Victoria is a farmer’s daughter and one-time goat keeper from Herefordshire. She is currently working on a masters in English Literature alongside her first writing project; a piece of middle grade fiction inspired by her love of medieval history and children’s fantasy literature. Her post is available on The Charming Hermit.
1. What am I working on?
2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
There's a huge range of locked room mystery stories available. I found that they generally fit into two categories - short stories or full novels. Short stories provide tightly structured mysteries, and rarely deviate from the core plot. The puzzle is generally wrapped up in under fifty pages, hopefully giving the reader a satisfying resolution for minimal time investment. Novels, on the other hand, often give more depth to the characters and context of the mystery. While this allows the reader to build attachment with the story, it's often undermined by the amount of patience required to make it to the final reveal.
3. Why do I write what I do?
Impossible crime mysteries hold a certain appeal that few other genres are able to replicate. They are essentially puzzle books for adults.
For the reader, the challenge is to work out how the crime was committed before the technique is revealed. For the author, the challenge is to come up with a methodology that is as simple as it is elusive.
This direct relationship - testing plots against the reader's wits - is a really rewarding mechanic. Combined with the wealth of fascinating entries to the genre over the course of two centuries, it provides a diverse and interesting playground in which to write.
4. How does my writing process work?
I write in bursts. The book is segmented into different stories, so it makes sense to finish one before moving on to the next. The process generally follows these steps:
- Have an idea for a mystery - some way to escape from a locked room, or a rational explanation for a bizarre event.
- Think about if/where the mystery fits within the story of the book.
- Develop characters and motive around the mystery, tying it in with the rest of the book.
- Write the first draft of the story.
- Read the draft in the context of the surrounding chapters.
- Edit to improve links between chapters.
- Leave for 6 months.
- Re-read and re-write.
I do a lot of planning. I have spreadsheets of chapter descriptions, target word counts, progress bars, etc. Balancing the pace/story of the book against the requirements for each mystery is challenging, and it really helps to have a central hub to refer back to when writing.
More recently I found that I was reading/writing less, so decided to bring my focus back to all the great examples of mysteries in the genre. This site was my way of forcing myself to read more, think about how my predecessors influence me, and generate inspiration for the book.
For instance, some casinos permit the dealer to hit on soft 17 , which increases the house edge, however different casinos make the dealer stand. Some casinos permit doubling on any card complete, others solely on certain totals, whereas some the surrender rule and others don't. Our friendly, skilled dealers greet players and work together throughout the sport. Players take their digital seat and try to obtain a hand that’s closer to 21 than the dealer’s hand. It’s actually easy to 코인카지노 enjoy the sport with its choice of optional Insurance, Double Down and Split Pair bets. While the player can cease taking additional playing cards at any time, guidelines require the dealer to proceed drawing playing cards until they attain a total of 17.
ReplyDelete