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...trying to beat my Sherlock Holmes pastiche plotline into something vaguely usable. I feel like Barbie-writer. "Mysteries are HARD!"
I made the mistake of starting writing before I had a plot. Then red herrings and legitimate clues and suspects and aliases all sprang up and I realized I was in the middle of a freshly mopped floor with nowhere to go without making a mess. Sigh. I find it's best if I work backward, but that means knowing exactly who did what, when and why, before I can put in a single clue or develop a character.
Never start a mystery without a THOROUGH outline first. Sigh.
I made the mistake of starting writing before I had a plot. Then red herrings and legitimate clues and suspects and aliases all sprang up and I realized I was in the middle of a freshly mopped floor with nowhere to go without making a mess. Sigh. I find it's best if I work backward, but that means knowing exactly who did what, when and why, before I can put in a single clue or develop a character.
Never start a mystery without a THOROUGH outline first. Sigh.
