Here I am again.
Last Clichés:
a Blessing in Disguise – Good luck out of bad; a misfortune which turns to a good thing. The phrase has been a cliché for a century.
In Full Swing – Very active. Comes from a 16th century use of swing for the course of a period of time. Modern version is a cliché.
to Jump at the Chance – Seize an opportunity. Jumping at different opportunities recorded from 17th century on.
to Make a Long Story Short – Get to the Point! This term became current in 19th century. Thoreau said: “Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.” (Letter to Mr. B, 1857).
How many did you get?
Back in May, I listened to Donis Casey on Mystery Writing. It’s not like I’m the blind leading the blind here. However, I will try to pass on things you may already know, but I’ve learned also.
Casey suggested to see what your favorite authors have done and make their ideas your own. The more you read, the better you will write.
There’s a difference between a mystery and a thriller. A mystery you solve a puzzle vs. a thriller has definitive actions which cause tension. There are three (3) kinds of mysteries with combinations, of course. 1) Traditional (cozy) which has an amateur sleuth; 2) Police Procedural uses techniques to solve the crime; and 3) Private eye – they don’t have to follow rules.
As far as characters go, you won’t have a cast of thousands. You should have: 1) the sleuth, policeman, detective, P.I. – most important character and needs skills or tools to solve the crime, or a strong motive to solve; 2) Victim; 3) Killer-needs motive which could be greed, lust, revenge, rage, power, etc., and it’s either due to planned or accident. Might want to have reader sympathize a little with killer; 4) Suspects – need people as red herrings, false clues, but could be the killer; 5) Side Characters – the sleuth needs a person to talk with, i.e. Robin and Batman, can be in danger, or helper – cause distractions.
You need to know who are populating your book. Create images for your characters. Paint a picture of them for your reader through showing, not telling; by dialogue, setting. Don’t say “nervous”, show them twitching. Make sure you have a skeleton in the closet for one of your characters.
I learned a lot more and will continue next week with more. Until then, write, write, and write some more.
Julie
