Plotting Exercises – Read First Chapter.com

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. 

MYSTERY NOVEL BRAINSTORMING FOR BEGINNERS

THE BEST TIP I CAN PASS ON TO BEGINNER WRITERS:

bite-sized piecesWriting a novel is a huge undertaking.  There are many things that go into the writing of a fiction story.  The best tip I can pass on is this:  Break everything down into little bite-sized pieces.  By doing this, you can reduce a huge project down to do-able portions that can be done whether you have 2 hours a week to write or two full days!  It only requires a little planning and organization.

ALL NOVELS REQUIRE SOME SUSPENSE:

Regardless of what type of novel you choose to write, all stories require at least a semblance of suspense.  Suspense is what hooks the reader into the story, and it is what pulls the reader along the story and keeps them reading.  Suspense creates a question the reader desires an answer to.  The greater the suspense, the more hooked the reader will be.  

READING OTHER AUTHORS:

bite-sized piecesIt’s important to keep reading as your own journey as a writer continues.  Each author has a different style and uses different storytelling techniques.  The stories don’t even have to be great.  You can learn from the good, the bad and the bland.  Just analyzing what made a book bland is a great lesson in itself.  Did the story need more action?  Did the story get stuck somewhere? 

When I read novels now,  I can usually tell whether the author is a pantser or a plotter.  If the story sags in the third section, I can tell the author got caught in part two of the three-act structure. 

The books I read now are twice as enjoyable because I experience them as a reader but as an author too.  I get to enjoy the story itself but also watch and learn the author’s storytelling techniques too.  

WATCHING MOVIES FOR INSPIRATION:

When I am in the process of writing my own novels, I tend to read less because I’m reading and proofreading my own pages.  During these times, I like to vegetate by getting lost in a movie.  I watch movies specifically to learn from them.  Believe me, you can learn a lot about the actual storytelling craft from watching movies.  They can also be a source of inspiration for your own stories.  

It took me almost a year to come up with my first story for a novel.  One full year.  I didn’t know where to start.  I had ideas, but didn’t know how to brainstorm them into a potential story.  

WHERE CAN DO YOU GET IDEAS FOR A FICTION STORY FROM?

Ideas for stories in the beginning will come from TV movies, Cinema movies film list of the 1940sor other books you read.  Reading other authors is crucial no matter where you are on the writing spectrum.  However, when you’re new, you can learn a lot from watching mystery or crime noir movies.  I like movies from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.  The movies in these decades didn’t have CGI and the directors had to use the stage to tell the story.  They used wider shots and props to assist the storytelling.  By watching these older movies, you can learn a lot regarding writing.  

The movies of today show the location scenes once and then do close up shots of one character talking and then follow it up with another close-up shot of a character talking.  There’s not that much to learn about storytelling from these movies.  It’s a shame because the sets are absolutely gorgeous, especially in the fantasy movies.  

To the left (or above) is a screenshot of the Wikipedia page that comes up when you search “1940 in film”.  This will give you all of the films and a tiny synopsis of what the films are about.  You can pick whatever decade appeals to you.

READ THE SYNOPSIS FOR THE MOVIE FIRST:

read-the-synopsisIt’s a good idea to read the synopsis before you view the movie.  Knowing at least a basic outline of the story will allow you to absorb more as an author.  If you go into the movie  blindly, you will be “experiencing the movie” as a viewer only.  By knowing ahead of time what story will be unfolding, it will allow you to watch specifically for certain scenes to unfold.  You can watch what tools are used to move the story along.   

For example:  Notice in the scenes how much information is passing to the viewer by the setting.  Besides the timeline of when the story is taking place, it often will give you shots of recognizable icons from certain cities.  There are so many techniques you can learn from watching these older movies about all of the tools used to lay out the facts of the story and how suspense is created.  Below is a list of things to watch for in stories:

  1.  How does the movie show the location of the story?  Do they use icons, or text on the screen?  Do they use snippets of dialogue?  Each movie you will learn different tricks for showing time and location.  
  2. How does the story show either poverty or opulence?
  3. How does the movie present the premise?  There will be at least dialogue about what the main character wants or needs.  Notice how this is done. 
  4. Notice where the suspense of the story starts.  Even in non-mystery stories, there will be at least a thread of suspense.  It might be suggested by a vision that one character and the viewer see and no one else does.  Or it may be a little gossip that passes in a short conversation.  
  5. Notice how the passage of time is handled.  Is the passage of a few years spoken in dialogue or is it projected in some other way?
  6. Notice how the writers show the character’s weakness or fallen nature.  
  7. Notice the change in locations in the story.  This is often how the story is kept moving forward.
  8. Notice when the suspense gets stronger.  
  9. Watch for how the writers will use lies to create a sense of worry or dread.
  10. For any twists in the story, notice how abrupt it happens.  Also take the time to notice if this was foreshadowed in the beginning of the story.  Readers love foreshadowing.  

MY SUGGESTION FOR A MOVIE:

Rebecca-movie-posterIf you are looking for a suggestion, I would suggest Rebecca for the first movie.  This movie was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and it has a lot of gothic atmosphere.  There is also a psychological plotline in this story so it is a goldmine for learning storytelling tools.  

Most of the synopses on Wikipedia give you an outline of the story but they don’t have spoilers in them.  Sometimes I only read about six paragraphs on the really long ones because the purpose is only to know a little bit about what the story will be about so you can watch for how things are handled on film.  You can easily translate any of these tools to novel writing.  

GOTHIC MOVIES:  Gothic movies are great at showing how to introduce fear and suspense into a story.  They are also a great place to learn how to use the atmosphere and the location and backdrops to add to the suspense.

FILM NOIR:  These movies are great to learn character development.  Film Noir is usually about all fallen characters.  In other words, they are all sinners, but some characters are bigger sinners than others.  This is a great way to learn how to craft a fallen

LONG SERIES:  These are great to learn about how the location and things in the room or backdrop help to relay the story.  You can learn a lot about the passage of time, how flashbacks are handled, how to introduce new characters in preparation to take the story in a new direction.  Miniseries like Downton Abbey and other miniseries are a great place to learn about what is going on.  

MELODRAMA:  Melodrama has fallen out of favor in recent times, but I personally think it needs a comeback.  You can learn about melodrama from old world soap operas.  I think the only one I can think of is Dallas.  It’s on either Amazon Prime or somewhere else you can watch it.  These types of shows are good for showing how to blend romance, cheating, and other emotional scenes into the story. 

You don’t have to commit to watching the entire soap opera.  You can learn a lot about storytelling tools by watching only a few shows.  

Blow is a copy of the entire Brainwashing Sheet I referred to above.  You can read the blog post about how to use it here.  

And you can sign in to download your copy of the sheets below:

MYSTERY NOVEL BRAINSTORMING WORKSHEET

This worksheet is geared for those who want to write a mystery or crime novel.  Even those wanting to write literary fiction, you will need some level of mystery or suspense to keep readers hooked into your story.  Literary fiction is about character studies and life studies than technical mysteries, but every book needs at least some level of suspense or surprise every so often to keep a reader’s interest.  Even in a slice-of-life novel or a family saga, there needs to be something that is mysterious about the plotline.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS WORKSHEET:

cop examining ballistic reportWhen I first decided to write a novel, it took me one full year (I’m not kidding!) to even come up with a crime.  Today, using these methods I’m about to reveal, it only takes me two to three days to think up three or four mystery scenarios.

My wish is that this worksheet will help those beginners who don’t know where to start and are still trying to think of a good crime.

THE LISTS | CHOOSE FROM COLUMN A AND COLUMN B:

Below I have lists of crimes and also mystery genres.  This list is meant to jog your memory and get your creative juices flowing.  All of the crimes can be swapped into any genre.  The list at the bottom is of multiple genres, but this is not an exhaustive list by any means.  Just look at the categories on Amazon to get a feel for how many book genres there are today.

 



START THE WORKSHEET BY CHOOSING A CRIME OR MYSTERY:

mystery-novel-brainstorming-worksheet-pg1 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:

Once 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?

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.

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.

Sign Up Below to Download the Brainstorming Form

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Character Development Worksheet

THE ULTIMATE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT WORKSHEET

MAIN CHARACTER WORKSHEET:

When I started writing several years ago, I came across the standard character worksheet and it focused mostly on physical attributes, occupation but there was a disconnect regarding their role in the storyline, which is the most important part.

My purpose in this blog post is share a more in depth character development worksheet.   I'll go over the different parts of the worksheet with a brief explanation of the parts that need a little explanation.  Most of the worksheet is self-explanatory.

The first question is:  Is this a Main Character you are developing?  Or  Minor Character?  There is a separate Minor Character Development List on the third page of the checklist.  We'll begin with the Main Character development.

The following aspects of the worksheet are self-explanatory.  The only prompt I will give to beginning writers is that you want to keep your writing lean.  So think in terms of what background, educational and job information is crucial for the plotline of the story?  That's the most important part.

THE BASICS:

  • Name of Main Character
  • Job/Position
  • Educational Background
  • Physical description - (age, body type, build)
  • Relevant Background:
    • What background information is needed for the story setup?
    • What background information is crucial to the story itself?



THE INCITING INCIDENT:

Most plotlines need an inciting incident.  This is the occurrence that happens to take the main character out of his/her normal life and into the storyline.  What will this be?

Sometimes it is an incident that happens but sometimes, like in a police procedural, it's as simple as being assigned to a case.  Either way, the inciting incident is what begins the actual story arc and the character arc.

TWO MAIN QUESTIONS:  

  • Will the character try to avoid entering the storyline?  If so, how will this play out?
  • What will happen in the story that will convince or make the Character agree to move forward into the storyline?  What will be the inciting incident?

CHARACTER MOTIVATIONS:

As a newbie, it took me awhile to remember that a character needs to have an arc over the storyline.  So it's important -- and time saving -- to know what that arc will be before you even begin the draft.  This character sheet can help you find this so you know where you are starting from and where you want to end up.  The following questions should help you focus on what this character arc will be:

  • What does the character want?
  • Who and/or What is standing in his/her way?
  • What fear is in the way to conquering this obstacle?
  • How will the character conquer him/herself
  • How will this play out over the four parts of the story?



CHARACTER ARC IN FOUR PARTS:

I write in a four-part story line as opposed to the 3 part storyline.  So I break the character arc into these specific parts:

Part 1:  Where does the Character Arc start out?

Part 2:  How will the Character change in part 2, if at all?  How will this play out in the second part of the plot?

Part 3:  How will the Character change in part 3, if at all?  How will this play out in the second part of the plot?

Part 4:  How will the Character change in part 4?  How will this play out in the last part of the story?

MINOR CHARACTER:

For minor characters, you only need to answer a few questions.  It helps to know what role these minor characters will play and what, if any, background information is needed to support them in the storyline:

  • Name
  • Role in Story
  • Any background that is needed to move the story forward?
  • How will you add background or character traits of this minor character?
  • Will there be any character arc?
  • If so, what is it in one sentence?

Download -Character Development Form

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Peek Behind the Novel – Layer 2 – How to Break the Crime Skeleton into Four Acts or Parts

FITTING THE CRIME SKELETON OUTLINE INTO THE FOUR ACT STRUCTURE:

For anyone who is new here, I use a Four Act Structure as opposed to the more-popular three-act structure.  I find that middle section in the three-act structure too confusing.  Over the writing of 12 novels, I gravitated to a four-part structure as it is more symmetrical and makes more sense to me.  I also believe, for whatever it's worth to anyone, that this three-act structure is responsible for the 'lagging' that often occurs in the middle of a story.

If you are following my A Peek Behind the Novel Series, you have learned about creating the crime or mystery skeleton outline in past blog posts and videos.  I won't go over those again here.

This is the point where you will break the crime/mystery skeleton into the four parts.  I'll enumerate below the items that should be in each part.  I hope this is helpful to newbies.  I'm not an expert on any of this, by the way, but my purpose here is to provide help that I wish I had when I was first starting out.

Part One:

The inciting incident.  In a murder, crime or police procedural story, this will be the crime itself and how the detectives show up in it.  When the detectives are pushed into going on a quest to solve it, that's the inciting incident.  This begins the journey of the story.

Also in Section 1, I drop some information about where my characters arcs will begin.  Because I write in series, the question I ask myself is:  What do my characters want at this time of their lives?   What do they want to happen right now?  I determine in this initial phase where the character arcs will begin, and where they will end.

Now, in the creative process, the character arcs get deeper and more elaborate, so don't worry if you don't have a clear idea of exactly how they will change.  I make sure Part 1 contains information about where their arc begins.

Also in Part 1 will be a slow drip of background information.  When I was new, I tended to do these big info drops in the beginning, but thankfully, editors and advance readers were good enough to point this out to me.  The readers don't need to know everything about the background of the main characters within the first five pages.  This information is best 'slowly dripped', just like the clues.



PART TWO:

Part Two is where I introduce all the suspects and their possible motivations -- as the detectives are quite often guessing at this early stage of an investigation.  The motivation of each of the suspects will be uncovered in some way later in Part two or even in Part 3.

Part Two is about following clues and uncovering suspects, evidence and motivation.  The readers are collecting information and they are doing their own thinking and speculating too.  This is where their enjoyment comes from, hearing about the clues and trying to out think the detectives and the suspects -- and even the author!

Section two is also where the subplots begin to move forward.  Whether the subplot is a specific conflict that gets worse or a general stubbornness that is exhibited, I begin to move the subplots along in part two.

The end of Part Two usually marks the midpoint of the book.  I like to end this section with a .big reveal of some kind.  Or maybe a clue that turns the investigation into another direction.  There could even be a new murder, or the surfacing of an unusual suspect, or someone gets caught in a big lie that changes the direction of the investigation.

If you are using time or some other way to apply pressure to solve the crime, you also want to take it up one or two notches in Part 2.

Part Three:

Now the investigation gets a little stressful.  The detectives may not agree on who the guilty party is, or maybe they know who it is but can't find the legal evidence to prove it.  Maybe they are operating only on gut feeling and speculation at this point.  They are rushing against the clock or against other forces working against them to solve it, catch the guilty party or find compelling and irrefutable evidence.

Part 3 is where the suspects' lies and half-truths are exposed and this all sheds light on the actual crime or mystery.  The title of "most likely suspect" may also go back and forth between one or two of the suspects in Part 3.

The subplots need to also move along into their stage 3.  They may need to be set up for a final resolution of the subplot, which is often very different than the main story.



Part Four:

Part four is broken down into two parts.  In the first half of Section 4, the crime or mystery is solved.  There will be whatever drama you want to add about the solving of this crime.  Whether your detectives are battling physically with someone, bullets are being fired back and forth, or entrapping the guilty party, or just uncovering that last piece of evidence that will legally prove guilt, this is where this is revealed.

I personally also like to do a very quick sum up of the entire theory of the mystery.  In my opinion, readers are very busy and sometimes they are reading carefully, but other times, they are reading with one eye open right before they fall asleep for the night.  So I like to do a quick sum up just in case they missed anything.  But I do it very quickly because there are the avid readers who never miss anything and you don't want to bore them!

The second half of Part 4 is the 'wrap up'.  This is where you will show the new normal, everyone's life 'in resolution'.  This is where you will also explain the full growth of your characters.  Many author's don't do this, but I don't like to read books where things end where the reader is left to decide what it all means.  I may have my own opinions, but I like to know what the author meant by the story.  So I make sure I explain, again very quickly, how things are ending in a narrator voice.

If You Are Writing in a Series:

If you are writing a series, it's important to also let the reader know the back story continues.  I always include a link to a signup list for readers to be notified of any new books that I am releasing.

Check Out My Video Below:

I have a video on this crime mystery technique below.  For your convenience, I have the timestamps below if you want to jump to a specific section:

00:15 - Snapshot from a Crime Scene Clues List from another storyline
00:45 - Part 1 - Elements needed
01:29 - Part 1 - Dripping background information
01:45 - Part 2 - Adding additional suspects and motivations
02:24 - Part 2 - The Midpoint of the Story
03:00 - Part 3 - The Plot thickens - Secrets and revelations
03:30 - Part 3 - The Dark Night of the Soul
03:52 - Part 4 - First section is the big reveal
04:23 - Part 4 - Second half - Wrap up of the crime or mystery, show the growth of the characters and the new normal.
04:53 - Part 4 - Series clue that the story continues with a new adventure

Here is the Actual Video:



Peek Behind the Novel – Writing Scene Outlines

WHERE WE ARE BEGINNING IN THIS BLOG POST:

I left off writing about how I divide the crime skeleton, after adding in the subplots, into the Four-Part Structure.  I am now entering the third layer of writing.  This blog post and video below are about sketching in the plot outlines.

WHERE WE ARE GOING:

Most new writers want to get to the writing already.  But in this layer of writing, all plot holes or inconsistencies will show up.  Any clues that won't work when adding more suspects and motivations will show up in this layer.

So this layer is like an insurance policy that you won't be writing for the trash can.

USING THE SHORT TEMPLATE:

My template is short but it keeps me on track.  I'll break it down below.  This small template I use keeps my writing on point and tight.  It prevents me from meandering, dawdling, going off on an irrelevant tangent or writing myself into a corner.

POINT OF VIEW

n order to prevent head-hopping, which is very common among new writers, you need to be constantly reminded that each scene is in one perspective.  Some writers write in first person and that's easy.

However, I write in third person - one persons perspective.  This prevents the reader hopping from head to head.  It's too confusing for a reader to do that.

However, I don't choose my point of view this early on in the process.  I wait until I am actually writing the scene before I choose.  In my experience, as you write the scene, the first draft, one character will sort of 'claim the scene as their own'.  That's when I choose the point of view and then make sure the entire scene is in that persons perspective.

Now, I must confess, since I write in third person narrator style, I do allow myself one tiny head-hop at the end of a scene if I think it serves the plot well.  I think any reader can handle one tiny head hop.

I'm a self-published author at this time, and one of the benefits of self-publishing is you can do what you want.  The professional publishers may be horrified by allowing one head hop at the end of a scene, but as a self-publisher, I can do what I want.  (Hee hee)

KEEPING TRACK OF TIME

I don't know whether I am an author who is obsessed with time, or whether I use time as an element to put pressure to solve on my characters, but I have always tracked time.  I find this helps me balance the story and make the story more realistic.

What I mean by that is often times there is so much that is happening in a book on one particular day, that it becomes unrealistic that all of this could happen in one day.  Maybe it's just me.

Keeping track of time allows me to also know when the workday is over and the subplots can enter the scene as most subplots happen at least in part in a character's off time.

CHOOSING A SCENE LOCATION:

Location is important for two reasons.  One reason is casts the scene in cement.  You have chosen a stage for the scene to take place.  I don't write any scene or location descriptions in this layer of writing.  But I can write the action of the scene in context of a location.

Secondly, adding the location in this layer allow me to go off and find photographs that I can use in the layers down the road where I will add descriptions into the story.

PURPOSE - MOVING THE STORY ALONG

Every experienced author who I listened to when I was first writing fiction said the same thing:  Everything in the manuscript is there to move the story along.  If it doesn't move the story, it doesn't belong there.    So this Purpose in my template helps me keep my writing tight and on point.



CLUES - KEEP TRACK OF CLUES

vector magnifying glass

This one is self-evident.  A crime novel, murder mystery or police procedural is about solving a crime or mystery.  So uncovering clues, following them to the next clue is the vehicle for the story.  So it's important to keep track of clues.

In the first stage of writing, it's easy to remember if you put clues into the story.  In the first draft, it's easy to rely on your memory.  But after you've read through the story a bit and begin to add more to it, you won't be able to remember whether you saw that clue in the last chapter or the last time you read through the entire layer.

So it's important to keep track of clues.

DIVIDING AND CONQUERING THE MANUSCRIPT:

By dividing the story into four parts, and then writing scene outlines, you can divide a huge manuscript down into bite-size pieces.  It is less overwhelming and easier to organize, write and keep track of.

HOW SCENE OUTLINING WORKS IN SCRIVENER:

You can watch the video below for a full explanation, but each scene begins with the template.  I leave the POV blank for now.  I choose the time and location.  And then under Purpose/Clues, I add everything I want to happen in this scene.  I am thinking about the main plot, the dripping of background info, the dripping of clues, and the subplots.

I use numbers but using bullet points would probably be best as I have to change the numbers a lot.  Although when I show you the rest of my technique, you will see that the number themselves don't matter.

ABOUT THE VIDEO:

In this video, I talk about and lay out how to use a simple template and write the individual scene outlines. By sketching in the individual novel scenes, I can be sure that the clues and mystery scenarios will all work before I waste any time writing any scenes. I go into my strategy and work flow in this video and the benefits of outlining the scenes first. Once you have a scene outline, the actual writing of the scenes becomes only creative and fun.

Time Stamps of this video:
00:01 - Laying out the plotline into scenes
00:58 - The benefits of writing scene outlines
02:46 - The scene template
03:03 - Summary of the process up to this point. Showing a scrolling outline.
04:22 - The template in action - an example of how the template works 04:45 - Point of View
05:26 - Keeping track of time in the manuscript
06:26 - The importance of Locations
07:10 - Purpose - Moving the story along
08:20 - Keeping track of clues
09:20 - Dividing and conquering the manuscript
10:05 - Live in Scrivener with present novel - How the scene outlines work. 11:45 - Sneak Peek of the Synopsis
12:05 - Looking at Scrivener Binders a new one vs. a fully written book
13:13 - Knowing the story through the outline



Peek Behind the Novel – Layer 1 – Organizing the Crime Tips

This is the second step in writing a new fiction novel.  In the first step, I start out with writing four potential storylines in FreeMind, which is a mind mapping software.  You can see that video here.

Once I finish four potential plotlines, one of them usually pops out and wants to be written.  I feel myself getting excited to write it.  This process, although it's hard to think of four different storylines, gives me confidence right from the beginning that I am writing the best book for me right now.  This whole process fills me with excitement to write.

OPEN SCRIVENER AND BEGIN:

I take my new plotline and open scrivener.  I open one document and plan the crime itself.  I'm presently writing a police procedural at this time, but even if you are writing a generic mystery, this technique will work.  Most great fiction has some level of mystery or suspense in it, so it would even work for generic fiction.

I make a chronological list of the crime as it happens.  When it happens, who it happens to, who the first witnesses will be, if any.  I also isolate in my mind an actual scene of the crime.  I put in all the evidence the cops or detectives will find at the scene.  This will begin the investigation.  In a mystery or crime novel, this is the inciting incident.

I also add to the list other suspects and what their motivation will be for the crime or mystery.  As you begin to add different suspects into the mix, you will most likely have to change your original plotline idea to accommodate these new suspects.

I go through this whole process adding, subtracting and changing up the suspects and plotline in this abbreviated format.  It should look like directions from Google maps or a long list of very short paragraphs.

A SECTION CALLED THE ENDING:

I have a section at the end called "How it will end".  My books never end the way I indicate in this section.  However, by having a solid idea of how I want it to end at this time, it gives me a direction and a destination.  Then during the creative process, when I get new and better ideas, I simple go down my list and/or scene outlines (we'll cover these in another installment) and change up the outline.  It's easy-peasy.

I do this for the entire storyline.  At the end, you will have a good idea what the story is about, but there won't be any nuance, or personality in the story yet, so if it seems dry, don't worry about it.  It is very dry at this point.  You are knitting together a skeleton and bones are dry.  You will breathe live into this as you get to the point of actual writing.

THE BENEFITS OF WRITING THIS OUTLINE:

writing for the trashcanMost new writers want to start writing scenes and dialogue.  They want to just get on with it.  But the dark side of working this way is that when you find out your clues won't work when you need to add a new suspect, you will have written two chapters already.  My process will save you from writing for the trashcan.

By going through this short one-liner outline in chronological order, anything in the story that won't work, it comes out in this layer of writing.  This saves you from throwing away already written work.

There is a video I made for YouTube below.  I go over some of these points but others tips and tricks as well.  For your convenience, I have time stamps below in case you want to just jump to the section you want to look at:

01:27 - Open Scrivener and open one document
01:45 - Other suspects, their motivation, red herring, etc.
02:15 - How it will End section
03:20 - Determining the framework of the script which will prevent writing for the trash can.
05:30 - Review of the layer elements
05:43 - Sneak peek into the next videos

 



Author’s Tips – Plotting with Freemind

ALL AUTHORS NEED A PLOTLINE:

Each new book requires a new plotline.  I used to come up with a plotline and go with it.  But I noticed I had a lot of insecurities as to whether it was good enough or whether I was choosing a plotline too soon.

By the third book, I started to write four potential plotlines from the beginning.  Each one was good enough.  They all had a crime or a mystery, they had suspense and even a satisfying or surprise ending.  By writing four plotlines, at some point, the one plotline that I "should be writing" clings to me and I to it.  I know instinctively that 'this is the one'.

HOW TO QUIET WRITING INSECURITIES:

When I had only the one plotline, I still had an insecurity as I began to write.  What I found with starting with four is that I know I worked on all four and I know I'm writing the best one I came up with.  I feel like the plotline I chose wants to be written.  The characters are already coming alive before I even finish the plotline.

It's more work to start with four plotlines, but the satisfaction of knowing I'm writing the right book, and being able to let go of any self-doubt and insecurity, it's well worth it.

THE TECHNIQUE OF OUR PLOTS WORKED, BUT I GOT SCATTERED!

So I could tell the four plotlines was a working strategy going forward.  The first time I did this, I opened a new Notepad document, plotted a crime and a potential storyline.   When I finished, I named it the first potential plotline and filed it.  Rinse and repeat.  Sounds pretty straight forward, right?

Well, after I chose the one potential storyline, I went on to write the book.  The technique worked but, as usual, I got scattered pretty soon thereafter.  What do I mean?  I mean I couldn't remember where I filed each plotline.  Did I put it into my blogging folder?  Was it in the last book folder?  Was it filed as a general document in my website folder?  I couldn't find them no matter what.

I don't know if everyone is like this, but as soon as I have more than three pages of anything, I start going upside down if I don't have a "system" to keep myself organized.



ALL IN ONE DOCUMENT?

Then in response to getting scattered, I just wrote all four plotlines in one document, but then I was overwhelmed by how long the document was and it wasn't easy to see which plotline I was in.  The Notepad has a tendency to return to the top when you flip out of it to check a spelling or anything.  Ugh, I again went upside down.

FREEMIND - The solution:

Then I found Freemind.  Of course I saw it on YouTube, where I learn all of my author tricks and tips.  Freemind allows me to keep all four plotlines on the same 'board'.  BUT I can close each one and it is very easy to determine which plotline I'm on.  This is also a way where I can scan over all past plotlines to get ideas when it's time for the next book.

This was a game changer for me, which is why I pass this on to other new authors -- or just authors who go upside down like I do!

I made a very short video on YouTube showing how this works.  Most of the FreeMind is intuitive and self-explanation when you begin to use it, but it's always helpful to just see it in action.



A Simple Mystery Plot

TEMPLATE – SIMPLE MYSTERY PLOT

I spent a lot of time in researching novel templates and wound up getting more confused than organized.  I may have a mental block on this, or if you are a beginner, you may find the same difficulties in getting your plot or story line to fit exactly over a template outline.

Below is a general and loose outline that I put together after writing my first draft and reverse engineering my two favorite books.  I hope this will help you get organized in writing your first novel.


ACT ONE

PRESENT THE CRIME – HOOK  

You will need something to happen or raise a question or mysterious circumstance in the initial first chapter to grab the reader’s attention and make they want to find out what you are talking about.  This is called a “hook”.  This is different from the “inciting incident”.

INTRODUCE THE SLEUTH:
Introduce the sleuth and mention his/her weakness that will be overcome  while solving the crime.  Introduce what inner conflict is bothering him/her, and what he wants in life or his profession.  Keep in mind this character’s arc (where he starts out, how he changes, and where he ends up).
Introduce the sluth’s helper, sidekick or mentor.  You can also introduce the romantic interest in this first section of the book if it fits.  How he or she wanders into the story.

INTRODUCE OBVIOUS SUSPECTS (minimum 2)
INTRODUCE CRIME COMPLICATIONS

INTRODUCE PRIVATE LIFE/SUBPLOT:
Introduce Hero’s home conflicts, work conflicts or or inner conflicts.
Introduce the Sleuth’s romantic interest, which in a mystery romance is the subplot.

In the beginning, something happens that will call the Hero into action.  This is called the “inciting incident”.  This interrupts “normal life” and presents a situation that the hero doesn’t want to bother with or think she can handle it simply and quickly.  He/She is expecting this will not disrupt life as he/she knows it.  (In a mystery romance, it’s usually the first dead body!)

ACT TWO

Act two is the longest act and this is where all of the mystery investigation will take place.  The sleuth will begin to collect evidence, question witnesses, suspect some people and think others are innocent.

This will include the initial police investigations and early forensics (medical examiner, bullistics reports, etc.)

Working from your Reverse Engineering Worksheet, decide how you will drop the clues into the various scenes.  You will want a minimum of two suspects that both look guilty.  Depending upon your plot line, you can have any number of people who could be a suspect.  All of your scenes will revolve around the investigator finding clues and following them to the next clue, and you dropping them for the reader.

There could be another murder, the disappearance of a suspect, and any number of tension-building things that can happen.  You always want to keep the drama moving, especially in this middle section where books tend to lag.

Raise the stakes:  If they don’t find this killer soon, what will happen?  If the killer gets away, what will happen or not happen?  Make sure you write in the stakes, the risk and why the sleuth needs to find the murderer.

WEAVING THE ROMANCE – During the first and second acts, you will also be weaving the romantic beats of the story throughout the action.  Before writing the romantic parts, have in mind the “development of the romance”.  You need to know where it begins, where it goes and how it ends up.  For example:  They couple starts out as trying to be professionals on the case and hiding their attraction, maybe having a conflict on how they see the case, and then the heat or being together makes one of them make a move, they both admit they are attracted to each out, and in the end, they both find true love.  In today’s world, you can find something a little more enticing that this flat example, but you get  my point; you need to know where they are starting, how they will both change with romance, and where they end up.

DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL/ALL IS LOST:

At the end of Act 2, the investigation of the crime is not working out or things seem to be going against the sleuth and any of his helpers.  He/she or they reach their darkest moment, they feel like they should give up, their “Dark Night of the Soul”.

ACT THREE

SLEUTH RISES LIKE THE PHOENIX, REGAINS HIS/HER ENERGY AND MOVES FORWARD.

In this section, the sleuth regains his energy and his will and he/she decides that he/she is all in, is going to fight to the death to prove this case no matter what.  He goes back to the beginning, reviews his clues, re-evaluates things, and finds something that was overlooked in Act 1 that suddenly has greater significance.  This will be the new avenue of approach and this will lead to the ultimate solving of the crime and hopefully to justice.

CONFRONTATION OF THE PERPETRATOR:

At the end of the mystery, as it is solved, you may well have a confrontation of the perpetrator by the sleuth or there will be a scene where the cops run in and take him down, depending upon who your sleuth is.

RESOLUTION OF THE SUBPLOT/RETURN TO NORMAL:

Once the crime is solved, the sleuth will be a better person, he/she will have grown through their character arc, an they will be at a better place, more sure of who they are.  If it is a mystery romance, this will also contain a scene or two of how romance has now changed his/her life for the better.

You may also have a scene where your sleuth is explaining the whole plot to someone who still doesn’t understand.  Most books no longer have this, but I like it when the author “ties it up” in the end.  I think it makes the book more satisfying to go over the plot and see and hear it summarized.  I maybe old school, but I just think this adds to the experience of the story.  I don’t have to tell you how much I dislike these movies and stories where the readers decides what the book means?  I feel like throwing the book at the wall, so I like to have a summation, so to speak.

I hope this helps you if you too are just beginning to write stories.

 

Writing a Mystery Novel – Where To Begin

DON'T DO WHAT I FIRST DID!

In preparation to write my first mystery novel, I watched random videos on YouTube by successful authors and successful book marketers, all of whom had great information about how to write books. The videos usually take one subject at a time, and when you watch videos in some random fashion, which I did, you wind up overwhelmed with information and no way to organize it or process it.  The purpose of this blog post is to give some tips from one beginner to another.  This is more like a how not to do things vs. how to do things.  The purpose of this post is to help you not waste time and energy and to get right down to business, which I wish I did.

ARE YOU A PANTSER OR A PLOTTER?

pantser-or-plotterWhen I began to hear terms like “panters and/or plotter” I didn’t even know what they were talking about. A pantser, if you don’t know if someone who just sits down and begins to write “by the seat of their pants” without any organization and without any plot line. They approach the writing from a completely creative process. I imagine that “natural writers” would take this approach. Maybe people who like chaos would take this route. But I would wind up staring at a blank page all day if I didn’t have at least an outline.

I knew I was going to be a plotter right from the beginning. So your first order of business in writing a novel is to then have your plot line. That sounds easy enough, right? Well, depending up on what type of book you are writing, this will determine what type of plot line you will need. For example: If you are writing a true crime novel, you have a chronology of events that is pretty much written in stone. So you will have a ready-made plot line. If you are writing a fictional novel, then you have to write a chronological plotline and you need to determine where to drop clues, where to begin subplots, where to hide subtle clues as to the real villian, where to throw in a red herring or two, etc. This is where it can get a little tricky.

MYSTERIES BEGIN WITH A CRIME AND ARE PLOTTED BACKWARDS:

It took me awhile to realize that it is too easy to write yourself into a corner with no way out if you start writing from the characters. Many of the how-to videos I watched in the beginning said that it all beings with characters and conflict. This is true that each story has characters and conflict, but most mysteries have some kind of a crime and/or injustice. Once I realized that it is easier to begin with the crime and plot backwards, this made things much easier.

REVERSE ENGINEERING A CRIME/MURDER:

1. How is the victim killed and/or harmed?
2. Who is responsible? (This gives you your murderer)
3. Who else in the story has motive to kill the victim? (This gives you your multiple suspects)
4. Who is completely innocent but looks really guilty? (This gives you your red herring)
5. Where does the plot/murder take place? (factory, park, someone’s house, outside a bar?)
6. Who ultimately solves the crime? (This gives you your protagonist)
7. Who is working against the solving fo the crime? (This gives you at least one antagonist)
8. Who wanders in and winds up having a romance with the protagonist? (This gives you your romantic subplot)

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE LOCATION OF THE CRIME/MURDER:

pix-courtroomIt is best as a beginner to choose a location and setting that you are familiar with. It will cut down on the research you need to do, as you will need to do at least some forensic and police procedure research. For example: I used to be a court reporter for 11 years and I have experience working on criminal cases, how prisoners are moved around the courthouse, how sheriff’s officers and prison guards are different from cops, what goes on in a Judge’s chambers on breaks and after the jury goes home. So this is a good setting for me to write about.

Let’s say you worked in a bar and restaurant when you were in college. You know the intricacies of this setting. Wherever you worked will be a good setting to work with because you already have intricate knowledge about how it all works. This cuts down on wresting with too much in your first novel.

THE MAIN CHARACTER:

sherlock-holmes-graphicOne of the biggest mistakes I made in the beginning was focusing too much on the main character. With a mystery, you need to have a unique crime that hasn’t been done before. Because there are millions of mystery books, your specific crime may have been done, but you want to make sure you don’t pick on that has been “done to death”.

So all of the thinking I did regarding who the main character would be was for naught. It was a waste of time. It all started with the mystery/murder and the motive and antagonist. That’s where I ultimately started -- after I had to wipe out a lot of the erroneous information I had taken in about the lead character being the main focus. In a mystery novel, in the planning stages, the mystery/murder is the genesis of the story.

Once you have your crime and a group of suspects, the protagonist almost creates him or herself. It comes down to who would likely solve this crime? Is it a cozy mystery with an Aunt Mildred as the top sleuth or is it a police procedural mystery where it will be all about how the cops outwit the murderer? In my case, I chose a private investigator as I wanted him to be someone who had a friendship with a priest so I could have a Christian/Catholic backdrop to the story. By picking a private investigator, I also allowed for a little leeway on police procedure. A PI is more likely to break the rules and go rogue than a cop these days and the police procedures are so technical now that unless you are an ex cop or you have someone you can literally call a few times a week to run things by them, then you will have a lot of research to do.

WHERE TO GET INSPIRATION FOR CRIMES?

I watched Forensic Files for awhile and paid particular attention to the chronology of how they solved the crimes, what the cops did, and what the scientists did. They have such unusual crimes on these shows and such an array of them, this is a good source of inspiration. I tried checking my local papers, but 95% of the cases are drug cases or random shootings and they don’t make interesting plot lines by themselves.

If you have any other advice for us beginning writers and wish to share with us, please contact me and I would be happy to do a blog post or video featuring your lesson or tips for us.