At the direction of a good friend who is a professional
writer and marketer, I have just finished 3 eBooks of about 10,000 words on the
topic of writing your first mystery.
Have I revealed secrets known only to a few bestselling
crime novelists? Hardly. The only secret that I could disclose to aspiring
mystery authors is that a 300-page novel requires the sustained ability to apply
seat of pants to chair for long periods of time with fingers on the keyboard. But
I suspect you already know that.
The first: Writing
Your First Mystery is an overview of the basic structure of a whodunit or
thriller. The second: Plotting Your First Mystery, is the elements
of plotting, obviously enough. And the third: Creating Killer Characters: Writing Your First Mystery is a digest
of characterization techniques.
Has this been done before?
Oh my, yes. And done well, I might add. I’ve written it in my own words,
carved it according to my special flair, but I have no illusions that these are
the definitive statement on writing your first mystery. But they’re damned good
for the beginner.
Why do it then? First of all, I didn’t intend to write three
eBooks. I wasn’t sure I had that much to say. However, in the process of
writing four unpublishable novels, five successful whodunits, and many short stories, I
have learned something.
I’ve learned something about the rules of mystery genre
writing and deep structure of a satisfying crime novel. I’ve learned a great
deal about what goes on behind the blue curtain of law enforcement, especially
in Santa Monica. I’ve learned that you can’t be a shy person who lives in a
remote California village and sell the crime novels you’re proud of without
some marketing edge.
So I am advised by my savvy marketing friend to make the
first available for free and box up the other two in the sets that are becoming
popular. This is not an announcement that they’re available. I just sent the
third one to the graphic artist this morning.
These eBooks are a trial. We’ll see what happens. I’ll keep
you posted.
Here is the Amazon link to my
books as of 2014. Expect A Very Private
High School late 2014.
1 comment:
Hopefully, your advice will be just what someone needs to get a good book, or more, published!
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