Praying
for Inspiration:
Using Mystery's "Holy Trinity"
to Generate Ideas
By
Rob Flumignan
Ó2002,
Rob Flumignan
What?
Another article about where ideas come from? Not exactly. Among many
non-writers there seems to exist this notion that story ideas come out of
nowhere, like little blessings from fairies powdered with magic dust. I'd
like to counter that belief by encouraging mystery writers to make ideas rather
than get them.
There
is something to be said for the sudden shock of an idea that just "pops in
there." It's a great feeling and often leads to interesting stories.
But as a professional, one who wants to make a living at this writing game, you
can't count on serendipity. You've probably read this same train of
thought in countless how-to books and writer's magazine articles. It's
good advice, even if it never states what you should do when the idea-bank is
dry. You certainly can't write a story without an idea for one. So
how do you make an idea?
As
mystery writers, we have an advantage that writers of other genres lack.
There is an underlying structure that defines the mystery story, a constant that
we can depend on when it comes time to sit down and write: Someone is
killed by someone who is caught by someone else. Got it? In other
words, every mystery has what I call the "Holy Trinity." There
is a Victim; the Victim is murdered by a Killer; the Killer is caught by a
Sleuth. Killer, Victim, Sleuth. This is where you should start when
making ideas.
The
Victim
The
victim is probably the best place to begin. You need a dead person in
order to have a mystery...usually. If you're thinking of exceptions,
you're already on your way to making ideas. Good for you.
Most
idea generating is a focused Q & A session with yourself. Here we'll
focus on possible victims. Use any brainstorming technique you know.
I've recently discovered clustering. It's a great way to organize the
random thoughts kicking around in your head into a visible, easily referenced
format. For an explanation of this process, check out this link (http://www.gabrielerico.com/Main/ClusteringSampleVignettes.htm).
Many
mystery writers make the mistake of giving the victim short shrift. After
all, they're usually dead by page one or, if not, they're a mere chapter from
meeting eternity. Why bother developing this character? Because the
victim is a juicy source of ideas and an easy place to milk some emotion from
your story.
Ask
yourself what kind of person you would want to kill. Draw from real life.
Who can you absolutely not stand? Kill them in fiction; it's great
therapy. Sue Grafton got the idea for her first Kinsey Millhone adventure
trying to think up ways to off her ex-husband. Not only did that lead to a
best-selling mystery series, but can you imagine how good she must have felt
writing that?
Don't
stop with the anger, though. Ask yourself who you wouldn't want dead.
Whose death would ultimately crush you to near incapacity? When your eyes
start to water, you know you've got it.
Now
here's the final trick. Mix the two people you just thought up.
Start brainstorming characteristics that will meld and change those people
beyond recognition. Are you starting to make ideas for a victim?
If
you think this will only work once or twice, eventually running out of people
from real life, remember that it's only a starting point. Mix the
questions. Can you find a reason someone might kill your best friend?
The real purpose of this exercise is to create focus. You are no longer
just searching for a random idea, you are developing a victim, a character in a
story that until now you had no idea even existed.
The
Killer
This
is the second best place to start when trying to make ideas. If you can't
think of a victim, or don't like what you're coming up with, try developing a
killer.
The
important questions for inventing a killer mostly concern motivation and
personality. Why does this person feel the need to take a life? What
sort of person could bring themselves to commit such an act? Remain
careful to avoid the all-evil killer. This goes for antagonists in every
genre, yet is especially important in the mystery story. What will make
your idea (and the rest of the resulting story) stand out from the pack is how
real you can make your killer.
Start
thinking up connections to your victim if you've got one. Remember most
murders are committed by someone close to the victim. In the mystery
story, that connection is determined by the author, and the more unique you can
make it, the stronger (and harder to solve) your murder. First thought
might lead to a relative. The crafty author will dig deeper. Perhaps
the killer is a co-worker, or the victim's hairdresser.
Jot
quick lists, one column for connections (i.e. lawyer, brother, doctor, etc.)
another for motivations. Now pair them up, searching for the unusual
combinations that still make sense -- or that you can alter to make sense.
Also
think of ways this killer would take the victim's life. Remember Sue
Grafton's daydream of killing her husband? She thought of poison. If
that's your cup of tea, research poisons and ways of distributing them.
(In your cup of tea, perhaps.)
The
Sleuth
If
anyone is wondering why I put sleuth as the last place to start when making
ideas, it's because it is often the first place everyone starts, and can lead to
neglecting the other two characters in the mystery. Plus there is no use
for a sleuth if you don't have a victim -- produced by a killer. When you
start with the sleuth you run the risk of blocking yourself, because after all
that vigilant character development, the poor detective still has nothing to do.
An
exception to this advice is if you're actively trying to develop a series
character. Lawrence Block started his Matthew Scudder series in this way,
sketching out Scudder before he even had an idea for a book. His intention
was to create a series character for an interested publisher, and am I glad he
did. If you have similar motivations, you can start with the sleuth, but
when you're done go immediately back up the list and start making ideas to keep
your detective gainfully employed.
When
you get to the sleuth, if you don't plan on making a series character out of her
(at least not until your publisher and adoring readers demand an encore) start
brainstorming the connections to the victim. Obviously your sleuth has to
have a vested interest in solving the victim's murder beyond mere curiosity.
Even if you are using a series sleuth, I'd suggest thinking up ways to get him
emotionally involved in the case.
Remember
when you asked yourself who you'd hate to see murdered? Get back to that
emotion and give it to your sleuth. The sleuth, by default, is usually the
character who most reflects the author's personality. Try casting yourself
as the sleuth. What sort of beliefs, desires, goals, pains, loves, peeves
do you posses that you'd like to air with the rest of the world? What sort
of qualities do you wish you had? One thing I enjoy most about writing
detective stories is this ability to speak through a character while at the same
time telling a gripping story.
A
warning: Stay away from laundry lists of character quirks. This is a
pitfall writers developing series sleuths frequently fall into. Your
detective may collect comic books, only shower on Sundays, drink hot sauce
straight from the bottle, and moonlight as a clown for Barnum and Bailey, but
this will not make an original character unless there's a soul underneath all
those eccentricities. Stick to exploring the humanity of your characters
and you'll make the best ideas.
Answered
Prayers
Part
of creating great ideas is a process of building and destroying. You build
a large amount of material -- brainstorming, making lists, clustering, jotting
notes on index cards... making a huge mess. Then you tear apart what you
have, throwing most of it out, refining what you keep, destroying everything
else. You may have to go back and work up some more raw material and shred
that as well. Build and destroy.
I've
told you to start with the victim, go to the killer, and end with the sleuth,
but keep in mind that the process is never that straightforward. You may
try developing a victim and like nothing you create. Skip to the killer,
or the sleuth, if you must. You may then develop a sleuth and realize if
you alter your killer and tweak your victim, ranging back and forth among your
mystery's "Holy Trinity," you'll have a great connection and a
stronger story. This is fine. This is the process of making ideas.
Keep
building and destroying.
You
might notice if you jump right into the process that the need for an idea
becomes obsolete. After all, you weren't looking for an idea, you were
looking for a story. Story starts with character, and the mystery story
starts with a victim.
Never
forget, if you want to write a mystery story and you need an idea, don't pray
for inspiration; turn to mystery's "Holy Trinity" and make some ideas
of your own.
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