It is a great honour to write my first post for The Killzone. I’m still pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. So without further ado, my first post of 2025…and my last since we begin our hiatus next week.
About a month ago, I started a new book, and ran into the blinking cursor syndrome. Everything I’d ever learned about writing was gone. Pfff! Vanished. It was like I’d never written a novel before. But I had — eighteen times before, and yes, that blinking cursor syndrome happed Every.Single.Time.
With this book, I even had a one-page synopsis that I’d sent in with the proposal to my publisher. I knew the setting — the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee. I had a title — Deadly Connections, and I knew who the characters were. Actually, I only knew their names. I have to start writing and place my characters in difficult situations before I can really know who they are.
Finally, I got tired of looking at that cursor and pulled out my handy-dandy notebook and made a bullet point list of questions to answer.
- What’s the setting? Why there? — I had that one.
- What are my main characters’ goals? Why do they want them? What’s going to keep them from getting what they want? Needed to think about this one a little longer.
- Who are my characters when they walk onto the page of the book?
- What ghost from the past keeps them from living their lives to the fullest?
- What’s the flaw that’s going to cause conflict in reaching their goal?
- What are their competing values? What will they have to give up?
When I answer these questions, I’ll know my hero/heroine’s goals.
- And last of all, what crime is to be solved now? Why not five years ago? Or six months ago? Or next year?
Why is this last question important? The crime needs a trigger (pun intended), something that rules out any other time frame, and until I nail that, I can’t move forward. In the book I mentioned, the heroine’s sister has been missing for fifteen years, and she’s just now digging into her disappearance. I needed a good reason for the why now question, so I brainstormed a list of reasons. Nothing was off the table. This can take anywhere from a couple of hours to several days.
When I finished, I chose two that I could work with. Then I started writing with James Scott Bell’s signposts in mind. I now have 25,000 words and have a good handle on my story and the main characters. Of course, they will continue to surprise me, but that’s the fun in writing.
Do you have questions that have to be answered before you can start your story? Let me know in the comments. It might help someone else…and me.
Wishing you a blessed holiday season. See you next year!
Aside from the typical question of mystery — knowing “who did it”, the other thing I need to know before I can start is how the secondary thread of the story will progress before I can begin writing. Since I’m always thinking in terms of books in a series rather than stand alones, it’s important for me to understand how a secondary thread for the main protag is going to carry out over the course of the book. That helps write not only that book but the one that comes after it.
I wish I was better at planning red herrings before I started writing. That can get tricky at times and stall a work in progress.
Knowing who did it is one thing I don’t have to know, Brenda. I always have at least four characters with motive, means, and opportunity. By the end of the book one of them will tell me they did it, and sometimes it’s not the person I thought it was.
I’m glad to see you here! I’ve enjoyed your comments in the past and it will be fun to get another interesting take on this writing gig.
Since stories seem to plop into my mind fully formed, I don’t usually ask questions before I start writing. I’ve written five books so far, but maybe I could try a different approach in 2026.
A blessed holiday season to everyone!
Thank you, Becky. I’m really excited to be here. I wish my stories came to me fully formed!
Welcome, Pat! A great first post to kick off your tenure here.
I love the idea of Erle Stanely Gardner’s “the murderer’s ladder.” Gardner, of course, wrote (that is, dictated) the immensely popular Perry Mason books. Not a great stylist, but a master of mystery. He spent most of his pre-writing time working out this “ladder.” I wrote about it here: https://killzoneblog.com/2013/09/dont-kill-your-thrills-with-premise.html
See you in 2026!
Welcome, Pat.
Coming from a romance writing background, I use Deb Dixon’s Goal, Motivation, & Conflict when I’m meeting my characters. Then, a bunch of ‘why’ questions arise, and I take it from there.
Welcome, Patricia! I can identify with that Blinking Cursor problem.
Before I start writing a new novel, I take out my notebook and start making notes about possible characters, plot arcs, and a theme (if I have one.) All of the handwriting helps me brainstorm in a way I can’t do at the keyboard. (I wrote a post on TKZ several years ago about the creative effects of handwriting vs typing .)
https://killzoneblog.com/2022/10/handwriting-versus-typing.html
Looking forward to your posts in 2026!