Writing Murder

S.M. Harding (Guest Blogger)

S. M. Harding is the author of twenty-four published short stories, a photographer, and editor of Writing Murder, a collection of essays by Midwest crime and mystery authors. The handy primer on the art of crime fiction is based on a successful lecture program held at Jim Huang’s The Mystery Company and was compiled to benefit the Writers’ Center of Indiana.

Imagine, if you will, a 135-year-old cabin nestled at 8400 feet in the foothills of the San Juan Mountains of northern New Mexico.

For those of you who read James D. Doss, the cabin is about twenty-five miles south of Caňon del Espiritu as the raven flies. The season is winter, snow falls on alternate days with bright sunshine, and the road across the mountains to Taos is closed more often than it’s open. Snow and silence punctuated by the flap of raven wings.

I’ve read every mystery novel I own at least twice. Though I have an Internet connection, Amazon doesn’t yet exist. What to do to fill the hours between chores, cross-country skiing, and feeding piňón to the wood stove? The only logical choice: write my own mystery.

I did – and had a great time as the story unfolded. That first draft rests in a bottom file drawer, unattended now for many years. Since that winter, I’ve learned a lot. I’ve discovered four basic principles as a way of self-editing – I’ve got them taped to my computer and use them as a checklist.

The first is agency. This is a reminder that my writing should be active, not passive. It applies from using active voice in verb choice to a protagonist who keeps moving toward her goal regardless of obstacles.

Tension is crucial to plot, but also to characters’ internal and/or external choices, or in the way the setting represents the progression of the plot.

While a plot must be believable, so must the culture, place, and character motivations. Why would a character do that? Understand why, don’t explain it, but show why.

Superflux, a word which comes from superfluous, and means too much: too much back story, too much meaningless dialogue, too much technical explanation. I believe mystery readers are some of the smartest readers around – honor their intelligence by leaving out explanations. They’ll get it. Honest.

Writing is weaving a web: each filament – setting, character, plot, dialogue, voice – is separate, yet they combine and interact to make the whole strong.

If you’ve ever said, “I have this idea for a mystery novel . . .,” then I’d encourage you to begin writing. And I hope you enjoy it as much as I did that blessed winter in New Mexico.