Pauline Rowson's Blog - Posts Tagged "plots"
What makes a good crime novel?
Ask this question of crime fiction fans and you'll get varied answers. Some like the gritty gruesome, others prefer cozy comfortable. Some enjoy a literary style crime novel, others a racy, action-packed page turner. Reading about exotic locations turn some readers on whilst others enjoy 'home spun' tales. Then there's historical or contemporary, detective or private eye, male protagonist or female... But all crime fiction fans will agree they want great, believable characters and a cracking good plot. Saying this is easy, writing and delivering it time and time again is more difficult. But then that's the challenge and the enjoyment of writing.
Creating and developing a complex main character that the reader can have empathy with is vitally important. The reader must want to trust him or her, feel his/her pain and disappointments and root for him/her throughout the novel. And it's not just the main character but the supporting cast, and the villains and the walk-on roles who all need characteristics that are believable even if they are eccentric. The cast must be real to the writer and therefore real to the reader.
The plot needs to have twists and turns and to surprise the reader. But the plot and surprises spring from the characters' actions and motivations so we're back once more to creating great characters.
Writing a crime novel also takes fantastic organisational skills because all the bits of the plot and sub plots need to add up. If you change one thing on revisions then you find you have to change everything.
And all this takes hard work, which is what I should be doing now. But before I get back to Inspector Andy Horton and crew in the latest marine mystery crime novel here's a final note. In addition to the above the crime novel must also be well-written, have memorable settings, a mixture of narrative and realistic dialogue and a central theme. Being a crime writer is never dull.
The Suffocating Sea
Creating and developing a complex main character that the reader can have empathy with is vitally important. The reader must want to trust him or her, feel his/her pain and disappointments and root for him/her throughout the novel. And it's not just the main character but the supporting cast, and the villains and the walk-on roles who all need characteristics that are believable even if they are eccentric. The cast must be real to the writer and therefore real to the reader.
The plot needs to have twists and turns and to surprise the reader. But the plot and surprises spring from the characters' actions and motivations so we're back once more to creating great characters.
Writing a crime novel also takes fantastic organisational skills because all the bits of the plot and sub plots need to add up. If you change one thing on revisions then you find you have to change everything.
And all this takes hard work, which is what I should be doing now. But before I get back to Inspector Andy Horton and crew in the latest marine mystery crime novel here's a final note. In addition to the above the crime novel must also be well-written, have memorable settings, a mixture of narrative and realistic dialogue and a central theme. Being a crime writer is never dull.
The Suffocating Sea
Working out 'who done it?' Grappling with plot outlines
My wrists ache, my shoulders are sore, my brain has been spinning all night and I feel guilty because I didn't e mail or phone any of my friends yesterday. I barely looked at Facebook and Twitter, and my husband got about half a dozen words out of me - which might be a blessing, of course, as far as he's concerned. Why? Because I was grappling with the plot of the next DI Horton marine mystery crime novel, and couldn't for the life of me fathom out who had done it!
That might sound weird, as I'm the author, surely I should know, but this often happens. I had reached the climax of the novel with its sub plots and main plot and had several suspects in the frame, then I started to think, 'No, it's too obvious it's him,' or 'It can't be her because she's got no motive.' I could, of course, invent motives aplenty, but it's got to ring true. Now, after bashing out a sketchy end on my keyboard yesterday evening, considering it overnight and looking at it in the fresh light of day, I believe it will work. I hope it will work. Yes, I'm sure it will work and give my readers something to get their teeth into. Only the next revision, which I shall start today, will prove whether or not I'm right.
That might sound weird, as I'm the author, surely I should know, but this often happens. I had reached the climax of the novel with its sub plots and main plot and had several suspects in the frame, then I started to think, 'No, it's too obvious it's him,' or 'It can't be her because she's got no motive.' I could, of course, invent motives aplenty, but it's got to ring true. Now, after bashing out a sketchy end on my keyboard yesterday evening, considering it overnight and looking at it in the fresh light of day, I believe it will work. I hope it will work. Yes, I'm sure it will work and give my readers something to get their teeth into. Only the next revision, which I shall start today, will prove whether or not I'm right.
Generating ideas for crime novels
People are genuinely fascinated to learn where writers get their ideas from and many people tell me they'd never be able to come up with an idea for a book let alone enough ideas for a series of novels. But ideas really are the easy part of writing - once you have trained your mind to openly look for them, or spot them when they miraculously occur - it is turning the ideas into a novel of 80,000-100,000 words that is the tricky bit.
Ideas for novels come from a variety of sources: overheard conversations, stories relayed by others, personal experience, locations and the news, which pops up in my Google Reader: for example a Windsurfing Festival on Hayling Island could serve as a potential investigation for an Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel. Or the first steam passenger train returning to Hayling Island since 1963 could lead to Murder on the Hayling Seaside Express
There was an unexploded bomb trawled up by fishermen in the Solent, which sparked an idea or two, and an article in the Isle of Wight County Press asking for witnesses to come forward in a suspected arson case involving toilet rolls, a young man walking on stilts, a woman with pink hair and a group dressed as Goths made the mind boggle. I kid you not.
Then there was the time when I was in London and a cab driver told me of a fare he’d just picked up from a hotel and dropped only fifty yards further down the road to a house. The man was of a swarthy complexion carrying a suitcase, Murder And The Suitcase Man.
And the surf’s up with twenty foot waves at Freshwater Bay on the Isle of Wight in January, and suddenly you’ve got a body rolling in with the waves.
As to my novels, well the idea for In Cold Daylight came from an overheard conversation in the fire station where my husband was a fire-fighter. The fire fighters were talking about the high number of men from one watch who had all contracted cancer. No one knew why and no one had investigated the cause. I picked that up and turned it into a thriller.
In For The Kill was sparked by a visit to the Isle of Wight and seeing the signs for the prisons. Suddenly I imagined a man standing outside the gates and I wondered who he was? What crime had he committed? Was he innocent or guilty? What would he do next? Already the plot was forming.
And my marine mystery crime novels featuring my detective, Inspector Horton, are all originally inspired by locations around the coast of Portsmouth, Hayling Island and the Solent: the marina in The Suffocating Sea; Southsea beach in Tide of Death Kendals Wharf in Dead Man's Wharf; the mulberry in Langstone Harbour in Deadly Waters, and St Helens Duver on the Isle of Wight in Blood on the Sand. The ancient remains of Portchester Castle is the inspiration behind the Inspector Horton novel I am currently writing.
Every idea is written down and kept in an A4 folder, alphabetically indexed for that day when I start a new novel. So far so good but how do you turn these ideas into a novel?
I usually start by taking the idea and putting it in a spider gram and then asking myself a series of questions around it, for example: what could happen when the steam train comes to Hayling? Could there be a body found on it? If so whose? How did it get there? Or was someone pushed under the steam train and no one saw it happen? How did the bomb get into the Solent? How old was it? What type is it? Is there a story behind it? Or perhaps there's a story around the fishermen finding it? And we all know what we can make of the swarthy man with the suitcase.
It's only by continually asking open questions such as who, what, where, when, how and why can I begin to flesh out the characters, the theme, the plot and sub plots. Sometimes I run down blind alleys, sometimes one idea or question sparks another. It's all ifs, buts and maybes until some months later and much hard graft I have something that resembles a crime novel.
Ideas for novels come from a variety of sources: overheard conversations, stories relayed by others, personal experience, locations and the news, which pops up in my Google Reader: for example a Windsurfing Festival on Hayling Island could serve as a potential investigation for an Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel. Or the first steam passenger train returning to Hayling Island since 1963 could lead to Murder on the Hayling Seaside Express
There was an unexploded bomb trawled up by fishermen in the Solent, which sparked an idea or two, and an article in the Isle of Wight County Press asking for witnesses to come forward in a suspected arson case involving toilet rolls, a young man walking on stilts, a woman with pink hair and a group dressed as Goths made the mind boggle. I kid you not.
Then there was the time when I was in London and a cab driver told me of a fare he’d just picked up from a hotel and dropped only fifty yards further down the road to a house. The man was of a swarthy complexion carrying a suitcase, Murder And The Suitcase Man.
And the surf’s up with twenty foot waves at Freshwater Bay on the Isle of Wight in January, and suddenly you’ve got a body rolling in with the waves.
As to my novels, well the idea for In Cold Daylight came from an overheard conversation in the fire station where my husband was a fire-fighter. The fire fighters were talking about the high number of men from one watch who had all contracted cancer. No one knew why and no one had investigated the cause. I picked that up and turned it into a thriller.
In For The Kill was sparked by a visit to the Isle of Wight and seeing the signs for the prisons. Suddenly I imagined a man standing outside the gates and I wondered who he was? What crime had he committed? Was he innocent or guilty? What would he do next? Already the plot was forming.
And my marine mystery crime novels featuring my detective, Inspector Horton, are all originally inspired by locations around the coast of Portsmouth, Hayling Island and the Solent: the marina in The Suffocating Sea; Southsea beach in Tide of Death Kendals Wharf in Dead Man's Wharf; the mulberry in Langstone Harbour in Deadly Waters, and St Helens Duver on the Isle of Wight in Blood on the Sand. The ancient remains of Portchester Castle is the inspiration behind the Inspector Horton novel I am currently writing.
Every idea is written down and kept in an A4 folder, alphabetically indexed for that day when I start a new novel. So far so good but how do you turn these ideas into a novel?
I usually start by taking the idea and putting it in a spider gram and then asking myself a series of questions around it, for example: what could happen when the steam train comes to Hayling? Could there be a body found on it? If so whose? How did it get there? Or was someone pushed under the steam train and no one saw it happen? How did the bomb get into the Solent? How old was it? What type is it? Is there a story behind it? Or perhaps there's a story around the fishermen finding it? And we all know what we can make of the swarthy man with the suitcase.
It's only by continually asking open questions such as who, what, where, when, how and why can I begin to flesh out the characters, the theme, the plot and sub plots. Sometimes I run down blind alleys, sometimes one idea or question sparks another. It's all ifs, buts and maybes until some months later and much hard graft I have something that resembles a crime novel.
Plotting begins in earnest for the next Inspector Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novel
I've begun the plotting for the next Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel which means there are bits of paper scattered all over my office/study. I usually work out plot and characters in pencil using spider grams and plot lines and I've got the basics of the next Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel number seven in the series, mapped out.
The idea for this novel has come from several sources but a newspaper article forms a major part of it, which is linked with the location of course, which in my case is the Solent area on the south coast of England where my novels are set. I won't say what that article is because, like most writers, I am rather superstitious - the more you talk about a novel in progress the more likely it is to become dead in the water.
There's a long way to go yet before I can start creating it on the computer though. I need to start working on the characters now and, as they begin to take shape, so too will their actions and motivations, which in turn will drive the plot further.
Then there are the sub plots. Will they stand alone or will they form part of the main plot? And the back story: will Andy discover more about his missing mother? What's happening in Barney Cantelli's life and with Superintendent Uckfield? Will DI Dennings still be lumbering about on the major crime team? It's all a bit messy to begin with, but exciting as the new story unfolds.
In for the Kill
The idea for this novel has come from several sources but a newspaper article forms a major part of it, which is linked with the location of course, which in my case is the Solent area on the south coast of England where my novels are set. I won't say what that article is because, like most writers, I am rather superstitious - the more you talk about a novel in progress the more likely it is to become dead in the water.
There's a long way to go yet before I can start creating it on the computer though. I need to start working on the characters now and, as they begin to take shape, so too will their actions and motivations, which in turn will drive the plot further.
Then there are the sub plots. Will they stand alone or will they form part of the main plot? And the back story: will Andy discover more about his missing mother? What's happening in Barney Cantelli's life and with Superintendent Uckfield? Will DI Dennings still be lumbering about on the major crime team? It's all a bit messy to begin with, but exciting as the new story unfolds.
In for the Kill
Thinking is an essential part of writing
You think about the plot and sub plots. You think about the characters and their motivations. You think about the weather and the time of year the novels takes place. And you think about the locations. In fact you think about everything there is to think about when writing a novel, and rather than spending my time sitting in a room and staring out of a window thinking, I prefer to do most of mine while walking. Not only does this help to keep me fit but it's a well known fact that exercise also improves one's mental powers.
In addition, thinking while walking has the added advantage of getting good location description, as well as providing descriptions of the weather. It also means coming across some very interesting characters, who might inspire a character/s in my novel. These aren't necessarily main characters but usually secondary or walk-on characters. It might be just a glimpse of someone walking over the Downs, strolling along the promenade between Sandown and Shanklin on the Isle of Wight, or striding out along the Hayling Island Coastal Path. Or it might be someone I end up talking to on the train, or in a cafe or shop.
The other morning on the train from Shanklin to Ryde (after a seven mile walk)I made a study of people's toes and found it quite fascinating. Of course this can only be carried out in the summer months in England. There were deformed toes, tattooed toes, dirty toes, painted toe nails and toes with long nails, (mine were safely ensconced in walking boots). As a creative writing exercise I could simply list these and ask students to form visual descriptions of the owners of the toes and then pen character sketches of them. It would be fascinating to see what the students came up with.
Then I made a study of the faces belonging to the toes, surreptitiously I might add, I didn't want to be accused of staring. There were youthful faces, worried faces, alcoholic faces, and vacant faces. And that's just the edited version of the descriptions I tucked away in my mind. It's all good stuff for the next and future Andy Horton marine mystery crime novels.
In addition, thinking while walking has the added advantage of getting good location description, as well as providing descriptions of the weather. It also means coming across some very interesting characters, who might inspire a character/s in my novel. These aren't necessarily main characters but usually secondary or walk-on characters. It might be just a glimpse of someone walking over the Downs, strolling along the promenade between Sandown and Shanklin on the Isle of Wight, or striding out along the Hayling Island Coastal Path. Or it might be someone I end up talking to on the train, or in a cafe or shop.
The other morning on the train from Shanklin to Ryde (after a seven mile walk)I made a study of people's toes and found it quite fascinating. Of course this can only be carried out in the summer months in England. There were deformed toes, tattooed toes, dirty toes, painted toe nails and toes with long nails, (mine were safely ensconced in walking boots). As a creative writing exercise I could simply list these and ask students to form visual descriptions of the owners of the toes and then pen character sketches of them. It would be fascinating to see what the students came up with.
Then I made a study of the faces belonging to the toes, surreptitiously I might add, I didn't want to be accused of staring. There were youthful faces, worried faces, alcoholic faces, and vacant faces. And that's just the edited version of the descriptions I tucked away in my mind. It's all good stuff for the next and future Andy Horton marine mystery crime novels.
My writing routine, crime author Pauline Rowson explains hers
There are a writers who write the same time every day come what may; others will write a certain number of words every day and say, 'when I've done my quota, I'll knock off writing.' Me? I have no routine and I don't count the number of words. Some days the words will flow and I can spend up to eight hours, maybe more writing. Other days I will struggle to find the correct words. If the latter happens I will usually pick up my knitting, do some sewing or go for a walk. My mind is constantly working though, thinking through the plots or sub plots, developing characters. I do, however, try to write or 'think' my novels every day. And if I can, I usually work on my crime novels every late afternoon and early evening, knocking off about 7.30pm.
I'm currently working in pencil on my outline plot, working up ideas for the new DI Andy Horton, which will be number eight in the series. Then I'll start to put down some character sketches before starting on the first draft of what I call the creative writing bit which goes direct onto the computer. When I will begin this creative writing stage I'm not quite sure yet, but it shouldn't be long.
Read more about my writing and my books on http://www.rowmark.co.uk or on my blog http://www.paulinerowson.com
Dead Man's Wharf
I'm currently working in pencil on my outline plot, working up ideas for the new DI Andy Horton, which will be number eight in the series. Then I'll start to put down some character sketches before starting on the first draft of what I call the creative writing bit which goes direct onto the computer. When I will begin this creative writing stage I'm not quite sure yet, but it shouldn't be long.
Read more about my writing and my books on http://www.rowmark.co.uk or on my blog http://www.paulinerowson.com
Dead Man's Wharf
I've nearly finished writing the first draft of the next in the DI Andy Horton marine mystery crime series
I've now written 70,000 words of the next DI Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel which will be number eight in the series. Number seven, A Killing Coast, is scheduled for publication in hardcover early in 2012. As soon as I have the jacket image and more information on the publication details of A Killing Coast I will obviously post them on my official web site. Meanwhile there is the paperback and e book version of the sixth in the DI Horton series, Footsteps on the Shore, to come, more about that on my web site next week.
I was looking back on my blog to last year's entries when I was writing A Killing Coast and saw that on July 2 2010 I had written 10,000 words so I'm pleased that I am so far ahead with this new Horton novel, which I have promised to get to the publisher in January 2012. So far, so good.
Writing a first draft is always exciting but it is also irritating because I am so keen to get everything on to my PC as quickly as possible, while my head is swimming with the plot and sub plots.
I try to resist editing too much as I write the first draft because this slows down the creative process and it is very easy to get hooked on editing and therefore postpone finishing the novel. However, because I research as I go along some editing is inevitable.
Now, on this new Horton novel, I am at the stage when I am eager to bash out the final few chapters as quickly as possible, which I should be able to do over the next week, or couple of weeks at the outside. Then I can have the wonderful pleasure of going back through the novel, adding character details, refining plot and sub plot, adding colour and depth, inserting clues and red herrings, and making sure that everything ties up and Andy Horton lives to fight another crime in DI Horton marine mystery crime novel number nine!
I was looking back on my blog to last year's entries when I was writing A Killing Coast and saw that on July 2 2010 I had written 10,000 words so I'm pleased that I am so far ahead with this new Horton novel, which I have promised to get to the publisher in January 2012. So far, so good.
Writing a first draft is always exciting but it is also irritating because I am so keen to get everything on to my PC as quickly as possible, while my head is swimming with the plot and sub plots.
I try to resist editing too much as I write the first draft because this slows down the creative process and it is very easy to get hooked on editing and therefore postpone finishing the novel. However, because I research as I go along some editing is inevitable.
Now, on this new Horton novel, I am at the stage when I am eager to bash out the final few chapters as quickly as possible, which I should be able to do over the next week, or couple of weeks at the outside. Then I can have the wonderful pleasure of going back through the novel, adding character details, refining plot and sub plot, adding colour and depth, inserting clues and red herrings, and making sure that everything ties up and Andy Horton lives to fight another crime in DI Horton marine mystery crime novel number nine!
Introducing the real Hampshire Police Marine Unit at the Crime Writers' Association Conference
My fictional detective, DI Andy Horton, is based in the Solent area and the Horton marine mystery crime novels include members of a fictional Hampshire Police Marine Unit - Sergeant Dai Elkins and PC Ripley who are nothing like the two police officers I introduced on Saturday from the team of the Hampshire Marine Police Unit at the Crime Writers' Association (CWA) Conference .
PCs Kerry Murray and Matt Gransden are younger and much better looking, although readers of the Horton novels might be aware that PC Ripley is only a little older than Matt. But the work my fictional marine unit are involved with in helping DI Horton of Portsmouth CID and Detective Superintendent Uckfield of the Major Crime Team isn't that far removed albeit fiction.
It was great to meet Kerry and Matt and to hear about their fascinating job. They gave me plenty of ideas not only for plots for future DI Horton crime novels but also for characters! Can't wait to get writing. It was a fantastic talk with lots of questions from the audience and I'm hugely grateful to Kerry and Matt for giving their time and to their boss for letting them especially when they are so busy. The Hampshire Police Marine Unit's area of responsibility stretches from Dorset to Sussex and out to 12 miles offshore.
I'm looking forward to meeting them again and spending the day with them on the Solent for further research for my crime novels. Must remember to pick a calm day though!
A Killing Coast
PCs Kerry Murray and Matt Gransden are younger and much better looking, although readers of the Horton novels might be aware that PC Ripley is only a little older than Matt. But the work my fictional marine unit are involved with in helping DI Horton of Portsmouth CID and Detective Superintendent Uckfield of the Major Crime Team isn't that far removed albeit fiction.
It was great to meet Kerry and Matt and to hear about their fascinating job. They gave me plenty of ideas not only for plots for future DI Horton crime novels but also for characters! Can't wait to get writing. It was a fantastic talk with lots of questions from the audience and I'm hugely grateful to Kerry and Matt for giving their time and to their boss for letting them especially when they are so busy. The Hampshire Police Marine Unit's area of responsibility stretches from Dorset to Sussex and out to 12 miles offshore.
I'm looking forward to meeting them again and spending the day with them on the Solent for further research for my crime novels. Must remember to pick a calm day though!
A Killing Coast
