Book Dumping

by Peg Brantley
Evocative Characters. Intriguing Crime. Compelling Stories.



My husband believes that if he begins to read a book he is somehow contractually obligated to finish the book. I used to feel that way. No longer.

I'm reading a book by an author I've enjoyed in the past. It even has an endorsement on the cover from one of my very favorite crime fiction authors, Michael Connelly. The first scene portrayed a deliberate death so naturally I was hooked.

Only now I'm about half-way through the book and am beginning to believe I might have been hoodwinked. I've gone back to the flap three times to read the story description and I'm stressed that this could be some kind of departure from the type of book this author has always written, and I missed the clues. Don't get me wrong, it's a good story. Just not what I'd expected when I forked over my twenty-or so bucks. I've decided to keep reading and see if I end up satisfied or disappointed and full of suspicion for the future books this author releases into the world.

Which begs the question: When do you back away from a book? When does it become a DNF? A Did Not Finish?

And secondly, if you have a DNF from a particular author, will you read her/him again?

Here's my list (at least for now):

• Lack of tension. Who wants to read a story (any story) where everything is perfect and people are happy? I'm not even completely crazy about perfectly happy endings.
• Characters without goals. Again, who wants to read a story where everyone is happy as things are?
• Too much narrative. Give me visual space. Give me dialogue. Give me life. Let me breathe.
• Characters I don't like. I know this is a new angle, but it doesn't work for me. I picked up a book in the middle of a wildly popular series, and the protagonist made me alternately roll my eyes and clench my teeth. 
• Too many characters. After hearing about another much-loved author and her enduring series, I began reading her books, but from the beginning. In the first few pages, more than twenty characters were introduced. I closed the book and happily moved on to the next one in my pile.

What about you? Are there deal-breakers that cause you to dump a book?

When Characters Hook Up...or Not

By Andrew E. Kaufman, Author of Psychological Thrillers

“I’m so glad the main characters didn’t fall in love.” 

This is one of the most persistent comments I see while reading reviews for my books. And while I’m always pleased by positive feedback from readers, I do find it interesting when they feel strongly enough to make note of this.

But to be honest, I’m not sure if I can tell you why my characters never hook up. I don’t think it’s ever been a conscious decision—in fact, most of what I write rarely is.  I’m an intuitive plotter, which means I don’t outline, plan, or imagine my stories before creating them. Generally speaking, all I start with is a basic premise (very basic, often no more than one sentence), and then allow my instincts and characters to lead the way. So maybe I opt out of those love connections because they just don’t feel right to me (or should that be, to them?).

Of course, I’m talking about thrillers here, and admittedly, I do find myself having the same reaction as some of my readers, especially when it seems the situation doesn’t require it or appears particularly unrealistic. And when you think about it, people don’t necessarily fall in love just because they’re thrown into a tense situation anyway; in fact, I think the more natural choice would actually be just the opposite.

Then there’s the predictability factor, something that (cringe) we as authors often see in our reviews. But if I'm going to be completely honest, as a reader I find myself being just as critical about this. I can't count the number of times my eyes have started rolling at the exact point in a novel where a male and female characters start falling in love. That’s not because I’m a love cynic, but rather because in many cases it almost feels too easy, and then it's just plain annoying.

I suppose it all boils down to intent. If it’s relevant and moves the plot rather than being disruptive, I don’t think readers mind so much—if not, then they probably will.

Oddly enough, after saying all this, love is in fact an element that drives the plot for my upcoming novel, Darkness & Shadows, but I don't think readers will find it to be anything near typical, but instead, dark and disturbing--just the way I like it.

 What do you think? Authors: do you allow your characters to share a love interest? If so, how and why? And readers: do you feel particularly strongly about this either way?

Crisis of Character

by Peg Brantley
Evocative Characters. Intriguing Crime. Compelling Stories.


"What's your next book going to be about?"

"Can't say, but you're gonna love it!"

*SIGH*


Like most writers, I have file folders (on my computer and in a file cabinet) filled with story ideas, not to mention all the "what if" scenarios that roll around my head on a daily basis. I figured I could write a story a month for the next five years and not run out of material.

Recently, when my attention was focused more on family than plots, I began to feel a certain amount of dissatisfaction with the story I was building. Nothing specific mind you, but a general "ugh-ness" to the story. I didn't feel the spark, and considering arson played a huge role in my concept, not having a spark was concerning.

After all of the research, the hours gathering information and creating different scenarios, I was unmotivated to continue.

Not to worry, I thought. I'll just open up all of those idea files, I thought. I'll find the perfect plot replacement, I thought.

I thought wrong.

What I learned with that little exercise is that while I have a gazillion different story ideas, very few of them actually translate to novel material. In fact, I couldn't find one I was excited about.

I wanted to fling myself off the highest Colorado cliff I could find. End the agony. Stop the train before it derailed and took others with it.

And then…

It hit me.

My post two weeks ago talked about the kind of antagonist shrinks might find intriguing. I'd sort of picked out a general profile, but I hadn't developed that character.

Although as a crime fiction writer plot is important, of equal importance to me are the characters. Until I had this one major player fleshed out a little more, I wasn't going to be happy with anything.

After tackling the bad guy, my arson-ish plot is sizzling again and I'm feeling a little better. For now.

Writers: How do you find your sizzle? Is it always plot or is it character?

Readers: What are you more drawn to? Plot or characters?

Characters Shrinks Love to Read

by Peg Brantley
Evocative Characters. Intriguing Crime. Compelling Stories.


I'm working on piecing together an antagonist or two for my next story. Since my characters always have a lot going on psychologically, I thought I'd get some help from a good friend who happens to be a psychologist. She's been helpful in the past, but usually after the fact—helping me bend a few things to make everything possible. (It might be fiction, but it needs to be plausible fiction.) This time I've decided to pull things a little tighter a little earlier.

When I ran my first rough character concept by her, she mentioned something about antisocial and narcissistic personality disorder clusters (which sounded good to me in a maladaptive behaviorally intrigued kind of way), and ended with saying, "But they would generally just be criminals, rather than psychologically interesting cases."

You can guess my next question to her.

Here then, are some characters a shrink-type might find intriguing:

• Fallen angel types who are trying to climb back up the ladder to reach redemption. They will inevitably slip on a rung and seal their fate.
• People with strong positive traits who can also be charming. And who find their Achilles' heel due to their unremitting hubris or unremitting ambition they simply can't control.
• Similar to the mad dog analogy ("just criminals"), people who you don't really want to have to shoot, but they either can't or won't stop themselves from doing bad things. The good guys have to reluctantly put an end to them for the good of the whole.
• True dissociative personalities (multiples), though rare, are fascinating when real. However, most of them would do no harm, so there might not be too much in the way of thriller fodder here. The same with people who have more severe forms of PTSD. They tend to be more self-destructive, and according to my shrink-friend, don't need the bad PR.
• Types along the lines of Bonfire of the Vanities, when someone makes a small mistake that anyone could make, but then reacts in an overly defensive or cover-up manner due to pride. One inexorable step at a time, he or she moves toward being truly evil without any kind of awareness that's what they're doing.

When you read about a deeply wounded character who has gone over to the dark side, what is it about them that fascinates you? What causes you to want to know more about them? Are there some character types who aren't on my list? 

As writers, what psychological profiles have you used?

They're all such characters

By Gayle Carline
Author of Mysteries and Humor - Sometimes Together!

After getting to know the authors in this collective, one thing we have in common is the need for our characters to carry the story. We all love a good “what if” story, but we need real people to ask that question.

So how does a writer give life to these folks in their head?

One way is to use physical characteristics and personalities of people you know. I don’t recommend it, but you can do it. Here’s the thing: if you start down that path, you are forever hounded by friends and relatives asking you if Kim Patterson from Hit or Missus is really their snooty next-door neighbor.

No. No, she’s not.

This is Kim Patterson in my head.

A better way is to find a stranger who looks interesting and spend the day stalking them. Okay, not really… but almost. Any time you are out in public, there is the opportunity to observe human behavior. I like to keep a notebook handy, and if I have any kind of sit-and-wait errands (getting the car washed, doctor’s appointments, etc.) I will jot down descriptions of people that pass by. These little lists come in handy when I start creating new people.

As far as personalities, I love reading advice columns. When I was little, I got hooked on Dear Abby and Ann Landers. I’ve since branched out to include Dear Prudence, Ask Margo, and Carolyn Hax. Even Miss Manners gives me an idea of how people perceive both their own actions and others’.

There are people who write in because they are being abused and don’t recognize it. There are those who write in because they don’t understand why they can’t control their environment. People are incensed, they are hurt, they are confused, and they pour their feelings onto Prudy, Margo, and the rest.

It’s better than a psychology textbook, and fertile ground for giving your character a believable background for who they are in your story. I'll even say that some of the questions they ask can trigger storylines and subplots.

I’ll leave you with a very appropriate advice vlog from Dear Prudence.

 

What do YOU think the writer should do? And (a bonus question for writers and curious minds) can you see a story here?

* * * * *

Speaking of Hit or Missus, mark your calendars: This weekend, the Kindle version of my second Peri Minneopa Mystery will be free for the taking. I figure since Monday is Tax Day, I'd give everyone a break and let them have something for nothing. God knows the IRS won't.

Writing Too Close To Home

by Mar Preston, mystery writer and guest blogger

I live in a mountain village in rural California, and my third mystery suspense novel, Payback,  is set in a fictional Sierra Mountain Village somewhat like the village where I live. But I assure you, only nice people live here in Pine Mountain Club. 

Nonetheless, the novel details a story that is somewhat like an event that happened here. Being writers yourself, you know how your ears go ping, ping, ping when you hear something that you know is a good story. Your imagination dances. You can’t wait to get home and make notes. That's what happened. 

The female protagonist is loosely modeled on a close friend of mine who is a patrol officer here. The male protagonist, the dismissive homicide detective from Big City Bakersfield is a composite of all the detectives I've come to know over the years in researching my previous two police procedural novels set in Santa Monica.

The villain? You have to have a good villain as a foil to your protagonist, so I have taken an event or two from life, splashed it around, and enhanced it considerably. Admittedly, if you’ve had your ear to the ground as far as local politics and scandals, and gifted with a good imagination you might draw some conclusions that the villain might be somewhat like this or that guy.

Now I’ve had the experience of readers identifying with characters. In my first book, No Dice, the villain changes his name, hoping to disguise his perfectly respectable Latino background, but even more to distance himself from a brother who is a felon, well-known to the LAPD.

I named him something like Gomez, which he changed to Edwards. Now Edwards is a name that would fit in a blue blood catalog anywhere. A big red, obnoxious Hummer had just charged in front of me on the freeway without looking as I was driving home, scaring me witless. So in the next chapter Gomez/Edwards drives a red Hummer. Never gave it a second thought.

The husband of a friend of mine walked out of the room on my arrival a few days later, giving me a dirty look, and making a stinging remark. Surprised, I asked her about it and she told me he had changed his name from Gomez and had I noticed that a red Hummer was parked out in the driveway? He had read the book ragged, pointing out to her where he was portrayed here and here and here in the pages. I was amazed.

For some people there will never be enough assurance that the name of the villain came from your imagination. Or that the local handicapped Church Elder is not the hypocritical philanderer who appears in your book. They think the School Superintendent who has red hair must be the local politician on page 234.

Some of you may have had the opposite issue. What about the fiftyish beauty parlor-Big Hair lovely who just knows that you had her in mind when you wrote your heroine who is, yes, a blonde but twenty-six, lithe, and a Cambridge graduate? You smile and keep your mouth shut, that’s what you do. My friend, the patrol officer, is delighted that the protagonist of Payback is loosely modeled on her.

All my friends and neighbors are excited to read about themselves in Payback. Any fiction writer knows that characters are a composite. For one thing, it’s damned difficult to capture all the nuances and contradictions of a character you’re drawing from life.

For another thing, that’s what your imagination is for. If you’re any sort of observer and watcher from the sidelines, you’re always playing the what if game. What if that biker over there was a Sierra Club butterfly collector? That woman with the sweet smile with the baby in her arms? What if she was a cult leader just waiting for the opportunity to tell you about her alien abduction and the real father of her baby?

Lately, I've heard rumors that a certain faction in the community are rumbling about retaliation for their supposed negative depiction in Payback. 

Every day, we are reminded that terrible things happen in this world. Readers of mystery and thriller fiction like to dance close to the dark edge. But retaliation rarely happens to people who love to curl up in an arm chair and read about a likeable or noble protagonist undergoing death-defying challenges.

I’m not taking these rumblings too seriously. We’ll see, won’t we? Nevertheless, if you hear about my violent demise, be suspicious.

Readers - have you ever felt an author had created a character partly based on you? How did that feel?

Writers - What techniques do you use to disguise any traits of real-life people that appear in your characters?

And, in case you're interested, here's a little about Payback:

A forest fire burning in the mountains surrounding a remote California village interrupts the Oktoberfest celebration, followed by the discovery of the mayor who has been beheaded. Sheriff’s Detective Dex Stafford concludes everybody hated the mayor for different and very good reasons, but nobody will talk.

Patrol Officer Holly Seabright of the village’s security force becomes a prickly ally in uncovering the hints and whispers of something much worse than the murder of the mayor. Stafford pools resources with the attractive and smart patrol officer on a twisted trail of discovery as winter and the big snows shut down the town. A killer beyond his imagining haunts the town. Sometime soon, unless they can stop it, there will be another death, and then still another.

Killing Off a Character

by L.J. Sellers, author of provocative mysteries & thrillers

I killed my first recurring character recently, and it still haunts me. She wasn't particularly popular, but the manner of her death was shocking. The ending made my beta readers cry for my protagonist, but they said they loved it. And so did my publisher. So I crossed my fingers and let it go to press.

Still, I knew it was a risk. Readers complain loudly when writers kill characters. They post negative reviews and ratings and often claim they'll never read another book by the author. Some even follow through.

Television writers kill characters even more often than novelists do. Have you seen the third season of Downton Abbey? Viewers were infuriated. Or the last season of Grey's Anatomy? Ouch!

Why do authors do it? For several creative reasons and possibly one egocentric rationale. First, the self-centered reason. Literary experts say if you're not willing to kill a character, then you're not a real writer. They say you lack the courage to be realistic and daring. So killing a character is a challenge that many writers feel compelled to experience.

But that's not why I did it. If a character's full story arc has been told, and there is nothing left for that person to do, then killing him or her is essential for the series. It's only fair to readers to cut the dead weight and allow the story arc of other characters to grow and take new paths. Sometimes a death at the end of one story is the best way to set up a new story that begins with an emotional punch. Also, the action in the climax is often so intense that if no one dies, the story doesn’t feel realistic.

Another reason—which TV writers cite as their main motivation—is that killing a character creates uncertainty. Once readers/viewers realize that anyone could die, that quiet dread ratchets up the suspense.

Which is why readers and viewers keep coming back to a series even after someone they love has been dispatched. Many fans will rant and rave, but eventually they'll accept the development and find themselves ready for more. Only now, their anticipation will be greater than ever.

This pattern is probably truer (safer) for television than novels. Book lovers get more attached to their mainstays, and therefore more upset by unexpected deaths. When you kill a recurring fictional character, you will lose some readers forever.

What is the payoff for novelists? The satisfaction of telling the story the way they envision it. The freedom to take the series or protagonist in a new direction. Maybe even more important—the rush of taking a risk and the confidence that comes with surviving it.

So in Rules of Crime, book seven of the Detective Jackson series, I finally killed a character and I made my protagonist suffer for it. So far, most of my faithful readers have supported—even loved—the decision. But not everyone. I just hope the few who are disappointed will come back to find out what happens next. Book eight is written, and I've made the development pay off in an a rewarding way.

What about you? Have you abandoned an author for knocking off a favorite character? Do you give TV writers more slack than novelists? Tell me what you think.

Show Your Setting Through Your POV Character

by Jodie Renner, editor, author, & speaker  

Fiction writers – one of the fastest ways to bring your story world and characters to life is to portray the setting through the senses, feelings, reactions, and attitude of your protagonist.  

Enhancing your fiction by filtering the description of the settings through your viewpoint character’s senses is a concept I instinctively embraced when I first started editing fiction years ago. I was editing a contemporary middle-school novel, whose two main characters, a boy and a girl, were both eleven years old (I’ve changed the details slightly). The author had them describing rooms they entered as if they were interior decorators, complete with words like “exquisite,” “stylish,” “coordinated,” “ornate,” and “delightful.” Then, when they were in the park or the woods playing and exploring with friends, each tree, shrub and flower was accurately named and described in details that were way beyond the average preteen’s knowledge base or interests. 

Besides the obvious problem of too much description for this age group (or for any popular novel these days), this omniscient, literary, “grownup” way of describing their environment would not only turn off young readers due to the complex terms and sophisticated language, but also create a distance between any reader and these two modern-day kids. As a reader and editor, I didn’t feel like I was getting to know these kids at all, as I wasn’t seeing their world through their eyes, but directly from the author, who obviously knew her interior design terms and flora and fauna! By separating us from the main characters through this unchildlike, out-of-character description of their environment, the author inadvertently puts a kind of semi-transparent wall between us and the two kids. If we don’t get into their heads and hearts, seeing their world as they see it, how will we get to know them, and why will we care what happens to them?

I advise my author clients to not only show us directly what the characters are seeing around them, in the character's words and thoughts, colored by their attitude toward their surroundings, but to bring the characters and story to life on the page by evoking all the senses. Tell us what they’re hearing and smelling, too. And touching/feeling – the textures of things, and whether they’re feeling warm or cold, wet or dry. Even the odd taste. And don’t forget mood—how does that setting make them feel? Emotionally uplifted? Fearful? Warm and cozy? Include telling details specific to that place, and have the characters react to their environment, whether it’s shivering from the cold, in awe of a gorgeous sunset, or afraid of the dark. Bring that scene to life through your characters’ reactions!

This technique serves to deepen the characterization, bring the character to life, and make us feel like we're right there, while showing us the relevant, even critical aspects of the setting.

As Donald Maass says, in Writing the Breakout Novel, “Place presented from an objective or omniscient point of view runs the risk of feeling like boring descriptive. It can be a lump, an impediment to the flow of the narrative.”

He continues, “Do you have plain vanilla description in your current manuscript? Try evoking the description the way it is experienced by a character. Feel a difference? So will your readers.” 

James Scott Bell also advises us to “marble” the description of the environment in during the action. “The way to do this is to put the description in the character’s point of view and use the details to add to the mood.”

Jack M. Bickham gets more specific on this: “When you start a scene in which Bob walks into a large room, for example, you do not imagine how the room looks from some god-like authorial stance high above the room, or as a television camera might see it; you see it only as Bob sees it, coming in….” And include what he’s feeling, hearing, and smelling, too. Filter the scene through his perceptions and feelings. “This leads to reader identification with Bob, which is vital if the reader is to have a sense of focus.” 

Copyright © Jodie Renner

Resources:
James Scott Bell, Revision & Self-Editing
Jack M. Bickham, The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes
Donald Maass, Writing the Breakout Novel
– And Jodie’s experience reading and editing fiction

P.S. Click HERE for some basic tips on creating sentences that flow, on Jodie's own blog.

Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor and the award-winning author of three craft-of-writing guides in her series An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction: Captivate Your Readers, Fire up Your Fiction, and Writing a Killer Thriller, as well as two clickable time-saving e-resources, Quick Clicks: Spelling List and Quick Clicks: Word Usage. She has also organized two anthologies for charity, incl. Childhood Regained – Stories of Hope for Asian Child Workers. You can find Jodie at www.JodieRenner.com, www.JodieRennerEditing.com, her blog, http://jodierennerediting.blogspot.com/, and on Facebook and Twitter.

How to Write a Sex Scene

By Andrew E. Kaufman

A while back, I did a post about sex scenes: I said they had no place in thrillers. I also said I’d never put one in my novels.

Then fate gave me a double-barreled shot of whoop-ass, when I realized I needed to have—you guessed it—a sex scene in my upcoming novel. There was absolutely no way around it. Darkness and Shadows is a psychosexual thriller, and you can’t have seduction without sex. It’s kind of like a cone without the ice cream. Won’t work. 

The whole point of the scene is that the protagonist’s love interest becomes emotionally vulnerable after their encounter and reveals something about herself she normally would not. This sets up the premise for the entire plot.

After realizing there was no way to avoid this, my next step was to write the scene without losing my reader (and my credibility). When I finished the chapter, however, I was surprised to find it actually worked. Here’s where my learning curve took me. I'm fully aware this is going to sound like an instruction manual, but I'm keeping it as clinical as I can, folks. 

  

If you’re going to add sex, it should be crucial to the plot

There has to be a specific purpose for a sex scene. Why? Because anything less will come off as gratuitous, if not pointless. Much like violence—or any other element, for that matter—if an action doesn’t drive the plot forward, it’s excess weight on the reader's mind. I know my sex scene was necessary because I ran hundreds of other scenarios through my mind (I was earnestly looking for a way out), but none came close to being as effective. So perhaps a good question to ask yourself when considering whether to add sex to your novel would be: is there a better device I could use to make my point? If the answer is yes, lose it—if not, go for it.

You don’t have to name every part

At first, my scene was just one big hot mess. Seriously. I don’t need to give the details here, but what I realized was that none of the explicit details were necessary; in fact, they undermined what I was trying to accomplish. Since we’re talking about plot/character-driven elements (i.e.: purposeful), the scene wasn't about what the characters were actually doing—it was about their individual motivation. It was about the people, not the parts. Which brings me to the next point.

Focus on the emotions

Since the purpose of the scene was to advance the plot, what actually mattered was what the characters were feeling and thinking. The act itself was a vehicle—not an actual road. So, when I revised the chapter, I focused instead on what was going through my protagonist’s mind (since we’re in his POV) as well as the words and actions of his love interest, so I could set up for the big reveal when she finally pulled back the curtain and uttered those ominous words.

Keep your characters in character during sex:

Yes, people do act and speak in ways they normally wouldn’t when they’re sexually aroused, but we’re talking plot here, not real life, and it served no purpose to have my characters express themselves this way during my scene—in fact, it would have only distracted from the point I was trying to convey in the first place. Another thing I had to pay attention to was my narrative (which again, is from my protagonist’s POV). Using explicit language in my prose would have been out of character for him, and in effect, would have bumped the reader out of the story.

Sex is generally fast—the scene should be as well.

Yes, I know there are exceptions, but if you’re writing a thriller, everything has to move quickly, and this kind of action is no exception. Since the scene occurs as a flashback instead of in real-time, I didn't have the luxury of going on and on (and on). Memories are fleeting. Even memories about sex. 

And after polling my readers, I found that most don’t want sex scenes in their suspense novels, but most stated they could tolerate one if it didn’t go on for pages and pages. So my scene moved rapidly but realistically. I made my point, made sure the reader got it, then I moved on. The entire scene took up three-quarters of a page.

It's not always what they do—it's what they don't do

In other words, sometimes it’s not what’s actually written on the pages—it’s what stated between the lines. The reader will get it. They’re smart. In addition, if there’s a budding romance between characters, the tension building between them can be even more provocative than actually having them fulfill their needs. If you write it correctly, the reader will feel it as well.

Deep breath.

I think writing this post (and avoiding the inevitable innuendoes) was more difficult than writing my actual scene.

What are your thoughts?

Have you lost the plot?

By Jenny Hilborne, author of mysteries and thrillers.

I have a chaotic mind and a tough time focusing on one thing at a time. I'm an erratic thinker with a short attention span. I often wonder how I got from one point in the thinking process to another. I'm a disorganized author.

When I sit down to write, my thoughts are scattered and my energy races off in several different directions, the result of which is a complex story with more than one plot line. These are the types of novels I mostly enjoy reading.

The challenge with a complicated story and multiple plot lines is the tendency to introduce the reader to a large cast; Stieg Larsson's series comes to mind. In Hide and Seek, I chopped out 14 characters during the editing process; enough to star in a novel of their own. I was still left with 41. I don't know what the optimum number of characters is. Each one in Hide and Seek had a purpose, and each earned their place in the story, but I would have preferred to write with a smaller cast.

A larger cast is more difficult to memorize, at least until the framework of the story is understood. This was part of the reason Dragon Tattoo took me several attempts before I stuck with it. If an author makes a reader do too much work, the reader might give up and move on to another book.

Another challenge with parallel plot lines is getting the threads to merge. In Madness and Murder, my two plot lines merged well and clues were dropped early on to show the reader how they would blend. I left the reader with questions, and the promise they would be answered. It's not always easy to get sub-plots to merge, as I've discovered with my new novel, Stone Cold, a current work in progress.

Stone Cold has a much smaller cast, but the sub-plot has grown legs of its own and taken over the main plot. I'm left wondering whether to cut the main plot and use it in another novel, or continue to try to blend them. Both plots have emerged as strong stories. As an author, I'm wondering what my readers might prefer. I love the complexity - do they? As the storyteller, I must choose how to tell the story, but a wrong choice could fail to draw the audience into the world I've created. I've agonized over it for weeks.

Reading authors such as Stieg Larsson can be work (and well worth it, once I got past the challenges he presented). I imagine writing his books and keeping track of the immense cast was not easy, but each character moved the story and he knew how to tell it. Authors have voices and stories in their heads, but who knew getting them on paper could be so difficult?

Authors: what traits of your personality make writing a challenge for you?

Readers: How complex do you like your mysteries and thrillers? Does a story with more than one main character and more than one plot line make it too difficult to follow the action?

Me and my sidekick

By Gayle Carline

When I started my first mystery novel, I invented Benny Needles, picturing him as an amoral man who collects memorabilia in order to sell it, because he'll do anything to make a buck. Once I began figuring out why a grown man would have an ice cube tray autographed by Dean Martin, and why he'd hire a detective to find it in his own house, it put a different spin on Benny's world. Suddenly I had a sympathetic, if annoying, man who needed a pallie - Dean Martin.

I like to write journals in my characters' voices. It helps me get to know them. However, when I went to write a journal for Benny, I struggled. It finally dawned on me: Benny is not a journal writer. What "Benny" wound up writing was a sixth grade essay, "My Hero." It took me awhile to decipher it, since Benny's handwriting was mostly illegible (at least in my head), and Benny as a twelve-year old is no Hemingway. But here it is.

* * * * *

My Hero by Benny Needles

My hero is Dean Martin. Dean Martin sings and acts and is a big star. He was born in Steubenville, Ohio on June 7, 1917. His real name is Dino Paul Crocetti. Dean Martin has sang lots of songs and made lots of albums. He has starred in many movies. My favorite is Rio Bravo. He plays Dude who starts out drunk and pretty dirty but then takes a bath and helps John Wayne shoot the bad guys.

Dean Martin is my hero because he is the King of Cool and gets to do fun things, like singing and making movies. He is really funny on his TV show that my mom and me watch every Thursday night. Everybody likes him and they call him Dino which is funny because its his real name even tho he changed it to Dean.

My dad has been gone for two years, so sometimes I get sad and miss him. When my mom says I look like Dean Martin it makes me happy. Sometimes I wish Dean Martin was my dad. Then I could see him every Thursday on TV and maybe we would have a secret sign, like he could wink, to say hello to me. When I grow up, I want to be cool, just like Dean Martin.

 

* * * * *

When I wrote my latest Peri Minneopa Mystery, Hit or Missus, I originally didn't plan to have Benny in the story. He was a client in Freezer Burn, so I thought he wouldn't fit in. I planned to bring him back in the third or fourth book, again as a client. But I had so many readers ask, "You're bringing Benny back, right?" I was surprised. So I found a way for him to return, in a most effective yet annoying role.

I think Benny is now part of the recurring case of my Peri mysteries. This means Dino will be there, too, guiding Benny toward the everlasting light of Cool.

This leads me to a question: What are some of your favorite secondary characters in books you've read?

Characters: First Name or Last?

by L.J. Sellers, author of provocative mysteries & thrillers

This is why my novel is taking so long. 

This question comes up dozens of times while I’m writing a novel. Almost every character is given two names (and sometimes a nickname), but what you do you call them most consistently? First name or last? Does their gender and/or role in the story dictate which treatment they get?

I was reading a John Sandford novel recently and I noticed patterns that made me wonder how authors make these choices. There’s a paragraph in which the mother and father of a murder victim are mentioned. Sandford refers to all three by last name, Austin. It’s quite confusing.

In later paragraphs—with the mother, who has the most prominent role of the three—Sandford rotates, sometimes calling her Allyssa and sometimes Austin. This was also confusing, because I’d only met her a few pages back.

Are all novels this messy with names and am I just now noticing because I have to think about these choices when I write stories?

For me, to avoid confusion in family situations, I call everyone by first name and have the detectives refer to them in dialogue by first name or both. Even reporters do this in news stories for clarity.

My main character is Wade Jackson, but everyone calls him Jackson, including me, the narrator. And Jackson, a homicide detective, calls almost everyone he encounters—coworkers, suspects, and witnesses—by their last names. Because this is realistic on the job. Only his daughter and girlfriend get first-name treatment. Young female victims in his cases get first-name treatment too.

The big question for me now is a new character I’m introducing in the Jackson story I’m writing. Everyone else thinks of her as Agent Rivers, so to be consistent, she should be Rivers during her POV. But this character is going to come back in another series and leave the FBI. At which point, I want to call her by her first name. So I’m tempted to start out that way too, so I don't confuse my readers by calling her Rivers in this book, and say, Carla, in the next. But will anyone even notice?

I’m sure styles vary from genre to genre. But in crime fiction—with cops, FBI agents, and private investigators as main characters—I think most coworkers, suspects and witnesses get the last name treatment, while family and friends get first names. I wonder how much it depends on the gender of the writer.

Writers: Do you have guidelines for these decisions? Or do you just wing it? Do you rotate, calling your character Jim, Jimmy, and James? And sometimes by his last name, Shoehorn, just to keep readers on their toes?

Readers: Do you have a preference? Do you like first names or last names better? Does it bother you when writers go back and forth and use different names for the same character?

CREATING A WORTHY ANTAGONIST

more advice for fiction writers, by Jodie Renner, editor

You’ve outlined a plot and created an appealing, complex protagonist for your thriller or other crime/action fiction — great start! But what about your antagonist? According to James N. Frey, “the villain is your best friend, because the villain creates the plot behind the plot — the plot that has to be foiled by the hero.”        

The hero or heroine of your suspense novel needs a worthy opponent who is standing in his/her way and threatening other innocent people. As James Scott Bell says, “Without a strong opponent, most novels lack that crucial emotional experience for the reader: worry. If it seems the hero can take care of his problems easily, why bother to read on?”

And thrillers and other crime fiction need a downright nasty bad guy — but not a “mwoo-ha-ha” caricature or stereotype. If your villain is just a wicked cardboard caricature of what he could be, your readers will quickly lose interest. As Hallie Ephron says, “Characters who are simply monstrously evil can come off as old-fashioned clichés.”

To create a believable, complex, chilling villain, make him clever and determined, but also someone who feels justified in his actions. Ask yourself what the bad guy wants, how he thinks the protagonist is standing in his way, and how he explains his own motivations to himself.

How does your villain rationalize his actions? He may feel that he is justified because of early childhood abuse or neglect, a grudge against society, a goal thwarted by the protagonist, a desire for revenge against a perceived wrong, or a need for power or status — or money to fund his escape. Whatever his reasons, have them clear in your own mind, and at least hint at them in your novel. Like the protagonist, the antagonist needs motivations for his actions.

To give yourself the tools to create a realistic, believable antagonist, try writing a mini-biography of your villain: his upbringing and family life, early influences, and harrowing experiences or criminal activities so far. As Hallie Ephron advises us, “Think about what happened to make that villain the way he is. Was he born bad, or did he sour as a result of some traumatic event? If your villain has a grudge against society, why? If he can’t tolerate being jilted, why? You may never share your villain’s life story with your reader, but to make a complex, interesting villain, you need to know what drives him to do what he does.” Creating a backstory for your antagonist will help you develop a multidimensional, convincing bad guy. 

Many writing gurus advise us to even make the antagonist a bit sympathetic. James Scott Bell says, “The great temptation in creating bad guys is to make them evil through and through. You might think this will make your audience root harder for your hero. More likely, you’re just going to give your book a melodramatic feel. To avoid this, get to know all sides of your bad guy, including the positives.” 

Bell suggests that, after we create a physical impression of our antagonist, we find out what her objective is, dig into her motivation, and create background for her that generates some sympathy — a major turning point from childhood or a powerful secret that can emerge later in the book.

Not everyone agrees with that approach, however. James Frey, on the other hand, says “in some cases, it is neither necessary nor perhaps even desirable to create the villain as a fully fleshed-out, well-rounded multidimensional character.” Many readers just want to a bad guy they can despise, and are not interested in finding out about his inner motives or his deprived childhood. That would dilute our satisfaction in finally seeing him getting his just deserts. 

Frey does feel it’s extremely important to create a convincing, truly nasty villain, one who is “ruthless, relentless, and clever and resourceful, as well as being a moral and ethical wack job,” and one who is “willing to crush anyone who gets in his way,” but doesn’t feel it’s necessary to give us a great deal of information on the villain. 

As kids, we loved to see good prevail over evil, and the nastier the villain, the harder they fell — and the greater our satisfaction. Perhaps Frey’s “damn good villain” hearkens back to those times, and his ultimate demise evokes greater reader satisfaction. Forget analyzing the bad guy — just build him up, then take him out!

On the other hand, many readers today are more sophisticated and want to get away from the caricatures of our popular literary heritage… hence, advice from writers like Ephron and Bell to develop more multidimensional antagonists with a backstory and clear motivations.

I’d say there’s room for both approaches in modern fiction, and probably the thriller genre favors the “just plain mean and nasty” villain. Never mind the psychological analysis of the bad guy—we just want to see Jack Reacher, Joe Pike or [fill in your favorite thriller hero or heroine] kick butt!

What do you think? Make the villain nasty, evil and cruel through and through, or give him some redeeming qualities to make him more realistic? Show some of his background and motivations, or just stick with his current story goals and plans? 

Resources:
Hallie Ephron, The Everything Guide to Writing Your First Novel
James N. Frey, How to Write a Damn Good Thriller
James Scott Bell, Revision and Self-Editing

Copyright © Jodie Renner, June 2012

Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor and the award-winning author of three craft-of-writing guides in her series An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction: Captivate Your Readers, Fire up Your Fiction, and Writing a Killer Thriller, as well as two clickable time-saving e-resources, Quick Clicks: Spelling List and Quick Clicks: Word Usage. She has also organized two anthologies for charity, incl. Childhood Regained – Stories of Hope for Asian Child Workers. You can find Jodie at www.JodieRenner.com, www.JodieRennerEditing.com, her blog, http://jodierennerediting.blogspot.com/, and on Facebook and Twitter.