Pauline Rowson's Blog - Posts Tagged "male-point-of-view"
Sunshine and Sub Genres at Crimefest 2012 Pauline Rowson reports back on her panel appearance
Just as in CrimeFest 2010 this year’s CrimeFest was again a glorious hot day with wall-to-wall sunshine in Bristol. Not the best time to be closeted inside the Royal Marriott Hotel but a very pleasant one to be strolling along the regenerated dock area and catching the little ferry across the narrow strip of water, which I managed to do. It was great to be back on the water, albeit for about two minutes, and I wondered whether DI Horton might take a trip into Bristol on his yacht one day. Or perhaps another character in a future thriller might be drawn to the area.
It was an early morning start for the panel on which I was appearing, beginning at 9a.m., but the audience seemed attentive enough and the authors were awake, which helped. And I noted that we didn’t send anyone to sleep.
I met my fellow crime writers; Mary Andrea Clarke, Frances Brody, Leigh Russell and our excellent moderator Adrian Magson in the Green Room, a dimly lit space in the basement of the hotel. It looked like a set from a murder mystery play. I half expected to trip over a dead body but there were none only very much alive authors.
Our brief was to explore Genres and Sub Genres but as in most of these panels we ended up talking about many different aspects of crime writing and our crime novels. Frances Brody talked about her Kate Shackleton mysteries set in the 1920s, Mary Andrea Clarke about her historical crime novels set in the late 18th century and on the contemporary side there was Leigh Russell with her female detective Geraldine Steel and me with my hunky DI Andy Horton. Adrian Magson, as moderator, didn’t talk about his crime novels, except when introducing himself, but for the record he is a very accomplished and successful crime author having written many novels, articles and short stories.
Adrian asked us about our secondary characters, and if they would continue to feature in future novels. In my case he singled out DCI Lorraine Bliss, Andy Horton’s abrasive, alpha female, ambitious boss. I can’t say at this stage if she will continue to appear in the Horton novels but she appears in the new DI Horton, which is being released in July, called Death Lies Beneath, and she also features in the Horton novel I’m currently writing.
I was asked why I chose to create DCI Bliss. The reason is because she is completely the opposite of DI Horton and this therefore creates tension between them. Horton is a maverick cop, who likes action, and doesn’t much care if he cuts corners or gets into trouble just as long as the villains are caught. While Bliss is a desk johnnie, intent on doing everything by the book and making sure that whatever happens she comes out looking good with a couple of brownie points to boot, to help her in her climb to the top.
Adrian also asked me why I wrote from the male point of view, while the others on the panel had chosen to have a female protagonist. It wasn’t until I created DI Horton, after writing several novels with a female lead that didn’t get published, that I realised writing from the male point of view was more natural and exciting for me. I have also written two stand alone thrillers, In Cold Daylight and In for the Kill, both with male leads. I joked with the audience that maybe I’m a closet man! But in reality perhaps it’s because I have spent most of my career working in male dominate organisations.
It was a relaxed but lively discussion with some good questions from the audience many of whom had travelled from as far as Canada and America. And it was expertly chaired by Adrian Magson who made sure that we all contributed equally to the discussion.
I met some lovely people after the panel and had a chance to chat to them about what they like about crime fiction: a puzzle to solve, great characters, atmospheric settings, action packed novels were some of the answers, which varied as much as the genre does itself, and that’s what’s so exciting and fascinating about both writing and reading crime fiction. There’s something for everyone.
I’m already looking forward to CrimeFest 2013.
It was an early morning start for the panel on which I was appearing, beginning at 9a.m., but the audience seemed attentive enough and the authors were awake, which helped. And I noted that we didn’t send anyone to sleep.
I met my fellow crime writers; Mary Andrea Clarke, Frances Brody, Leigh Russell and our excellent moderator Adrian Magson in the Green Room, a dimly lit space in the basement of the hotel. It looked like a set from a murder mystery play. I half expected to trip over a dead body but there were none only very much alive authors.
Our brief was to explore Genres and Sub Genres but as in most of these panels we ended up talking about many different aspects of crime writing and our crime novels. Frances Brody talked about her Kate Shackleton mysteries set in the 1920s, Mary Andrea Clarke about her historical crime novels set in the late 18th century and on the contemporary side there was Leigh Russell with her female detective Geraldine Steel and me with my hunky DI Andy Horton. Adrian Magson, as moderator, didn’t talk about his crime novels, except when introducing himself, but for the record he is a very accomplished and successful crime author having written many novels, articles and short stories.
Adrian asked us about our secondary characters, and if they would continue to feature in future novels. In my case he singled out DCI Lorraine Bliss, Andy Horton’s abrasive, alpha female, ambitious boss. I can’t say at this stage if she will continue to appear in the Horton novels but she appears in the new DI Horton, which is being released in July, called Death Lies Beneath, and she also features in the Horton novel I’m currently writing.
I was asked why I chose to create DCI Bliss. The reason is because she is completely the opposite of DI Horton and this therefore creates tension between them. Horton is a maverick cop, who likes action, and doesn’t much care if he cuts corners or gets into trouble just as long as the villains are caught. While Bliss is a desk johnnie, intent on doing everything by the book and making sure that whatever happens she comes out looking good with a couple of brownie points to boot, to help her in her climb to the top.
Adrian also asked me why I wrote from the male point of view, while the others on the panel had chosen to have a female protagonist. It wasn’t until I created DI Horton, after writing several novels with a female lead that didn’t get published, that I realised writing from the male point of view was more natural and exciting for me. I have also written two stand alone thrillers, In Cold Daylight and In for the Kill, both with male leads. I joked with the audience that maybe I’m a closet man! But in reality perhaps it’s because I have spent most of my career working in male dominate organisations.
It was a relaxed but lively discussion with some good questions from the audience many of whom had travelled from as far as Canada and America. And it was expertly chaired by Adrian Magson who made sure that we all contributed equally to the discussion.
I met some lovely people after the panel and had a chance to chat to them about what they like about crime fiction: a puzzle to solve, great characters, atmospheric settings, action packed novels were some of the answers, which varied as much as the genre does itself, and that’s what’s so exciting and fascinating about both writing and reading crime fiction. There’s something for everyone.
I’m already looking forward to CrimeFest 2013.
Why I like crime novels, psychology and writing from the male point of view
In this video clip uploaded onto my website taken from CSI Portsmouth 2012 I talk about why I like crime novels, psychology, writing from the male point of view and the importance of libraries.
You can read more about CSI Portsmouth 2012 on my website. CSI Portsmouth 2013 will be held on Saturday 2 November.
http://www.rowmark.co.uk/blogged/2013...
You can read more about CSI Portsmouth 2012 on my website. CSI Portsmouth 2013 will be held on Saturday 2 November.
http://www.rowmark.co.uk/blogged/2013...
Whose story is it? Pauline Rowson discusses viewpoint
Whose story is it? That is a question every writer needs to ask him or herself before starting to write a novel, or if not then certainly while writing and revising it. From whose viewpoint are you telling the story? Is it single viewpoint or multiple viewpoint? Is it male or female or a mixture of both? Beware the latter though and having too many viewpoints because that will not only muddle the story and slow it down but it will also confuse you, and more importantly the reader.
The purpose of the crime or thriller novel is to excite and intrigue, sometimes also to scare, therefore having too many viewpoints, i.e. switching to different characters every so many pages or chapters can bog down a crime novel.
When I first started writing I wrote from the female character's point of view but as I began to write more I found myself far more attracted to telling the story from the male character's point of view and when I created my hunky detective, DI Andy Horton, in the first of the Horton series, Tide of Death, I knew that I had found my 'voice' as they say in writing parlance.
Once I started writing from the male point of view everything began to fall into place. I also prefer single person point of view which means that you follow the story through the eyes of DI Andy Horton in my marine mystery crime novels, which are written in the third person, and through Adam Greene in my thriller, In Cold Daylight and Alex Albury in In For The Kill which are both written in the first person. Although this has its drawbacks in that you can not explain others inner emotions you can portray them through the lead character and it also makes for tighter writing and therefore a faster read.
When people ask me why I write from the male point of view I often joke that maybe it's because I am a closet man. But I don't really know and I don't think it matters, it's just the way I find comfortable writing.
There are of course some very strong females in my novels such as the pathologist Dr Gaye Clayton in the DI Andy Horton series. There are also female victims and killers and there is, from DI Andy Horton number three onwards ( The Suffocating Sea), Horton's acerbic boss, alpha female DCI Lorraine Bliss.
The two standalone crime novels also incorporate some intriguing and interesting female characters.
Finding your style and your voice takes time and practice but if you enjoy writing then that's not a chore, on the contrary it's always a pleasure to experiment.
The purpose of the crime or thriller novel is to excite and intrigue, sometimes also to scare, therefore having too many viewpoints, i.e. switching to different characters every so many pages or chapters can bog down a crime novel.
When I first started writing I wrote from the female character's point of view but as I began to write more I found myself far more attracted to telling the story from the male character's point of view and when I created my hunky detective, DI Andy Horton, in the first of the Horton series, Tide of Death, I knew that I had found my 'voice' as they say in writing parlance.
Once I started writing from the male point of view everything began to fall into place. I also prefer single person point of view which means that you follow the story through the eyes of DI Andy Horton in my marine mystery crime novels, which are written in the third person, and through Adam Greene in my thriller, In Cold Daylight and Alex Albury in In For The Kill which are both written in the first person. Although this has its drawbacks in that you can not explain others inner emotions you can portray them through the lead character and it also makes for tighter writing and therefore a faster read.
When people ask me why I write from the male point of view I often joke that maybe it's because I am a closet man. But I don't really know and I don't think it matters, it's just the way I find comfortable writing.
There are of course some very strong females in my novels such as the pathologist Dr Gaye Clayton in the DI Andy Horton series. There are also female victims and killers and there is, from DI Andy Horton number three onwards ( The Suffocating Sea), Horton's acerbic boss, alpha female DCI Lorraine Bliss.
The two standalone crime novels also incorporate some intriguing and interesting female characters.
Finding your style and your voice takes time and practice but if you enjoy writing then that's not a chore, on the contrary it's always a pleasure to experiment.
