Q is for Questions

 

Detectives, whether police, private, professional or amateur, ask questions.

There are times when Joe frustrates the police officers he’s supposed to be helping by asking apparently meaningless questions. For instance, in The I-spy Murders (next in the series, due out, June 28th) he asks Katy Flitt how her mother is. I’m not doing to tell you why. You’ll have to read it to learn that. He’s the same in A Murder for Christmas, when he asks whether Jennifer is left handed (again, if you wanna know why, read the book).

While nothing is spelled out, it indicates to the reader that Joe is formulating a theory. Or at least I hope it does.

Joe is not the only one who needs to ask questions. As a writer, I do too. Before I even start a tale, I need to know what has been done, who did it and why. The other basic questions, where, when and how, I can answer as I go along, but without that initial knowledge, I have no story.

And yet, it doesn’t end there. Very often, as I go along, the tale takes over, developing a life of its own, and while the what rarely changes, the who and the why can.

Over and above that, when I have the first draft complete, I still have to question everything on the rewrites. What is the purpose of this scene, why is that character doing what he’s doing, if condition A applies, how can situation B work?

Like Joe trying to solve a crime, it’s a constant process of asking questions until everything slots neatly into place. And at that point, I ask myself another question. “Is it finished?” You’ve no idea how big a relief it is when I can answer, “yes.”

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The Filey Connection, first of the Sanford 3rd Age Club Mysteries, from Crooked {Cat} Books is available for the Kindle from Amazon UK and Amazon Worldwide and in all other formats from Smashwords