Mystery Novels

Small Caps

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

#writetip Tricks of the trade are hard to come by, and it’s one more reason to have a mentor. If you’re a Canadian crime writer you might want to check out CWC. My mentor, Garry Ryan, President of Crime Writers of Canada, pointed out that I should use small caps when using acronyms such as RCMP, SUV, or DIN. Here is the same sentence. The first is 12 point for all words. The second has RCMP written in small caps.

RCMP Constable Wagner prepared herself for a fight. She squared her body . . .

or

RCMP Constable Wagner prepared herself for a fight. She squared her body . . .

The second sentence is the correct way. It even looks better on the page. You can see for yourself how RCMP blends better in small caps and doesn’t pull the eye away from the rest of the words.

Character Names

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

#writetip Do you refer to your character the same way throughout your novel or short story? Does this change depending on who has the POV in a particular scene?

I’m wondering if this matters.

I have a character, let’s call him Mike Chambers.

When Mike has the POV or his girlfriend has the POV, I refer to him as Mike.

When a cop who is interviewing him has the POV, I refer to him as Chambers.

I think it’s more personal to use Mike in his POV scene or his girlfriends POV scene.

When it’s the cops POV, I think the cop should be more distant from Mike and I refer to him as Chambers.

The question is: is this okay or does it confuse the reader?

My solution to answering this question. I ask my readers what they think after they’ve read the scenes. If the reader is not confused as to who the character is, I think using first and last names allows me to indicate closeness of a relationship. If the reader is confused, maybe it’s better to use either the first or the last name, but not both.

When writing tips drive you crazy . . .

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

#writetip Don’t panic!

At first I wondered how I would remember everything I was learning about writing. I kept notes. I recorded tips in spreadsheets. It was overwhelming.

Now that I’m working on my third novel, I find it easier to retain tips.

I think, once an author has a substantial amount (you can insert what you think is substantial) under their proverbial writing belt, it becomes easier to relate a tip to the actual writing.

Ask yourself if you follow the tip?

Ask yourself is the tip relevant to your writing?

Ask yourself does the tip come from a trustworthy source?

But don’t drive yourself crazy. Just write as best you can.

Humour and Writing

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

#writetip What do you do when the advice is to add more humour to your writing?

Is Calli (Jack Russell) wearing diapers or did her harness slip?

In a tense novel, humour can give the reader the breather they need. Garry Ryan suggested I watch my dog and see what antics he gets up to. This is only useful for writing if you have a dog in your story.

It’s so true that dogs are funny. It might not feel funny when your dog is thirsty in the middle of the night, and to wake you he swats his steel bowl against the wall until you get up and then he greets you with a wagging tail like nothing is wrong.

It might not seem funny when your dog takes a banana right out of a strangers hand and eats it. Especially after you warned the stranger that your dog likes bananas. Well, it depends on the stranger, but it did happen to be funny.

And let’s face it, when your dog lets off a ripper at an inappropriate time, that’s pretty funny too.

So now, I’m collecting stories from my dog. Hopefully, I’ll find the right one to add to my novel. My dog’s name is Farley Mowat, so I think he should write part of my novel.

Show, Don’t Tell

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments
#writetip How many times have you heard “Show, Don’t tell” ? So the advice is everywhere and it must be easy. Ha Ha. Here’s a technique I use when I’m trying to force myself to show and not tell.

For each scene, establish a point of view character and stick to it. If you find yourself throwing in other characters thoughts or feelings, see if you can get rid of them without hurting the scene. This narrows the POV to one character.

Once you’re that far, check the scene for anything the character can’t know, but you’ve described. There’s a good chance this is telling. It might be something that can be removed or put in as part of what the character is doing. This way you’re revealing the character’s experience and not what you as an author want the reader to know.

I’m not saying write your whole novel this way. I’m not even saying this works. What it does is give me a process to check if I’m telling and not showing. Then I can decide whether or not to make changes.

If you have other ways to check if for telling versus showing, I’d love to hear them.

Complicated Character Relationships

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

#writetip Should you drip out information on complicated relationships or get the info out early?

Here’s the advice I got from an acquiring editor: If the relationships are key to the  motivation of the crime, then it’s better to define them early. You can do this and still keep the reader intrigued.

Now to go do this…

I’m writing from Norman’s Cay in the Bahamas and the nearest cell tower is 7 miles away. I’m amazed I have a connection today.

I have to keep the posts short, and it may be slow, but at least it’s working.

 

 

Evil Characters

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 1 Comment

#writetip In a mystery novel, can your character be too evil? An acquiring editor told me yes!

If you want the reader to take your evil characters seriously as the character who committed the crime, you must round them out. Give them a few positive characteristics. Maybe they foster cats, are nice to their spouse but no on else, but don’t make them just bad, bad, bad.

Here’s to putting some niceness in your characters.

Narrative: It’s all in the details

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

Do you have too much detail? #writetip I received a very insightful comment on my second novel from an acquiring editor. Here’s what I got out of it.

When describing “something” in a novel, that “something” should be related to the story. For instance, it is the murder weapon? Then perhaps it deserves a lot of attention.

It is “something” used during the novel, but not key to the plot? Then perhaps a little less detail.

It is “something” not related to the story? Then perhaps remove it.

There is so much to remember when editing a novel. Maybe it’s time I started another spreadsheet.

Eye Colour and Your Characters

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 5 Comments

How many ways are there to describe eye colour? #writetip So My handy spreadsheet tells me I like brown eyes.  A character’s eye colour is important and there are only so many different colour of eyes out there.

Here’s what I discovered. Paint companies love to name their paints all kinds of fascinating things. Go to a paint store, pick up a whole bunch of cards  that show colours similar to eye colour, and bring them home. When you need to describe a new character here is your pool of colours.

Scenes and Sequels

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 5 Comments

How do you intermix them? #writetip I don’t think about scenes or sequels when I’m writing my first draft. But when it’s done, I sure do.

After a fast paced scene, sometimes the reader needs a break. This is a good time for a sequel. You can get into your characters heads, share a little about them, and give the reader time to catch their breath.

Too many scenes and the reader loses touch with the character.

Too many sequels and the reader gets bored.

Somewhere in there is a balance, and I guess that’s where the artistic talent comes in.

Today is a big day for us. We are staging to cross the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. It feels like a scene/sequel scenario. We’ve spent the last month in a fast paced life, getting ready to go. Now we get to hoist the sails and do some sailing. The sequel.