Hopefully by now you’ve started to realise that all this crime novel writing isn’t something that only the chosen few can do – it’s also something that YOU can do too! And the best is yet to come – creating a principal character!
Creating a principal character
Few crime novelists have opted not to have a principal character. The principal character very much sets the tone of the novel and if you’re planning to write a series centred on this person, it’s important that you get a real feeling for, and can relate to, him or her.
Think about whether you want to have an amateur or professional sleuth. The advantages of a police officer is that you can get your principal character involved credibly in crime investigations, while the advantage of an amateur is that it enables you to explore a fresh perspective in the crime genre. Examples of authors who have chosen amateurs as their principal characters are:
Ingrid Kampås – nurse
Liza Marklund – journalist
Agatha Christie – knitting old lady
You can also choose a person who isn’t a police officer, but who still comes into contact with crime investigations:
Kay Scarpetta – medical examiner (semi-amateur at least)
Åsa Larsson – lawyer
Jonathan Kellerman – psychologist
It’ll be to your advantage if you can use a profession with which you’re familiar. Ingrid Kampås, for example, is a nurse, and Liza Marklund, as we all know, is a journalist. Go with what you know!
EXERCISE:
Think about who you want as a principal character. Write at least two sides of A4 introducing him or her.
RECOMMENDED READING:
“Människans varg” by Ingrid Kampås” (in Swedish)
Any of the Miss Marple series by Agatha Christie