Keith Dixon's Discussions
Call to writers
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Started this discussion. Last reply by M.E. Purfield Nov 18, 2012.
Where do you stand?
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Started this discussion. Last reply by I. J. Parker May 2, 2012.
Crime Writing Confidential
A great opportunity to broaden horizons ...
A change of pace for this blog (not that it could get any slower ... ): I'm advertising a promotion. This is a collection of books and box sets under the name of 'Love & Hate' - a collection that includes books from both the Romance and Crime Noir genres.The work of mine that's up on offer is actually the first Sam Dyke Investigates set, featuring Altered Life, The Private Lie and The Hard Swim. The offer lasts from 22-24 February and the book - like the others - is available for only 99c or 99p.
This is the link to the page where you'll see my collection and books from a wide variety of other authors. Give them a go! https://doublecrosslit.weebly.com/promo.html/#
I'm outsourcing this post ...
You probably won't know it - yet - but the title of this blog is a clever pun based on one of the books by my guest blogger today, Eric Gates. He's the author of several thrillers which I guess deserve the prefix techno-, dealing as they do with aspects of contemporary technological life.Eric has had an interesting and varied career (as you'll see from his bio at the end) and here he provides an equally interesting insight into how he produces his fast-paced and exciting thrillers. His blog is also very well worth a read if you're interested in thriller writing as he brings together other writers to talk about a subject of their choosing.
So, let's move on!
How do you go about beginning your novel – do you plot, or do you begin and then see where it takes you? Why do you do it that way?
My method in my madness is to start at the end. Yes, it does sound like something out of ‘Alice in Wonderland’, right? Where’s the King of Hearts when you need him? Seriously, having ‘defined’ how a story will end gives me a clear goal to work toward. Obviously, the definition of my initial ending idea is subject to change, sometimes considerably, as I write the tale, but it does allow me to create the theme and message of the novel and stay on track throughout.
Once I have an ending, the next part to be defined is the start. How is the tale going to open? Who will feature in the opening? What questions (hooks) will I pose for the reader? I confess on spending considerably more time on this (say the first three to four chapters, sometimes as many as ten given the chapters tend to be short) than on defining the ending. Not only do I seek to establish the story at the beginning of the novel, but also create a high degree of tension and emotional response (engagement) in the reader, as well as imbue these chapters with a rhythm that will draw the reader into the tale.
The rest is relatively easy (he quipped, smiling) …just propel the narrative from that bombshell opening in the direction of the ending I have in mind. Who said this writing thing was hard?
I don’t outline the novel beforehand as such, but do use Mind Mapping tools to develop ‘scenes’ which could become several chapters, as I go along. This way both the characters and the tale itself can breathe and remain fresh.
What are your thoughts on ‘style’? Is it something you’re aware of while writing? Do you focus more on the story, or on how it’s told?
I write thrillers so keep in mind the generic style constraints for this genre (tension, pace, complex characters, cliffhanger chapters, and a solid storyline) as I write. These characteristics in turn have helped me develop a very personal writing style over the course of my novels. For instance, I have lots of tricks that I will use to keep the pace moving fast throughout, though sometimes deliberately slowing this to ensure my readers don’t end up having any coronary issues and preparing the tale for another gallop (the RollerCoaster effect). This results in the words ‘page-turner’ and ‘fast-paced’ often being used in reviewing my novels. Nowadays I tend to use these tools subconsciously and focus more on the tale itself.
How and when do you do research for the book? Before you start, or as and when you need?
Neither one nor the other. When I have, or generate, an idea for a book, I do broad research into the subject areas it touches upon. I then fuse several of the concepts encountered, looking for an original approach. Once this emerges, detailed investigation follows (lots of reading and note-taking, and not just the Internet, I might add). Next, given my personal history, I will apply anything I have experienced or know about to the story to add believability and authority to the tale. Yes, as I’m writing, I will continue to sniper-research subjects though these are usually highly focused searches for specific details, such as the fuel range of a specific private jet, for example.
Generally I pick a character and write the chapter in the Third Person from their point of view. As my chapters are usually short, this allows me to use a different character’s viewpoint in the next chapter without falling into the ‘head-hopping’ trap. So far, this method has not created any issues in telling the tale I want to in the way I wish it to unfold.
How do you go about editing or revising the drafts of your book? What governs the choices you make?
With massive amounts of Patience, and constant use of a piece of software (Stylewriter) I picked up for helping with self-edits. Why is the software so important? Well, to be brief, the answer is in an article on my website: http://www.ericjgates.com/TipsTricksSelfie.html
Are you conscious of being influenced by any particular authors or genre-specific elements when writing? How do those influences affect your writing?
Yes. I have three very strong influencers: Charles Dickens (he was a thriller writer too, did you know?), British author John Gardner, and Ian Fleming. All three have provided me with lessons (only John in the flesh, I might add. I’m not that old!) which I maintain alive in both the tales I tell and the way I do this.
Tell us about your latest book, especially any challenges it set you.
Please tell us a little about yourself and how you’d like to be contacted via social media, and also where to buy your books.
Biography:
Eric J. Gates is an ex-International Consultant who has travelled extensively worldwide, speak several languages, and has had articles and papers published in technical magazines in six different countries as well as radio and TV spots.
His specialty, Information Technology Security and Cyberwarfare, has brought him into contact with the Intelligence community on several occasions.
He is also an expert martial-artist, having been trained in over 25 different fighting arts. He has taught his skills to members of various Police, Military and Special Forces units, as well as Private Security firms, Bodyguards and the public.
He is the author of several thriller novels, details of which can be found on his web, http://www.ericjgates.com which explore the confidential and secret worlds that surround us.
Amazon Author page links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/eThrillerWriter
Global links for the some of the novels:
the CULL book 1 – Bloodline (FREE) http://authl.it/B00AGZ27FA?d
the CULL – Bloodline Universal non-Kindle link (FREE): http://books2read.com/u/bwB5e4
Outsourced http://authl.it/B00NNNCA7M?d
Primed http://authl.it/B01E49VHHC?d
Leaving Shadows http://authl.it/B00DJANLQS?d
Full Disclosure http://authl.it/B007XIR5Z0?d
An alternative blog about alternative history!
This blog is intended to throw a light on how crime and thriller writers put together their work. This week, in a change to my usual analyses, I've passed the baton and asked Alison Morton to talk to us about her processes when writing her highly successful alternative histories.
So far Alison has written 5 books in her Roma Nova series, with the sixth, Retalio shortly to be released.
For those of you unfamiliar with the genre, alt-history posits the idea that some actual historical fact didn't take place, or that it did, but in a different way or with a different outcome. So, for example, the recent television series made from Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle considered what might have happened had Germany and Japan won World War II.
So far Alison has written 5 books in her Roma Nova series, with the sixth, Retalio shortly to be released.
For those of you unfamiliar with the genre, alt-history posits the idea that some actual historical fact didn't take place, or that it did, but in a different way or with a different outcome. So, for example, the recent television series made from Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle considered what might have happened had Germany and Japan won World War II.
So now let's get on with the questions ...
How do you go about beginning your novel – do you plot, or do you begin and then
see where it takes you? Why do you do it that way?
As I write a series within one setting – an imaginary country called Roma Nova – I
already have some idea of the environment and the characters within it. For the
first three thrillers, I was burning to get the heroine’s story out, so just
attacked the keyboard. The second three books centred round a prominent
secondary character from the first three; I just wanted to know the secrets
from her younger life and so I had to write the books to find out!
I plot about 15% and write 85% ‘by the seat of my pants’. I know where the story starts and where it has to end. After sketching out a few essential story points,
off I go.
What are your thoughts on ‘style’? Is it something you’re aware of while writing? Do you focus more on the story, or
on how it’s told?
The story is the essential thing. Readers need enough detail to get the smells, sounds and sights of the setting but no more than absolutely necessary to the
story. My aim is to write as tightly as possible and let the reader infer
things.
How and when do you do research for the book? Before you start, or as and when you need?
Luckily, being a complete ‘Roman nut’ from the age of eleven, I have a reasonable background of Roman culture and life not to have to dive into a reference
book or online site all the time. My six years in the military takes care of
that side, although I do have to check up on precise details such as
honeycombing on rifles and types of Glock. In the second trilogy set late
1960s-early 1980s I had to research forensic knowledge available at that time.
You can’t use DNA profiling in 1968! Even though my books are set in an
alternative timeline, I like to keep as near as possibly to contemporary
technology.
How do you deal with Point of View? Do you always use First Person, or Third Person, or do you move between them? What
problems are you aware of because of the choices you make?
I write almost exclusively in the first person. I like to know what’s going on in my protagonist’s head, her motivation and reactions and her emotions. Many
writers consider it’s limiting to only have one view on events in the story,
but I see this as a delicious way to set up conflict and misunderstanding. The
narrator only truly knows what she sees, or senses herself; everything else is
(her) speculation.
How do you go about editing or revising the drafts of your book? What governs the choices you make?
I print out what I think is the final version of my draft, then carry out a harsh self-edit, red pen in hand, looking for overwriting, adverbs, wobbly
dialogue, over-use of qualifiers like ‘very’, ‘rather’ and ‘quite’. I check the
timeline for the main story, then for each character. Then it goes to my
critique partner of many years who has the eye of an eagle and the instincts of
a velociraptor. After any revisions, the manuscript goes to a (paid) structural
editor who checks for story cohesiveness, plot holes, pace and voice. After the
inevitable, but these days thankfully few, revisions it goes to the (paid) copy
editor to be shuffled into a print-ready version. I explain more fully here.
Quality is essential for me and I owe it to the reader to make the finished book the best it can be.
Are you conscious of being influenced by any particular authors or genre-specific elements when writing? How do those
influences affect your writing?
One of my first influences was Robert Harris’s Fatherland; it introduced me to alternative history. But more than that, to writing a pacey crime mystery within such an alternative timeline.
There is no great exposition of their world; the characters live (to them)
normal and natural lives within it. Alternative history has rules – a point of
divergence from the standard timeline with no return, a properly built world,
and writing the consequences of the divergence. These rules must be firmly
planted in your head, but like the iceberg, not show in your writing. The
thriller, crime or mystery is the most important thing, but the alternative
world forms the framework.
Tell us about your latest trilogy, especially any challenges it set you.
AURELIA is a crime thriller and sets up the rivalry between Aurelia Mitela, an ex-Praetorian Guard and Caius Tellus, an amoral but intelligent predator. I had
to do massive research on 1960s technology and German courts, prisons and legal
procedures! INSURRECTIO is more of a political thriller where a charismatic
leader of a nationalist movement makes a grab for power. Of course, Aurelia
tries to stop him. The last book in the trilogy, RETALIO, which is out on 27
April, is a story of resilience and resistance with plenty of doings by ‘the
ungodly’ (as Simon Templar would describe them).
Is there anything else you’d like to add? Please tell us how you’d like to be contacted via social media, and also
where to buy your books. Please add a short biography, too.
Bio
A ‘Roman nut’ since age 11, Alison Morton continues to be fascinated by that complex, power and value
driven civilisation. Armed with a masters’ in history, six years’ military
service and the love of a good crime thriller, she explores via her award
winning Roma Nova novels the ‘what if’ idea of a modern Roman society run by
strong women.
The sixth book, RETALIO, will be published on 27 April. In the meantime, Alison lives in France with her husband, tends her Roman
herb garden and drinks wine.
Connect with Alison on her Roma Nova site: http://alison-morton.com
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor
Amazon author page: http://Author.to/AlisonMortonAmazon
Buying linkfor all formats (paperback, ebook, audio) of all books:
http://alison-morton.com/books-2/buying-links/
http://alison-morton.com/books-2/buying-links/
*******
Thanks, Alison! Very interesting stuff! I hope Retalio does as well as the other books have so far.Finally, I'd like to point out that the new Paul Storey thriller, One Punch, is now available for pre-order. It'll be on sale on May 8th at a starting price of 99 cents or 99 pence. You can click on the link here, or the cover image at the top left of the blog, to be taken to your nearest Amazon site in order to pre-order it. Thanks! One Punch Pre-Order
Keith Dixon's Page
Profile Information
- Hometown:
- Rode Heath, England
- About Me:
- I'm a writer, editor, proofreader and copywriter and I've published two crime novels, with the third on the way. I have a blog that focuses on how crime writers write - in other words, how do they create their own particular style?
- I Am A:
- Reader, Writer, Editor
- Books And Authors I Like:
- Anything by James Lee Burke, George Pelecanos, Elmore Leonard, Robert Crais, Patricia Highsmith, Lawrence Block, James Hall, Tim Dorsey, Joe Lansdale. Most of Jefferson Parker, Carl Hiaasen and James Crumley. No British crime writers make my cut.
Then add in Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck and John Dos Passos.
And Kurt Vonnegut.
- Movies And TV Shows I Like:
- At the moment:
Mad Men
Breaking Bad
Justified
The Walking Dead
NYPD Blue (deceased)
The West Wing (deceased)
Movies: Too many to mention - some current favourites:
The Bourne trilogy
A Clockwork Orange
Mulholland Drive
Chinatown
Citizen Kane
The 400 Blows
Hi! This is a link to my blog on Blogger. It looks at how crime writers write and produce the effects that they do: Crime Writing Confidential
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Yes, I just did - it looks good! I'll keep it in my favourites. I forgot to mention George Pelecanos and Walter Mosley, who your interviewee also mentioned. My latest favourite is Joe R. Lansdale - an East Texan writer who is both exciting and comic at the same time. Oh, and let's not forget the great Elmore Leonard!
I need to do some major re-working on my two main novels, 'Medusa's Curse' & 'Inside Justice', as they were written in the early 90's, and I feel that by today's standards, they'd not fair too well.
It's nice to make your acqauintance.
You know, the first month I worked at the store the manager had to remind me to pick up my paycheck. That's how excited I was to be working there. Of course, the perils of retail include messy shoppers, rude shoppers, customers who belive we are a baby-sitting service, and those who believe we need to stock books out of print for the past decade. Even with all that, I love talking about my favorite authors, recommending books, and seeing the new stock come in and sell well. I'm also fortunate that this is a second job, or I'd be bankrupt just supporting my addiction to the printed page :o) BTW Is Altered Life available in the US? I'm in a university community, so we have an eclectic group of readers. We carry (finally) Stephen Booth's mysteries as well as a few others. I'd like to read yours so I can recommend it!