Outlining aka A Can of Worms
In many ways, crime novels are no different in terms of
structure from other genres, but they certainly differ in details, character
traits and action scenes and sometimes these need careful plotting.
I am going to say right up front that “how to” books can
be helpful to a writer of any experience to help them write better and faster.
There are hundreds of authors who earn more money by writing books on how to
write than by their fiction and thousands of books out there telling you how to
outline your books for surefire success. If you are a novice, it is easy to glaze
over at the amount of advice, some of which is in direct contradiction to other
advice. Even experienced writers who remain alert to the possibilities of new
ways to look at how they write can get stuck in a rut of reading advice after
advice. You may think that buying several books – I have at least 9 – on structure,
outlining etc., will make you a better writer.
I am here to tell you it doesn’t work like that. Because
you are you and your thought patterns and how you see the world is different
from mine or anybody else’s. In short, you have to read, try and keep it if it
works for you and discard it if it doesn’t. Otherwise you will spend all your
time trying to find that perfect system and no time doing the creative bit,
which is why you wanted to write in the first place.
There are two types of writer when it comes to outlining
and plotting. The pantser and the planner. Whichever you are, a crime writer
will need a crime (murder, usually), a detective, clues, red herrings and
several characters including the villain(s).
If you are a pantser (someone who sits at the keyboard
without a thought in their head and who puts fingers to keyboard to see what
happens), you will say you never outline. I beg to disagree in part. Yes, you
might have no idea when you start, but I certainly believe that your first
draft is, in effect, your outline to see what has and has not worked; what
needs changing and what needs discarding. By the time you have finished that
first draft, you will know your characters and their motivations, but you might
have written yourself into a couple of corners and need to do some major
re-writing.
There are varying degrees of planner. Jeffery Deaver, for
example, plots every nuance so meticulously, he almost writes a short novel in
the plotting phase. Hybrids – and I am one – write a loose road map but allow
enough wriggle room for change when you are in the heat of the first draft. Following
the road map analogy, I know the beginning and the end and which towns (clues)
I have to go through to get to my destination. But whilst on the journey I am
more than likely to go off the main road at a tangent. Sometimes that
strengthens the story; sometimes it leads into a cul-de-sac. Sometimes getting
out of the cul-de-sac gives a glorious opportunity to seed a really obscure
clue.
Some successful authors, such as Minette Walters, have no
idea who the villain is until over halfway through. There is a certain logic in
this. If the author doesn’t know, then the clues will not point to one
particular person and you have an opportunity to confuse the reader still
further.
So, let’s look at a few ways of outlining your crime
novel.
Physical – and usually cheaper – methods.
Index cards. I use these, even though I have
Scrivener (more later). I prefer a physical system where I can jot down
disjointed ideas — clues, character actions, events — on separate index cards. They
are useful because you can rearrange them to see if you have the best flow line
for your book. Sometimes shuffling them up will lead to a clue or red herring
you hadn’t thought of.
Notebooks with sections. You can use one section
for the characters – a page for each; one section for details of your setting;
a section for your plot, i.e. the events in your book and a section for clues
and red herrings.
Whiteboard or very large post-it notes/pieces of paper.
When you have that first what-if? thought, it might be the central tenet
of your story. It might be a what if X is found dead in a locked room with
no weapon in sight? It might be the theme of your novel and every novel has
a theme whether or not the author realises what it is. It might be the motive
for the murder(s). Write that in the centre of your whiteboard/post-it note/paper.
From that central point, you can make a mind map – simple or complicated. As
ideas come to you, you look along the arrows out from that central point and make
a note along the most relevant arm. Or, it may be more relevant for you to jot
down the events, bits of character traits and the clues in different colours. I
sometimes do this, then take a picture of the whiteboard, download it to my
computer and use it as the basis for my outline.
Techno methods
Most writing software includes sections on research,
characters, settings, and things to help the writer write the book. My only
advice is to be familiar with what the package does, but only use those parts
of it that are relevant for your way of planning your book.
Instead of giving my opinion here, I will put a link to a
review page and you can make up your own mind.
Book Writing
Software (2020): Top 10 Pieces of Software for Writers (thewritepractice.com)
Mind maps: As with the writing software, I state no opinions.
But you can find out more here:
Compare The
10 Best Mind Mapping Software of 2021 - The Digital Project Manager
Whichever methods you use and I emphasise they must suit
your writing methods, only take from them what you need.
So my last advice is to take a look at all these methods,
try them out – many software packages have a one month trial – and see what is
the best fit for you.
Next month, I shall be covering Plot and Theme in your
crime novel.
