As we know I accidentally began writing a novel a couple of weeks ago. I got bored one day and began noodling around with a few opening sentences and now I’m in the middle of chapter twelve with no end in sight. I hadn’t expected that to happen.

It’s a hard boiled mystery novel. Make of that what you will. In defiance of all popular wisdom I am writing in a genre that I very seldom read and . . . again in defiance of popular wisdom, doing a pretty good job of it in the process.

There have been some interesting twists and turns along the way. My protagonist was innocent but was nonetheless being tracked by the police for a murder of one of their own. During the process of trying to clear his name, however, he did commit a murder, surprising him and me, and – to be fair about it – the man that he murdered.

What I enjoyed about the writing of the scene, however, was that I still managed to keep him likeable even though he cut another man’s throat with as much dispassion as a professional butcher taking care of his ten thousandth beef carcass.

Anyway I am still following the time honored process in the telling of these genre books of relentlessly keeping my protagonist in deep trouble and in a state of perpetual confusion. As soon as he solves one connective mystery I slap him in the face with another one.

Currently he is negotiating for information from a source that could – and just might – squash him like a bug. We shall see if the protagonist is willing to pay the price demanded for the information he needs. I don’t know the answer to that myself at the moment. I guess we will make that decision together.

So the writing process is working out this time around – to my total surprise – and I am still producing chapters with ease . . . but don’t ask me why, because I don’t have that answer. Also, no more than I did in my previous updates, I have no idea if I will manage to finish this or not.

I’ll leave you with the words of the first man ever to try and milk a crocodile, “So far so g----“

Throw in some "light in August" stuff and it will produce crock milk(kinda like a milk dud)..

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Hah!, I might have done just that. My quite likable protagonist is worried that he might just be a cold blooded killer, which he is -- or once was. It's complicated. He is guilty; just not guilty of the things that he thinks he's guilty of or for the reasons that he thinks. Great fun, eh what?

November is National Novel Writing Month.

surprising him and me

Always a good sign. One of my favorite authors says:

When you write, if you don't cry, your readers will not cry. If you don't laugh, they won't laugh. If you are not surprised, they won't be.

Rhetorical question:

Why did he perform this act with such dispassion? Is this the surprise? If so, what does it mean for him? If there is no answer other than, "just cuz" he may come across as unbelievable. But if there is an answer you can tease the hell out of the reader and keep them interested and reading until you reveal it.

Or perhaps it is just part of the character's development--a surprising and valuable development. Where does it go from there? Your novel, your choice.

An interesting technique in characterization (one that you are probably already familiar with) is pairing dialog with different emotions. For instance hate/fear. A character can give a fiery paragraph about how much they "hate" their boss, or their father, or their plumber, or whatever. Crafted properly, the reader will read the word "hate" but hear "fear." Everybody does this in their lives so this tactic can really deepen a character. Tons of other pairings abound: love/lust, love/fear, love/hate, anger/love, joy/despair (Oh I'm so happy for you two!--You see where this can go.), selflessness/greed, thoughtfulness/brutality (think Tony Soprano showing up with a dozen roses: Sorry to hear about your husband.), and on and on. To me, this is one of the most fascinating and creative aspects of writing. And tough.

serendipity. How strange is that? In theory I'm up to about 30,000 words. Average of 250 words per page, average of ten pages per chapter, and twelve chapters done so far. It's an interesting process. It just doesn't seem like all that much work.

Of course for all of that, writing it is the easy part. It's the editing that really matters. That's when it will or will not become something that could be submitted for consideration.

mentioned are some of the pure fun of creative writing. I would feel more comfortable, mind you, If I had most of it worked out ahead of time. It's just that the outline doesn't work for me when writing a long piece of work.

My protagonist murdered with such ease and dispassion because in another life, as an entirely different person, that had been his profession. But for a number of good reasons he is no longer that person. His actions shocked him and make him worry that he is reverting to the soulless killing machine of long ago. He's not. Someone near and dear to him is playing games with his perceptions and he does not realize who.

This is not literature as such, you understand. I am a dreck level writer of fiction, and being so suits me down to my toenails. As I type this, my protagonist is wheeling and dealing with another character that just might snuff his life on a whim. He's doing fine so far but he is nervous because he doesn't know what is going to happen next and that is because I don't know either. I have a vague idea, yes, but this meeting could turn out several different ways without harming my general plot idea.

As far as contrasting conversation with actions or emotions, yes, within my limited range of storytelling abilities I do such things. The true villain of this piece, for instance, dealt with the protagonist for years as if she were his loving mother. She is a kind and thoughtful employer, too. She is also pure evil. So it goes.

"As we know I accidentally began writing a novel a couple of weeks ago."

"It’s a hard boiled mystery novel. Make of that what you will."

"My protagonist was innocent but was nonetheless being tracked by the police for a murder of one of their own. During the process of trying to clear his name, however, he did commit a murder, surprising him and me, and – to be fair about it – the man that he murdered."

"What I enjoyed about the writing of the scene, however, was that I still managed to keep him likeable even though he cut another man’s throat..."

"I’ll leave you with the words of the first man ever to try and milk a crocodile..."

Gatewood, I don't know if you are an accidental riot or have the deadest of deadpans, but anyone who can work in these many gems in one post is a genius, for all practical purposes. Could you take a break from mud wrestling and post some more novel updates in the future? I'd really appreciate it.

Also, any chance milking a croc can be worked into one of the chapters? I don't mean to be facetious, but I do think it will be cool.

writing seem to irritate nearly as many posters as they entertain I'm trying to keep these down to about once per week. I don't mind torturing my readers, but I do try to be fair about it.

No can do about the crocodile. It wouldn't work for this type of book. It's a very tempting notion though.

You could call your novel "The Face of Evil". Now you're the old Cicero of yore. I like your thread here too, fun to read this time.

Make sure you have a snatch in it, maybe two. One good, one bad....maybe have them change roles in the end. Every good mystery must have a snatch factor.

Jack

Speed and tension...keep the clock ticking.

I wrote about Joe Christmas yesterday and today fort hood and msn has a pic of the shooter..better include some thoughts about him too..may become an arab world best seller..haa..

them are thinking about killing the protagonist. He lives in a dangerous world. They are both, however, smoking hot, and so that's okay.

a novel in a certain season just because that's what's currently happening outside your window. It's best to be more deliberate when including bouts of insanity in one's work. Hmmm . . . I might want to think about rephrasing that.