Clues, Red Herrings, and Happy New Year

Santa on Dauphin Island

Whew! I’m with Santa. 

Even though I’d rather be sleeping, I’m now back at the keyboard, thinking up another adversity for the protagonist/sleuth in my WIP. Writing a mystery is a learning process for me. Thriller and suspense genres I have managed to some small degree, but a mystery is a whole ‘nother story.

What remains the same among the genres is that my protagonist (i.e., sleuth) must be likeable, have some personality quirks, and a bit of backstory baggage to be dropped intermittently into the story (no info dumps, please). My sleuth has a confidant, which is a recommended device. There is a unique setting and a love interest to add a little jazz. Each of the major characters, including the bad guy, has a secret that I hope will generate some degree of sympathy.

Mysteries need a theme, and I have a theme that will, I believe, hit a universal nerve with my readers. Where I’m struggling is with the clues and red herrings. Where and how to place them so they invite the reader to try to solve the mystery but don’t reveal so much that they really can.

I am a pantser, or more accurately, a pathfinder. I find my way through the story by building roadblocks for my protagonist then figuring out how to have her escape. For a mystery, I am going to have to do a bit of {gasp} plotting. Before I can hide the clues and weave in red herrings, I should know how my protagonist will be solving the crime.

Like all manuscripts, my mystery will change with each future edit cycle. My characters, clues, and red herrings will change and be rearranged. And that process has already started. For example: I know the victim is murdered (off-page, on page 7), but the description of one of my red herrings may force me to change the how. Changing that scene will most certainly waterfall into other changes throughout the manuscript.

What I really like about all this is that I’m learning new things. My personal goal has always been to learn something new every day, and this project is certainly helping me reach my goal. How about you? Did you reach a personal goal this year?

That’s it for this post, and I’m tired. I think I’m going to take the rest of the year off (::lol::).

I pray that your new year will be filled with the love of family and friends, good health and good times, and the magic of books. HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

By the by: 2016 is a Leap Year, so Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday to all you Feb 29 babies!

PS:  The photo of where Santa was on Dec. 26 is by Jeff Johnston

cjpetterson@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor

Choosing Carter  -- Kindle  /  Nook  /  Kobo   /  iTunes/iBook

Deadly Star --  Kindle  / Nook  / Kobo

Glorious English

cj Sez: A friend sent me this quote from a fellow blogger, Sol Sanders: "Perhaps the glory of the English language is that it is so expressive. Its remarkable heterogeneous origins have given it an almost limitless vocabulary. And American English, particularly, has used that tool with an enormous flexibility to make it the international means of communication. One is able with a minimum of linguistic dexterity to capture every meaning, or almost every nuance."

Mr. Sanders's comments were part of an introduction to his essay on what today's journalism and media do with and to the English language. The gist of his blog is that they overcomplicate their sentences with words that muddy their meanings . . . i.e., changing nouns into verbs and, perhaps, calling a shovel a "hand-held, earth-moving tool." My take on this is that media types and journalists employ this old trick of confusing the issue to try to persuade readers to their (the writer/editor's) point of view.

I'll admit to a few personal dislikes. One is the word "impactful:" a noun turned into a verb turned into an adjective by adding ful on the end. What the Sam Hill does that mean?

The truth is, English is a living language. It's constantly evolving as we create new words with new meanings to compliment new technology. The caveat is that the generations cease to understand each other at an almost exponential pace. Many times I need an interpreter to understand "teen talk," and I think if I texted (a noun turned into a verb because of technology), I'd forget how to spell.

For me as a genre writer, the gloriously expressive English language is what makes my craft so fascinating.

Yes, I happily use nouns as verbs. Yes, I deliberately obfuscate (and add the disclaimer that it's for the sake of mystery). And I am drawn to the syntax, symbolism, and syncopation of a well-drafted sentence that is the hallmark of successful mystery/thriller/suspense novelists.

It's using that "minimum of linguistic dexterity to capture every meaning, or almost every nuance" that appeals to me, and, I think, to readers of those genres. They like trying to decipher the code, find the clues, and solve the crime. I like trying to confuse the issue.

I am, however, still working on my craft. How are you doing with your genre?

Okay, that's all for today. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I'll try to do the same.

cj


PS: The cartoon is from Facebook.

PPS:  My novel DEADLY STAR is included in the publisher's "Running to Love" bundle of novels, tentatively slated for release on October 27. That's TEN romantic suspense stories for 99 cents! Available on all of the Crimson Romance sites, including Amazon.com and B&N.com. 

After you've had a chance to read the stories, please let the authors know what you think by taking a few moments to give them a review, good-bad-indifferent. We appreciate your feedback.