Don’t Believe Movies

It’s been awhile, but writer Samantha Seidel is back at JPC Allen Writes with her post “Don’t Believe Movies”, which is good advice for everyone, but especially writers. To read Samantha’s previous post, click here.

“Do cars explode if you shoot the gas tank?”

I’d been working on my present-day fiction novel Foresight for about a year when one of my writing buddies offered this critique. Given the low sci-fi, on-the-run nature of my story, I pulled from my experience: years of watching action flicks. The directors put it in the movie, so it must be somewhat realistic. Right?

Spoiler alert, it’s not. After learning my epic car explosion had zero believability, I checked other action sequences I’d written of my main character Stacy escaping capture. Almost all of them made no sense.

Movies sensationalize everything. Gunshots, explosions, carnage. While they’re great inspiration for any sci-fi adventure or fantasy quest, they stretch the natural laws of reality. Laws that make your story relatable to readers. If you have a sequence in mind, check its believability with the following methods:

Understand the Laws of Your World

Whether it’s Earth, Mars, or the Land of Mages, every world has set physics and systems that allow it to grow and thrive. My initial attempt at world building ignored the logic of injuries hampering activity. Foresight, being set on Earth, helped me recognize the importance of knowing the laws of the world. Gravity, weather, public opinion, and so many other factors will influence the characters’ actions and even looks.

In the case of magic and superhuman abilities, defining limitations and expectations is important. The reader might not know all these background details, but your knowledge of these physics will create a consistent and grounded story. I’ve also found that defining these rules inspires new scenes that fit within the world.

Play the Part of Your Character

Writing isn’t just a sitting activity; sometimes you gotta act out the scene. I can’t count the number of times I contorted my face into a certain expression just to describe the muscles or eyebrow twitches. More embarrassingly, I climbed into my mom’s car and repeatedly tumbled from the backseat into the front. All to correctly describe what I wanted to convey.

If you’re shy, find a secluded room to act out your sequence or look up videos of people reenacting relevant moves. If you’re comfortable, consider getting a few friends or family members to help. You never know what inspiration will come from other perspectives. Another thing to note, a 6’5” man will approach a situation differently than a 4’3” woman. If you know someone that matches your character better than you, try watching them for inspiration or having them conduct certain moves.

Become a Research Wizard

When I discovered my beloved movie tropes were false, I googled. Military rankings, building schematics, distances between states. Nothing escaped scrutiny. This research provided ample background for my novel and inspiration for developing the story.

Be sure when surfing the web that you access reputable articles and videos. When researching homeless shelters, I looked at existing organizations. To learn more about hydroponics, I went to the library. Seek out sources that either can’t be changed (print) or are directly related to what you’re researching. The best information will come from companies and individuals who eat, sleep, and breathe your questions.

True Writers Fact Check

Writing seemed so easy when I scribbled whatever adventure I wanted. But confused readers stop reading. To write with excellence, you have to fact check what Hollywood promotes. The sky is the limit with CGI, but people know when something isn’t believable.

Same goes for our words. Build a foundation of common sense, then incorporate your speculative imaginings.

*****

Foresight (WIP) by Samantha Seidel

What choice would you make today if you knew tomorrow?

Stacy Marang wasn’t supposed to live. One mad scientist later, and she can see the future. A future riddled with mysteries and military raids. Will the visions she’s following lead to the life she always dreamt of?

*****

Samantha Seidel devotes her time to discovering unique vocabulary, designing whimsical websites, and writing thought-provoking fantasies. Based in Tampa, FL, she’s working with an agent to get her first book published. She spends time daydreaming new stories, crocheting adorable critters, and developing a green thumb. Follow her at her website and on social media.

July 18, 2024 1

Disguising the Villain in a Mystery

Disguising the villain in a mystery is the toughest task when writing a story in that genre. Planting clues and red herrings effectively is hard too, but if I don’t correctly handle disguising the villain in a traditional whodunit, I’ve ruined the whole story.

Do’s and Don’ts for Disguising the Villain

Don’t have a very minor character be the villain.

Mystery author Bill Pronzini describes this pitfall in a chapter of his book Son of Gun in Cheek when writing about his love for the old Charlie Chan movies made in the 1930’s and ’40’s. He writes that often the villain turned out to be such a minor character that it was difficult to remember what scenes he or she was in.

Part of the fun of a mystery is to reread them after the solution is revealed, noting how the villain acted and what clues I missed that pointed to his guilt. If the villain hardly appears in the story, the reader has no satisfaction in seeing him unmasked. The mystery’s solution isn’t a revelation but a shock and a cheap one at that.

Now I can have a very minor character turn out to be an accomplice. That can provide a nice twist to the plot. But this character should still have enough page time for the reader to say, when revealed as the villain’s ally, “Aha!’ instead of “Who?”

Do make the villain a major player.

He should be an important secondary character, someone who has significant interactions with the detective. But if he has too many scenes in which he plays a pivotal role, the reader may get suspicious. So …

Don’t make the villain the only major player.

As I’ve written mysteries, this tip is the one I’ve found helpful: give each suspect almost equal time on the page. Creating suspects with as much reason to be guilty as the real culprit and allowing them meaningful page time helps disguise the true villain. The drawback of this method is that if a character acts suspiciously but is innocent, my detective either has to uncover the real reason for her suspicious activity, or the character must explain her actions. Unlike in real life, mysteries must tie up loose ends. For more on writing about clues and red herrings, click here. For more tips on writing mysteries, click here.

What mysteries had the best reveal of the villain?

October 26, 2023 0

The Scooby Doo Guide to Mysteries

As a kid growing up in the ‘70’s, I lived to watch Scooby Doo. Little did I know that this first exposure to mystery stories would be a good foundation for trying to write my own. My very first attempt at writing a story was in second grade, and I wrote a homage (that sounds better than rip-off) to Scooby Doo on the front and back of a sheet of notebook paper. The boy I had selected to play the cowardly character like Shaggy took offense and threatened to tell the teacher. Not only was this my first story, but also my first time dealing with an audience and censorship. The Scooby Doo Guide to Mysteries provides 4 basic points to writing a mystery.

Mysteries have a beginning, middle, and end.

Beginning: The premise of the mystery and the identity of the detective(s) are established. “You kids are new to these parts, so you don’t know the legend of the headless vampire zombie, and how it’s been scarin’ folks out of town.”
Middle: Detectives can do any of the following to solve the mystery:
- - Question witnesses and suspects.
  - Examine the site of the crime.
  - Analyze Clues.
  - Run from the villain – a lot.
End: Detectives reason from their investigation and reveal identity of villain. “Mayor Smith dressed up as the headless vampire zombie to scare everyone away while he emptied the mine under the town of its gold.”

Characters should be distinct.

Although Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy weren’t complex, there was no way to confuse them with one another. Fred was usually the brave one with a plan. Daphne was pretty and danger-prone. Velma was smart, Shaggy was scared, and Scooby Doo was a scared dog. Those characteristics influenced how the gang solved the mystery, so plot points developed from character traits.

When the plot needs a boost, put your main characters in danger.

Much of the running time of a Scooby Doo episode was spent doing just that – running. All the fleeing from the villain of the week not only padded the episode, but placing the detectives in danger raised the stakes for reaching a successful resolution to the mystery. And even though for 453 episodes, Scooby and the gang had solved the mystery, when you’re a kid, you worry that the 454^th time, things might go horribly wrong.

When the plot needs another boost, add humor.

Shaggy and Scooby’s cowardly personalities added a lot of humor to each mystery. Humor usually makes a character more believable or likable. For most kids, Shaggy and Scooby were their favorite characters. Humor also adds a contrast to tense or scary situations and makes any story just more fun.

What shows or books from your childhood influence your writing today?

For more tips on writing mysteries, click here.

October 19, 2023 5

How to Write a Detective Team

If you want to write a mystery, I’ll state the obvious: you must have a detective. But detectives come in all shapes and sizes, so you have a lot of room to maneuver. As you write, you might find your story is better if you have a duo of detectives. When I began my first novel, my detective was 19-year-old Rae Riley. Since my mystery was aimed at teens, my amateur detective had to be one. But as I wrote, I realized Rae’s father, since he is the sheriff of their fictional Ohio county, had to join her in the investigation or else he’d look incompetent. So I stumbled into a mystery-solving team, and my stories are the better for it. Below are my tips on how to write a detective team.

Decide if you write from the POV of one member or both.

POV (point of view) is critical to how you plot your mystery. Rae is my main character, and I write in first person. The story has to happen to her, and she has to make the story happen. Her father, Mal, can provide her information, but readers only see him through her eyes.

If I was writing from both of their POVs, then I could have scenes with just Mal and have him discover things that Rae may not be aware of, but the reader would be. Who my POV character is and how many I have affects how I lay out the clues.

The team should have contrasts.

If you’re two detectives are too much alike, then you only need one of them. Holmes and Watson have appealed to readers for over a century because the characters contrast.

Rae is a quiet, thoughtful amateur photographer. She has a photographer’s eye for noticing details. She also has a drive to help people, which draws her into cases.

Mal is more outgoing, confident, and carries a lot of authority in his manner. He’s also very protective, especially of his children.

Because of the contrasts in personality …

The team should have conflict.

Nothing’s more boring than two characters who never disagree. One of the delights in the Nero Wolfe mystery series is how the eccentricities and quirks of the great detective Nero Wolfe aggravate his right-hand man Archie Goodwin.

Rae’s desire to help people in trouble brings her into conflict with Mal, who wants her to stay safe. This conflict brings some needed tension to a warm relationship that could get too cozy to stay interesting.

Creating a detective team is a lot of work but a lot of fun. What detective teams do you love to read?

October 12, 2023 6

Weapons Resource for Mysteries

If you write crime fiction, at some point, you’ll need a weapons resource for mysteries. If your knowledge of guns and knives only consists of guns take bullets and knives are usually sharp, then The Writer’s Guide to Weapons by Benjamin Sobieck is for you. Like the title says, this book doesn’t just report and explain weapons. It was written for writers to give them a better understanding of how to use weapons in their fiction.

Treasure Trove of Information

The book is divided into three main sections: firearms, knives, and must-know weapons info. There’s also a glossary as well as a bibliography. Along with descriptions of particular weapons, the author lists its advantages and disadvantages and then provides a brief example of how the weapon could be used inaccurately and accurately in a story and an explanation of “what went wrong” in the inaccurate story.

In both the firearms and knives sections, Mr. Sobieck lists must-know laws involving those weapons. The copyright is 2015, so more research will be needed if you think a specific law affects your story. What I found most helpful was the author’s explanation of the “stop the threat” rule. A person has a right to defend themselves as long as the other person is a threat. If your main character knocks out the bad guy, who was threatening him with the knife, he can’t go over and kick him. The bad guy is no longer a threat. The kick is a crime.

I also loved the sections in part three. “Top Weapons Myths” dispels 25 false ideas about weapons, such as the reality of shooting a padlock or how ridiculous or mechanically impossible it is for a shooter to repeatedly click a handgun when it’s out of ammunition.

Another section I found especially interesting is “True Crime Stories from Real Crime Writers”. These are eyewitness accounts of what it’s like to be shot, stabbed, in a gun fight, or attempting to shoot a gun from a criminal’s hand. For example, a friend of the writer’s was stabbed in the back. Although the back of her shirt was soaked with blood, she didn’t realize it. It didn’t hurt.

The list of websites in the back give you a good starting point for even more research.

If you write mysteries, what kind of research have you done or are planning to do?

For more advice on writing mysteries, click here.

October 5, 2023 2

Category: Genre