Warren wrote recently about being saved by critics. I hope the remembrance of critics will cut down on the number of revisions needed but I can’t be certain of that because every writing endeavor is different.
I used blueprints in Hallie Ephron’s Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel to pin down the character of the protagonist and the villain, and to identify the victims, innocent suspects, and supporting cast. I had tentative turning points in the plot, and a time, location, and context.
After writing five pages, a new suspect came to light, not in what I’d written but in what I foresaw further into the story. I sketched out chapter two, wrote it on a yellow legal pad in longhand (my favorite method for first drafts) and decided the whole chapter was excrement.
All the critics who’d spoken about feeling, word choice, hooks, and character development were standing like a Greek chorus around the edges of my consciousness. You’ve probably seen the TV ad that portrays research overload. Individuals take off on a word, its meanings, associations, and similar sounding words, and reach innumerable blind alleys. I decided to socialize, garden, and let ideas percolate.
Within a few hours a whole new chapter with what I hope is natural development for characters and plot came into mind. My blueprint pages are written in ink but I have no problem scrapping them.
Just as professional experience helps an individual make better professional decisions, years of listening to and reading criticism guide a writer’s choices.
My favorite piece of criticism is, a writer has to have the feeling before he/she can evoke that feeling in others. Do you have a favorite critic or piece of criticism?
I've followed some "how it should be done" advice and seen the wisdom in the words. Then, a best selling mystery comes along and breaks all those rules.
ReplyDeleteYes, Ricky--and the one that always get to me is the criticism on prologues. Then I read the next bestseller and it has a prologue! Ahhh!
ReplyDeleteEB, Having a chorus of critics shows that you are developing your self-criticism, which is a god thing. Getting them to stand quietly by while you stumble through a first draft is another skill to develop. One of my favorite mantras that often helps me slog forward is: You can edit crap. You can't edit crap that hasn't been written yet.
ReplyDeleteI think it's hard not to just read a mystery and enjoy it, Ricky. But analyzing why the story works although it breaks the rules helps me understand more about the craft of writing.
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