by Marilyn Meredith
That’s the topic Jean asked me to write about. I’ll modify the subject a bit because I’m going to tell you how I plan a Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery from start to finish.
I’m fortunate
because I already know who the characters are going to be. The series follows
the men and women who work at the Rocky Bluff Police Department. Though they
each will show up in a book, a different person may play a more prominent role.
That’s something I usually don’t decide in the beginning, it just happens as
I’m writing.
Though I don’t
outline, I do write down a lot of notes. I think about things like who the
murder victim is, who might have wanted this person dead, and alibis. More
characters are being added to the story which means finding the right names and
descriptions for each one.
I know exactly
what the town of Rocky Bluff looks like—but I need to describe new people’s
homes, where the victim is murdered, all the details that make a mystery fun to
read. Though I may not write all this down at first, I will keep notes.
Beginning the
story with a bang is important. The first sentence, first paragraph and first
scene set the tone and often will be the reason a person keeps reading.
I begin writing,
and as I write more scenes and situations occur to me and I continue taking
down more notes. Sometimes the characters themselves suggest what should happen
next. I always want the reader to make the discovery of every clue right along
with the detectives and other police officers. Of course, often things aren’t
quite what they seem.
In between the
crime solving, my officers (yes, this is my police department so they are my
officers) and their families have other problems that crop up just like it is
with all of us. I need to be sure to continue something that has been going on
in a previous book and has yet to be resolved.
I always like to
have an exciting scene at the end, sometimes nail biting, where everything
comes to a climax.
When the book is
completed, I go over it again, looking for more mistakes including continuity
errors. I do use the editing tool on WORD—though sometimes I ignore what it
tells me.
When I’m sure I
have the manuscript as clean as I can make it, I send it off to the publisher.
In time suggestions may be made, and I’ll have a draft of the book to check for
mistakes. I’ll send back a list of what I’ve found. Once they’ve been fixed,
I’ll have another chance to check. Despite going over a galley proof carefully,
sometimes mistakes still pop up in the book. I’ve decided there are gremlins
out there whose only job is to plunk in an error or two, and sometimes more, in
any published book.
Then I wait for
a glimpse of the cover to give my approval. After that, the books are
printed—and then it’s on to the promotion part.
That’s the way I
do it, start to finish, it’s what works for me.