:  You also need to post to Instagram.  This social media website has a much younger demographic that uses it, but they are also glued to their screens all the time.  Instagram is very popular and has lots of graphic posts as well as videos.

PINTEREST – Establish a business page with Pinterest.  Pinterest has millions of users and is probably the biggest search engine next to Google and Amazon.  So this is a must.  Again, don’t mix business with personal.  Establish a page as an author, blogger, or writer.

There are ways to create many different pictorial posts representing one book, so be sure to join Pinterest right away.

TIKTOK:  If you’re thirty-five and older, I would recommend holding off on TikTok, mainly because it is a platform for videos.  Candid videos.  There was a trend called “Booktok” that was pretty popular for awhile, but it got so competitive, I think it has blown over — unless you can post videos everyday.

Tiktok is also battling for survival with the US Courts.  No one knows their fate at the time of this writing.  However, like I said earlier, their platform is for video only.  People under 35 have grown up videoing themselves all day long, so posting on Tiktok is easy for them.  But for those of us over 35, making a video could be a half day or full day affair.  So with that warning, I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether Tiktok is for you.

ESTABLISH A PLAN OF ACTION:

First:  It’s only a plan of action if you do something about it all.  So be sure to open your social media accounts in the next days if you haven’t established them already.

Second:  Establish a mailing list on one of the many platforms out there.  I would recommend MailerLite as the first email collection platform.  There are others out there but the last time I did research — which was about six months previous to this blog post — they were the best deal for the monthly money.  I was paying almost $135 a month to Mailchimp (I had about 3500 emails) and I got the same program for $35 a month at MailerLite.

Most programs start free, but don’t underestimate how soon you will build up a following.

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How to do a Double-Opt-In Email and Giveaway at MailerLite

Double-Opt-In-at-MailerLight

Above is a diagram of most of the moving parts involved in setting up a give away using a double opt-in email and automation at Mailerlite.  Seeing it visually will help you understand all the bits and pieces I talk about in the video that goes along with this post.

The video below is a comprehensive tutorial about setting up a giveaway using a double-opt-in email, and sending an email containing a link to a download for an infographic.



For self-publishers, building a reader list, sometimes referred to as a newsletter list, it is important to find ways to build your readership.  By offering occasional giveaways, you can build your list a little faster.

People love infographics that organize and simplify information, so that is what I decided to offer as a giveaway in the offer in the video.

WHAT IS A DOUBLE OPT IN EMAIL?

A double-opt in email is one where the person signs up but then they must go and retrieve the email in order to confirm it is a live email.  It presents you from gathering made up emails.  It keeps your reader list clean of fake emails.

WHAT WILL BE COVERED IN THE VIDEO?

Like the picture above, I will cover the entire process from uploading the giveaway to Google drive and getting the proper link for the ultimate email form.

Then we go to Mailerlight and I walk you through the system as I set up a give away using the double opt-in email.

At the end, I then show you how it works.  I also give a secret tip at the end about what to do with all the links you have gathered in order to put something like this together.

VIDEO TIMELINE:

00:01 – What we will cover in the video
Outlining all the components and links we will need
07:57 – Uploading the document at Google Drive
11:17 – MailerLite – First Form, the Sign up form and Success Message
15:20 – Email Settings (I leave them all unchecked)
16:00 – Creating the automation, the workflow
17:50 – Create the Email that is launched when the form is filled out
18:40 – Selecting a Mailerlite Template
20:00 – Creating an Email Template
20:50 – Adding the Google Drive link to the Email Form
22:00 – How to save the finished Email as a reuseable Template
23:00 – Set up the double Opt in
24:00 – How to find the direct link to the Mailerlink Form
27:00 – How the form works

Here is the video for your review:

If anyone is interested in getting a copy of the Infographic about How to Create a Character Arc in a 4-Part Story Structure, you can sign up below!

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How to Plan and Execute a Character Arc

Character-arc-graphic

I write novels in series and like there to be a personal subplot that takes place over each book, but another longer arc that takes place over the entire book series.    In order to pull this off, I need to be very organized and deliberate in how I let the character arc play out not only over time but over the book series as well.

This blog post is about my process in doing that.  Now, I don’t claim this to be the only way to go about it, but it is the way I do it and it works for me.  This process is not how I started out working on character arcs!   I learned the hard way that it’s important to know in the very beginning how you will allow the book arc and the series arc plays out.

I know there are long multi-book series where the main character is more of an action hero and he/she doesn’t change much.  Legal thrillers and the Jack Reacher book series comes to mind.  This does work as Lee Childs and other successful authors can attest to.  They have sold millions of copies with these stock hard-boiled characters who remain generally the same over the entire series.

I prefer there to be more character growth in each book, plus, I like there to be a series arc as well.  My series are shorter than Mr. Child’s but each writer has to find their own place.  I like shorter series with the main characters participating in more of a family drama and/or a romantic subplot.



THE FIRST STEP IN SETTING UP A CHARACTER ARC IS TO ESTABLISH THE FOLLOWING:

Character-Arc-Top-Section

Sketch out on a mind map or even a piece of paper the answer to each of the above character development questions.  MC stands for Main Character and ANT stands for Antagonist.  By sketching them out at the same time in the beginning stages, it will give you a strong direction for your writing right from the get go.  Of course, if you have more than one main character, you will want to repeat this process for every main character.

This also allows you to see and create a conflict between the main character and the antagonist.  This is particularly helpful to new writers who lean towards making all characters “too nice”.  Without some level of conflict, there won’t be enough conflict or drama to move forward in the story.  It will simply be an “and-then-this-happened, and-then-this-happened” kind of story.

BREAK THE ENTIRE CHARACTER ARC INTO THREE OR FOUR PARTS:

I use a four-part plot structure, so I break my character arc into four sections.  This allows me to keep up with the character development and also don’t resolve the inner conflict too early.

I find this technique also gives me solid writing boundaries and/or writing guideposts.  When I’m in Part 2, I know my goal for this section is to make sure the planned character arc for Part 2 is completed before I move to part 3.

Creating-character-arc-bottom



A LITTLE ADVICE ABOUT WRITING IN SERIES:

Now that I’ve written my third book series, I think in terms of multiple-book character acts.   As I start out with new characters in a new series, I make sure that I have many options of where these characters can go over the entire series.

A special note to pantsers:  This technique gives guideposts and boundaries, but every story or novel takes on a creative life of it’s own.  I find by having the character arc written down and sectioned, it makes it easier to change the story as this creative process takes over.  I simply look over the character arc and alter it with the new “better idea” that has come up.

I find it gives me the best of both worlds.  I have a strong direction when I am writing, but flexibility and ease are built into the process itself.  It’s super easy to change mid-stream by just tweaking the character arc a bit.

I hope this helps new writers!

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How to Brainstorm A New Story

WHAT TO DO IF YOU NEED TO WRITE A STORY AND YOU’RE STUCK:

Mastering the art of writing captivating mysteries. Unleash your creativity and weave intricate tales of crime and suspense.

Create an illustration of a writer sitting at a desk trying to think of something.

MYSTERY NOVEL BRAINSTORMING WORKSHEET

This worksheet is geared for those who want to write a mystery or crime novel.  It helps with writer’s block too.  It breaks down the process into small bite-sized pieces and it will get your motor going without any effort. 

Just follow the suggestions, summed up easily below, and you will have at least the start of something within minutes.   There is a link below to download the three-page instructional and checklist.  

If you are an intermediate novel writer, here is a graphic of the overall process without the instructional questions:  

THIS WORKSHEET HAS MULTIPLE PURPOSES: 

writers-block-at-nightIf you are stumped for a main story, or if you are stumped for what happens now, or even if you have written yourself into a bit of a corner, this instructional will help, along with your own creativity and thinking, to bring about new possibilities. 

Jump into the series of steps wherever you are in the writing process and it will help you restart your engine. Once you go through the process a time or two, I’m sure it will become your go-to procedure.  

THE LISTS | CHOOSE FROM COLUMN A AND COLUMN B:

Below is a closer look at Page 3 of the Worksheet where it will give you a wide birth of choices for mysteries and/or crimes.  It’s hard for one mind to think of all the possibilities without some kind of aid no matter how creative one is.  

START THE WORKSHEET BY CHOOSING A CRIME OR MYSTERY:

Let’s talk about how to use this work sheet.  Choose a crime or mystery from the list below and make up a potential perpetrator.  Don’t waste time on what he or she looks like.  Then start asking the following questions:

  • Why would this person want to commit this crime?
  • What could be going on in his/her life that would make him/her feel they needed to commit this crime?
  • How would he want to cover his tracks?
  • What specific knowledge would a character need to pull off a crime or swindle like this? In other words, is he/she an accountant and that makes it easier to commit a financial crime?
  • Then ask: Who would need to help him or give him/her cover? Add necessary characters and think about a connection.  Is it a family connection?  Is it a romantic connection?

THE NEXT SET OF QUESTIONS TO ASK:

Design-a-plotlineOnce you have a perpetrator and the cast of necessary characters, then it’s time to answer the following questions:

  • What could go wrong in the commission of this crime that would create tension or mystery? (He drops a glove or a drop of blood.)
  • How will these clues ultimately lead to his/her exposure? (How will this clue be found?)
  • How can this end in a way that would let justice prevail? (How and who will find the clue?)
  • How will the culprit ultimately be caught? (Is he cornered by an accuser? Is he arrested?  Does he confess?)
  • What is one clue that can be minimized in the beginning of the story but will turn out to be the one who catches the bad guy?

building-suspense

NEXT SET OF QUESTIONS:

  • List the things that could go right for the perpetrator — like a second, more-likely suspect pops up and suddenly all eyes are not on the real culprit anymore?
  • Could there be other likely suspects that would also have motivation to commit the crime?
  • As the story grows, add whatever crucial characters are needed (witnesses, husbands, wives, bosses, helpers, etc.) who you will need to make the crime and solving of the story happen.
  • If you get this far, it means that you have a viable storyline.

THE SKELETON OF THE CRIME:

skeleton of a crimeBefore you exert too much energy fleshing out any character or story details, be sure to check to make sure you can design a three-prong storyline out of this budding storyline.  One prong will be a red herring storyline, someone who may look guilty, but is exonerated in the middle or end of the story.  The second prong is a second suspect or a wrong suspect who will look guilty for a large segment of the storyline.  And the final prong will be for the real culprit.  In order to have a story that works, you will need a believable crime that can meld these three prongs into one suspenseful story.

Create an illustration of a writer sitting at a desk trying to think of something.As you use this worksheet and these techniques, a crime skeleton will emerge.  Some attempts at this will go flat in the early stages for any number of reasons.  But some storylines will begin to almost shape themselves.

I always make four believable storylines and then choose the best one.  Then I know I have the best of my ability at that time in my life.  Once you know you have a storyline and a lineup of stick figures and character roles that can technically pull off the mystery, so to speak, then you can begin to build real characters and an actual story.

THE CHARACTERS BUILD THEMSELVES:

Once you know what will be needed for the three-pronged storyline and what traits the lead characters will need to play out their parts, the characters will start building themselves into two-dimensional characters.  You can take the characters up to deeper, three-dimensional characters as you flesh out your main story and subplots.

LIST OF MYSTERIES, CRIMES & GENRES

I hope this is helpful.  Once you know you have a workable storyline, then it’s time to take a look at my Ultimate Character Development Worksheet.  This will help you bring the stick figures to three-dimensional with a full character arc.