Thoughts on writing mysteries
Sep. 19th, 2022 05:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rainwatersparkThe hard part about going on submission with a book that has series potential is knowing that I'll never get to write those sequels if the first book doesn't sell. :(
I'm not usually a series writer, because as someone who relies a lot on discovery writing, the idea of having to plan a series terrifies me. Duologies are probably the most I can handle. But for a series that's genre mystery, it's easier since the books can be mostly standalone stories, with maybe just some character development that carries over from one book to the next.
And I really want to continue this series because...I want the chance to do better.
I guess that's risky to say when I haven't even sold this first book yet. But the first book was absolutely a learning curve for me in terms of plotting a mystery, and I constructed it mostly around the main character's emotional arc (and romantic subplots, which...the lesson I learned was "never again").
I want the opportunity to write a sequel because I would write the sequel differently: I would come up with cool action set pieces first and build the mystery around that. Don't get me wrong, I think I did a good job in the first book in terms of mystery pacing and having enough red herrings, but I just felt like the investigation process wasn't very "cool." And maybe it's because I was trying to incorporate political intrigue into the course of the investigation, so the investigation had to go certain ways, and I couldn't really come up with any *cool* action set pieces for it (until the climax).
Basically, I approached Book 1 like I was plotting a contemporary mystery. But I'd like to approach Book 2 like plotting an action fantasy novel.
I have...ideas for four or five books in this series? LOL. I have an idea for a killer murder mystery framing if I get to write a third book (which I could maybe repurpose with different characters if I never get contracted to write that many books in this series). And I would love to have future standalone entries in the series where my main characters travel to different fictional cities in my fantasy historical China. (Though RIP me since it's difficult to do research on the social history of Chinese cities outside of Beijing and Shanghai. :( )
I'm not usually a series writer, because as someone who relies a lot on discovery writing, the idea of having to plan a series terrifies me. Duologies are probably the most I can handle. But for a series that's genre mystery, it's easier since the books can be mostly standalone stories, with maybe just some character development that carries over from one book to the next.
And I really want to continue this series because...I want the chance to do better.
I guess that's risky to say when I haven't even sold this first book yet. But the first book was absolutely a learning curve for me in terms of plotting a mystery, and I constructed it mostly around the main character's emotional arc (and romantic subplots, which...the lesson I learned was "never again").
I want the opportunity to write a sequel because I would write the sequel differently: I would come up with cool action set pieces first and build the mystery around that. Don't get me wrong, I think I did a good job in the first book in terms of mystery pacing and having enough red herrings, but I just felt like the investigation process wasn't very "cool." And maybe it's because I was trying to incorporate political intrigue into the course of the investigation, so the investigation had to go certain ways, and I couldn't really come up with any *cool* action set pieces for it (until the climax).
Basically, I approached Book 1 like I was plotting a contemporary mystery. But I'd like to approach Book 2 like plotting an action fantasy novel.
I have...ideas for four or five books in this series? LOL. I have an idea for a killer murder mystery framing if I get to write a third book (which I could maybe repurpose with different characters if I never get contracted to write that many books in this series). And I would love to have future standalone entries in the series where my main characters travel to different fictional cities in my fantasy historical China. (Though RIP me since it's difficult to do research on the social history of Chinese cities outside of Beijing and Shanghai. :( )
