We’ll start by taking a look at the craft of writing a crime novel. Because that’s exactly what it is: a craft. It’s not hocus-pocus or some innate skill that you’re either born with or not. Sure, you need some basic writing skills, but writing crime fiction is actually a craft that can be learnt with the right tools and a lot of hard work.
Remember that the main thing is just to sit down and get writing!
How do you construct a plot? I think it’s worth starting off by asking “What is crime fiction”? There are several unwritten rules to help you think about this:
1. All clues discovered by the detective must be made available to the reader. 2. The killer must be introduced early on in the story. 3. The crime must be serious. No one wants to read a whodunit about next-door’s stolen tulips. 4. The solution must be actively deduced, rather than tripped over at the end of the book. 5. There must be a known number of suspects, and the murder must be one of them.
Of course, there’s nothing to say that you have to follow these rules, although most of them are there to stop writers swindling the readers by, say, chucking in a person at the end of the story who turns out to be the murderer.
One thing that you must always have, however, is a decent plot, and creating one is the first step towards writing a good crime story. A more experienced writer is possibly able to sit down and start writing straight away using a plot in his or her head, but a novice might find it useful to write a synopsis first.
A synopsis should contain four important Ms: Murder, Motive, Means and Moments of opportunity. So make sure you have a clear idea of who the murder is, why he or she committed the murder, and how and where it happened. Once you’ve got this straight, you can jot down a rough synopsis with a clear thread running through it. And when you’ve got these factors sorted in your own mind, it’s also easier to throw the readers a few red herrings.
EXERCISE: Write down three different scenarios on the basis of the four Ms. Example:
Murderer: Wife – middle-aged woman with a taste for the good life. Motive: Money – her husband has got himself a lover, and wants to remarry, which would leave the wife without access to his assets. Means: Arsenic – she poisons his food. Moments of opportunity: Repeated occasions over half a year.
Try to think of as many different murders, motives, means and so on as you can. Let your imagination go wild!
EXERCISE: Read a crime novel of your choice, and condense it into a two-page synopsis. It’s best if you choose a book that you’ve read before so that you can read it more objectively again this time. Think about “structure” the whole time as you read, and try to find the thread running through the story – it’s this that you must have in your synopsis. Make sure you get in the four Ms.
RECOMMENDED READING:
Two books that challenge the notion of what constitutes crime fiction:
1. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
2. Perfume by Patrick Süskind
Suggested reading:
1. On writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
2. How to write crime novels by Isobel Lambot, pages. 13–52
3. Writing mysteries by Sue Grafton, pages 9-14, 77-88
4. How to write mysteries by Shannon O'Cork, pages 1-34