Crime, mystery, and suspense writer, Lisa Gardner, shares her personal techniques for plotting a novel on her website at LisaGardner.com. In this article written in 2001, Gardner lists six steps she uses to plot her novels:
- brainstorming
- preliminary research
- first outline
- more brainstorming and research
- serious outline
- start writing
Lisa Gardner's novels include The Perfect Husband, Gone, and The Killing Hour. Her website has a lot of "insider" information that delves into her process of generating ideas, including tricks of the trade, and a tool chest for writers.
I stumbled across a copy of the May 2005 issue of National Geographic recently. I am not a subscriber, but the top on the cover intrigued me when I ran across it in the "share" bin at the local library and I picked up a copy to take home.
Please don't misunderstand, I did not steal the magazine. Our library has a bin of magazines that are full of back issues that are free for the taking. The idea is that when you buy magazines and are finished reading them you drop them in the "share" bin for others to enjoy. It's a good idea and I've shared several magazines this way.
This particular issue of National Geographic features "Poison: 12 Toxic Tales", which is a series of articles about various types of poisons including a few regarding poison as a murder weapon. One of the most interesting articles (page 20), Death in Venice, featured some details about the life and times of Pope Alexander VI - The Borgias.
It seems that Alexander VI was fond of poisoning his dinner guests and in return took over their landholdings. It has the sound of a nice novel plot, don't you think?
I'm so frustrated today.
I've been working on a new effort for several months and everything was moving along nicely, but over the course of the past couple of weeks I've become "stuck".
It appears that in my attempt to avoid writing about murder and killing in my thriller/suspense story, I've ended up with a boring and anti-dramatic story that is not really believeable.
In my story, the main character kidnaps an old girlfriend and then releases her a couple of days later. He did the kidnapping to see what it was like and as practice for future kidnappings. Later in the story he kidnaps a young child with intentions of receiving a ransom from his old employer, who is also the child's grandfather.
I'm becoming more and more convinced that this particular plot line will not hold a reader's attention for very long. In my attempt to eliminate violence and murder from my story, I've ended up with a boring story.
Don't get me wrong, I read a lot of suspense/thriller novels that include killing and murder (all of them actually). But, I would like to write a novel that is a suspense/thriller genre that doesn't contain murder and killing. Is it even possible?
"Plot is, I think, the good writer's last resort and the dullard's first choice."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
I am a late arrival to Stephen King's books. I think he gets a bad rap sometimes. I never really had a desire to read any of King's novels when I was younger because I had a preconceived perception that he only wrote graphic horror novels.
Right now I am reading Blaze and earlier this year I read Cell and Misery. All of them are very good, but I notice a very different writing style compared to some of my other favorites like Tess Gerritsen, Lisa Scottoline and Michael Connelly.
My efforts to write fiction are often criticized for providing too many details. Astounding character details and in depth description of setting are King's strengths. If you believe what you read on certain writing "guru" websites and forums, you would wonder how the man ever had even one best seller -- let alone fifty. In his memoir, King explains that he prefers to focus on the characters and let the plot take care of itself. I realize we can't all be Stephen King, but I think the man makes a point. He prefers to put the characters in a situation and let them work their way out of it.
Would you rather write predictable, cookie-cutter novels, or would you prefer one-of-a-kind storylines set in unpredictable surroundings and presented with unforeseen circumstances?
