I'm a member of several national writers organizations that specialize in the mystery genre. Of course many of the members write related genres - thrillers, suspense and sometimes even romance - because every life needs a little romance. These organizations regularly put out newsletters which is wonderful because they contain valuable information in articles containing information that often helps us write better or overcome obstacles in this business.
Several years ago, one of these organizations - I think it was Sisters in Crime (primarily women writers of crime-related books) - had an article in one of their newsletters regarding the responsibility writers have in writing stories that solve the crime in a factually correct manner - meaning the writer doesn't use some kind of hocus pocus that couldn't really work. Now if the book is some kind of science fiction set in the year 2100, who knows - maybe hocus pocus will work. But if the setting is 1980, the writer has to use a method that would have been available at that time and since DNA wasn't.... Another example is to understand that not all law enforcement departments have all the whiz-bang, high-tech equipment. Sometimes a microscope and a scapel are the basic forensic tools. Understand what I'm saying here?
An example was offered of a real life trial where the case involved a man being tried for homicide - the killing of another. The prosecutor had extensive evidence to prove the case against the defendant - the gun, the bullet from the body matched the gun owned by the defendant, the gun was found at the murder scene, the defendant's fingerprints were on the gun and at the murder scene, the victim's blood was found on some of the defendant's clothing, the defendant had both a motive and an opportunity.
But the jury's verdict came back 11-1 with 11 voting Guilty and one lone hold-out for Not Guilty. When the lone hold-out was finally asked Why she refused to vote Guilty, her answer was - "They didn't find the defendant's fingerprint on the bullet" meaning the bullet inside the victim. When she was pressed as to why she expected a fingerprint to have been found on that particular bullet, she is reported to have said she had seen it on the television program, CSI. Unreal. And I do mean - Un-Real.
Television is NOT real life. Television is "entertainment." Where else is a crime committed, discovered, investigated and solved and sometimes ("Law and Order") prosecuted and a verdict received in 40 minutes or less - because we do have to allow plenty of time for the never-ending commercials. The answer is NoWhere.
Writers have a far more responsible job to the public. We write to entertain, of course. Otherwise we would never get published. Heck, sometimes we entertain and still don't get published. But nonetheless, we have the responsibility to try to educate our readers to what the "reality" of the "system" is. Otherwise there won't be any system and far less chance of justice if one of our readers ever has the privilege of becoming a Juror some day. (And I have.) For the sake of what we call the Justice System, we have to try to ensure those who do sit on juries in this country are at least not expecting to be "entertained.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
FIGHTING FOR YOUR STORY
As if writing your story weren't hard enough - finding a plot, developing your characters, making the story flow, building the tension, finding the hooks, developing the threads without giving away too much of the secrets, pulling it all together at the end with a sense of "of course" and satisfaction - it seems one must often be prepared to fight for it after the fact. A friend of mine, another writer, has written a marvelous novel. Seems a potential agent thinks its about 30,000 words too long. That may be, considering the concerns of the publishing business these days. Of course there are readers like me who actually look for the thicker books to read, and are willing to pay the extra dollars for them, but maybe we are too few or something.
Anyway, to get back to my friend, she is now in the throes of trying to cut out words and passages without losing the color and meat of her story. Because it's not enough to leave just the skeleton. There has to be the growth, and the passion and the tricky intrigue. For my friend's book, there are such marvelous details and color, the story wouldn't be the same without them. Sometimes a writer can make magic with words, transporting the reader to places and times they only thought they knew or previously imagined.
My friend is working on the task before her and I know she will succeed. But I loved her response at one suggestion where a cut could be made. "I will fight for that section. It's where she (her protagonist) becomes the winner in her own race."
Writers need to fight for their own races and the winning. Sometimes that's the real reason, maybe the only reason, for writing hours and hours into the dark of the night with only the moon and stars for company.
Anyway, to get back to my friend, she is now in the throes of trying to cut out words and passages without losing the color and meat of her story. Because it's not enough to leave just the skeleton. There has to be the growth, and the passion and the tricky intrigue. For my friend's book, there are such marvelous details and color, the story wouldn't be the same without them. Sometimes a writer can make magic with words, transporting the reader to places and times they only thought they knew or previously imagined.
My friend is working on the task before her and I know she will succeed. But I loved her response at one suggestion where a cut could be made. "I will fight for that section. It's where she (her protagonist) becomes the winner in her own race."
Writers need to fight for their own races and the winning. Sometimes that's the real reason, maybe the only reason, for writing hours and hours into the dark of the night with only the moon and stars for company.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS
The last several months I have been submitting large sections (50+ pages, double spaced) of the first of my Susan Edmonds series for review and critique to the Writers Group. This is quite an assignment for the group since those who don't write novels usually submit short memoirs or articles of no more than six pages double spaced. Writer #2 who also writes novels used to submit thirty or so pages but she now submits 50 or so pages. No one seems to object to the size of the weekly assignments (from us). It's a complement to our writing, I think, since the group usually says they find the reading easy and are anxious for the next section.
It's interesting that both she and I are within the same cycle of submitting the concluding section of our novels. My last reviewed section came back last week. Hers will be submitted this coming week and returned the following Tuesday. I'm anxious to see how she will bring hers to an end. And then there was the feedback I received this past Tuesday.
Since then I have been reviewing the complete manuscript (MS), making sure all the threads are complete, tying up all the ends without making the conclusion obvious before the last chapter where Susan drops the hammer in a most unexpected, but effective way. Will she finally be able to go forward to achieving her dream after everything that has happened or will the obstacles force her to take a different path? Can she forge her path without losing the support of the reader? Can I bring in surprises that the reader will say, "Aha, never saw that coming but of course - it makes sense."
Writing police procedurals is not so different from being a detective - finding the clues that were there all along. And connecting them when there didn't seem to be a connection when first presented. Love it. Maybe that's why I so enjoyed working in the field for all those years.
And then there is the other novel in the series that I've already started to prepare for the group's review while getting ready for the MWA University in mid-August. There's hardly time to make the bed these days....
It's interesting that both she and I are within the same cycle of submitting the concluding section of our novels. My last reviewed section came back last week. Hers will be submitted this coming week and returned the following Tuesday. I'm anxious to see how she will bring hers to an end. And then there was the feedback I received this past Tuesday.
Since then I have been reviewing the complete manuscript (MS), making sure all the threads are complete, tying up all the ends without making the conclusion obvious before the last chapter where Susan drops the hammer in a most unexpected, but effective way. Will she finally be able to go forward to achieving her dream after everything that has happened or will the obstacles force her to take a different path? Can she forge her path without losing the support of the reader? Can I bring in surprises that the reader will say, "Aha, never saw that coming but of course - it makes sense."
Writing police procedurals is not so different from being a detective - finding the clues that were there all along. And connecting them when there didn't seem to be a connection when first presented. Love it. Maybe that's why I so enjoyed working in the field for all those years.
And then there is the other novel in the series that I've already started to prepare for the group's review while getting ready for the MWA University in mid-August. There's hardly time to make the bed these days....
Thursday, July 22, 2010
TIME FOR AN UPDATE
Enough good things can not be written about writers groups. I feel very fortunate to have found and been accepted into one. Living where I do, finding one was no small accomplishment. And one should not assume they will automatically accept anyone who asks to join.
First there is the size. The group shouldn't be so large that the work of the individual members gets lost in the shuffle - nor so small that there won't be sufficient variety and skill available for review and critique of your work. And because the groups are made up of people, with personalities and interests, it is important that they get along on a personal basis. Some groups require the members to write the same genre. Others are not so stringent. The group to which I belong has variety.
I write crime mysteries. Police Procedurals actually which are a sub-set of the Mystery genre. There is no one else in my group who writes my genre. However, someone else in the group writes historical novels and they often involve suspenseful moments. Then there is a third member. She writes Memoir. But she loves to read the novels. And she catches inconsistencies all the time. What a gem she is. And she knows that "someone has to die." So she tries to point out where we are setting up a character for that fateful end. It's good to have her around because sometimes we novelists find we need to go back and muddy the clues a bit.
The fourth member of our group also writes memoirs, but she also writes poetry. That's a weak spot for me, but she has written some that I "get" at the very first reading. And I benefit by expanding my knowledge of flow and imagery and representation from her that I can transfer into some of my own writing.
The fifth member is a former newspaper reporter who now writes articles for magazines. Boy is she great on questions of comma usage - when to use and when not. And sometimes she knows things from the topics she has written about in the past which are helpful to someone in the group researching something in that area.
So we all learn and share with each other. But most of all, we expand our writing style and techniques by having our work read, reviewed, critiqued and explored by others who are both supportive and critical in ways friends and family sometimes can not be.
Do we all have the goal of being published? I'm not sure. Certainly two of us do. All of us have been at one time or another in one venue or another. But myself and the other novelist strive in different ways. The peaks are higher maybe - the lows more so for sure. But as a group we share and learn and find friendship. Therein lies the benefit.
First there is the size. The group shouldn't be so large that the work of the individual members gets lost in the shuffle - nor so small that there won't be sufficient variety and skill available for review and critique of your work. And because the groups are made up of people, with personalities and interests, it is important that they get along on a personal basis. Some groups require the members to write the same genre. Others are not so stringent. The group to which I belong has variety.
I write crime mysteries. Police Procedurals actually which are a sub-set of the Mystery genre. There is no one else in my group who writes my genre. However, someone else in the group writes historical novels and they often involve suspenseful moments. Then there is a third member. She writes Memoir. But she loves to read the novels. And she catches inconsistencies all the time. What a gem she is. And she knows that "someone has to die." So she tries to point out where we are setting up a character for that fateful end. It's good to have her around because sometimes we novelists find we need to go back and muddy the clues a bit.
The fourth member of our group also writes memoirs, but she also writes poetry. That's a weak spot for me, but she has written some that I "get" at the very first reading. And I benefit by expanding my knowledge of flow and imagery and representation from her that I can transfer into some of my own writing.
The fifth member is a former newspaper reporter who now writes articles for magazines. Boy is she great on questions of comma usage - when to use and when not. And sometimes she knows things from the topics she has written about in the past which are helpful to someone in the group researching something in that area.
So we all learn and share with each other. But most of all, we expand our writing style and techniques by having our work read, reviewed, critiqued and explored by others who are both supportive and critical in ways friends and family sometimes can not be.
Do we all have the goal of being published? I'm not sure. Certainly two of us do. All of us have been at one time or another in one venue or another. But myself and the other novelist strive in different ways. The peaks are higher maybe - the lows more so for sure. But as a group we share and learn and find friendship. Therein lies the benefit.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
WRITERS' GROUPS AND CRITIQUES
I joined a writers group some months ago. Four women, including me, and one man. We had one other woman in the group briefly but she needed to drop out because of a job conflict. I'd love for her to return because she's had over twenty years of writing as a newspaper reporter. The one short story she submitted to the group for review and critique was so good everyone thought she should submit it for publication to some magazine.
I've been searching for a writers group - needing one actually - for years. It's difficult to write alone without feedback. Even reading all the guidelines that are available, taking writing courses, joining writers organizations and attending writers conferences are simply not enough. A writer, especially one who is not yet published and does not have an agent or editor to turn to, needs other skilled writers to read ones work and provide feedback.
Sometimes I get so involved with telling the story or getting to what I think is THE STORY I forget to bring the reader into the story by showing it.
I also have to admit that after going back, over and over and over, to re-write a section or chapter or some component, either to make a point more clear or to shorten a narrative or to sharpen an impact - I get tired and impatient. (Patience has never been a strong point in any of my siblings and I'm no role model either.) Sometimes I have to get up and walk away from the computer. Sitting and being frustrated when something isn't working doesn't work for me. That's when I try, actually need to force myself, to go outdoors. Weather permitting, I try to get into one of my many gardens to pull weeds or plant something. That's when I can usually work out a storyline "problem."
Of course, I have worked out some of the best dialogue problems in the shower. Unfortunately, I can not write down those gems under water. So I try to repeat the key lines over and over in the hopes I will retain them once I am out of the water and inside a towel at least.
So, back to the writers group. This is the place where I submit one section at a time and then one week later, patiently, listen to the review and critique from the others about what they think works, what they don't understand (and sometimes I want them to not understand something at that point in the story IF it keeps them looking for the answer - not if it makes them turn aside and lose interest - because I do write mysteries, thrillers, police procedurals) and their suggestions as to what I could do to improve the writing. Better yet, my fellow writers remind me of the "show the story - don't tell the story" rule. Which, for me, means - slow down and exercise Patience.
I've been searching for a writers group - needing one actually - for years. It's difficult to write alone without feedback. Even reading all the guidelines that are available, taking writing courses, joining writers organizations and attending writers conferences are simply not enough. A writer, especially one who is not yet published and does not have an agent or editor to turn to, needs other skilled writers to read ones work and provide feedback.
Sometimes I get so involved with telling the story or getting to what I think is THE STORY I forget to bring the reader into the story by showing it.
I also have to admit that after going back, over and over and over, to re-write a section or chapter or some component, either to make a point more clear or to shorten a narrative or to sharpen an impact - I get tired and impatient. (Patience has never been a strong point in any of my siblings and I'm no role model either.) Sometimes I have to get up and walk away from the computer. Sitting and being frustrated when something isn't working doesn't work for me. That's when I try, actually need to force myself, to go outdoors. Weather permitting, I try to get into one of my many gardens to pull weeds or plant something. That's when I can usually work out a storyline "problem."
Of course, I have worked out some of the best dialogue problems in the shower. Unfortunately, I can not write down those gems under water. So I try to repeat the key lines over and over in the hopes I will retain them once I am out of the water and inside a towel at least.
So, back to the writers group. This is the place where I submit one section at a time and then one week later, patiently, listen to the review and critique from the others about what they think works, what they don't understand (and sometimes I want them to not understand something at that point in the story IF it keeps them looking for the answer - not if it makes them turn aside and lose interest - because I do write mysteries, thrillers, police procedurals) and their suggestions as to what I could do to improve the writing. Better yet, my fellow writers remind me of the "show the story - don't tell the story" rule. Which, for me, means - slow down and exercise Patience.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
WRITING UNDERCOVER
I'm working on a novel right now, the first one in a series. I've actually written two in the series but, having joined a writers' group, I wanted to go back to the first one and apply some of what the group is teaching me.
I have to admit it's not always easy to go back and re-work the same story over and over, especially when you think it's as good as you can get it. Except, sometimes after time has passed and batteries have re-charged, you can make it better - make it tighter. And yet, this morning as I was working on a particular chapter involving the dialogue exchange between my protagonist (main character who evolves throughout the story and is the central character throughout the series) and several patrol units, I found my heart racing probably as much as when it was back when I was in that position myself years ago. I can still hear the sirens, feel the way they intensify everything inside a squad car enroute to a high adrenalin call never knowing how it will turn out and always hoping for the best. I don't know if my reaction was the result of my writing or my memories or maybe a combination of the two. I'd like to think it was my writing since that part of my experiences happened a long time ago.
I love my stories. I write for many reasons, but, while the process can be exhausting and often frustrating, I write mostly because I care about the stories I have to tell. And the people who lived and died for them.
I have to admit it's not always easy to go back and re-work the same story over and over, especially when you think it's as good as you can get it. Except, sometimes after time has passed and batteries have re-charged, you can make it better - make it tighter. And yet, this morning as I was working on a particular chapter involving the dialogue exchange between my protagonist (main character who evolves throughout the story and is the central character throughout the series) and several patrol units, I found my heart racing probably as much as when it was back when I was in that position myself years ago. I can still hear the sirens, feel the way they intensify everything inside a squad car enroute to a high adrenalin call never knowing how it will turn out and always hoping for the best. I don't know if my reaction was the result of my writing or my memories or maybe a combination of the two. I'd like to think it was my writing since that part of my experiences happened a long time ago.
I love my stories. I write for many reasons, but, while the process can be exhausting and often frustrating, I write mostly because I care about the stories I have to tell. And the people who lived and died for them.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
PAROLEE SUPERVISION AND CASELOADS
The national news media is fully involved with the kidnapping and long-term hostage and abuse or Jaycee Dugan in California. There are so many fingers pointing in so many directions regarding who is to blame for this atrocity. It is commendable that the county sheriff is taking some responsibility for not following through more thoroughly on a 911 call two years ago, but the problem goes much deeper. The issue goes all the way back to why the perpetrator was released far shorter than his original sentence - money. Money is also why there are not enough parole agents at either the federal or state level to supervise high risk parolees regardless of whether or not they are wearing GPS monitors.
Any citizen outside the correctional system will be unable to find out accurate (translate that: truthful) information as to how many parole agents there are in his/her state-county who specifically (translate that: exclusively) supervise high-risk parolees (translate that: violent sex offenders, serial violent offenders who can be domestic violence offenders and child molesters). Even in California's current "wrestling match" with the courts as to how the state will reduce the number of inmates in its over-populated prisons, the state is promising to reduce parole agent caseloads from 75 (parolees per agent) to 40. In truth, that promise was made back in 2001. It never happened. Caseloads increased. And it won't happen now either considering the state's financial position. Positions cost money. And parole agents are required to have more education and experience because they have more authority and work more independently (translate that: usually without a partner or caged vehicle - translate that: it's dangerous work!)
In truth, an agent cannot supervise 75 parolees. It will be challenging to supervise 40 - especially if the parolee is considered high-risk in any category.
To adequately supervise a parolee, an agent needs to be vigilant - and irregular. Irregluar means showing up at the parolee's residence and employment at all times of the night and day - weekends, too. An agent needs to know the parolee's regular associates as well as his (or her) family members - if only to be able to identify someone who's "new" - someone who doesn't belong in his company, around his residence.
An agent needs to know what does (and doesn't) belong in a parolee's closet, his car, his refrigerator, his medicine cabinet, needs to know everything that's "normal" in order to spot something that's not normal. An agent can't do that with a once-a-month visit that lasts a couple of hours or less. But that's all an agent has time for with a caseload of 40 parolees. Why?
Because you have to factor in driving time to and from the various locations the agent has to go to find the parolee (and it takes longer in high metropolitan/high traffic or remote areas), observe from a distance sometimes, prepare all the paperwork the agent has to write and sometimes submit for every visit/observation/neighbor or employer contact. And then there are unit meetings and mandatory training and briefings regarding new parolees. Add in mandatory office hours for each of your parolees to report each month and give some form of a drug or alcohol test in the form of a urinalysis. Each agent is usually assigned one or more days a month to be the "Unit Agent on Call" which can mean handling whatever walks through the door or whoever calls on the phone for anything (from police agencies requesting information to mothers complaining that their sex offender registrant sons are being harassed by neighbors).
As a former state parole agent, I can verify that there are few weeks that went by that I wasn't the recipient of a telephone call in the wee hours from a uniformed officer on the streets requesting some form of information regarding a parolee who had just been the recipient of a vehicle stop. These, too, require attention and, sometimes, additional paperwork if not an immediate get-up-and-meet-the-officer-at-the-scene(or local jail). This is just the "normal" workload. Nowhere here have I provided an example of a parolee who has created a false fenced backyard to hide the kind of buildings and environment we are learning about that has been existing in Antioch, Calif.
I feel for everyone... except the perpetrators. And I'm so glad I wasn't one of those people who are now wondering "Did I miss something?"; "Should I have seen something?" That kind of guilt is suicide-making and there's nothing for it. Except smaller caseloads and more agents and a prison system that doesn't let that kind of an individual out early - EVER. It requires a more effective supervisory system with better priorities for who should be going to prison and who should be staying there and how we fund justice system components in the first place.
Of course, this requires an educated public. Which is why I write.
Any citizen outside the correctional system will be unable to find out accurate (translate that: truthful) information as to how many parole agents there are in his/her state-county who specifically (translate that: exclusively) supervise high-risk parolees (translate that: violent sex offenders, serial violent offenders who can be domestic violence offenders and child molesters). Even in California's current "wrestling match" with the courts as to how the state will reduce the number of inmates in its over-populated prisons, the state is promising to reduce parole agent caseloads from 75 (parolees per agent) to 40. In truth, that promise was made back in 2001. It never happened. Caseloads increased. And it won't happen now either considering the state's financial position. Positions cost money. And parole agents are required to have more education and experience because they have more authority and work more independently (translate that: usually without a partner or caged vehicle - translate that: it's dangerous work!)
In truth, an agent cannot supervise 75 parolees. It will be challenging to supervise 40 - especially if the parolee is considered high-risk in any category.
To adequately supervise a parolee, an agent needs to be vigilant - and irregular. Irregluar means showing up at the parolee's residence and employment at all times of the night and day - weekends, too. An agent needs to know the parolee's regular associates as well as his (or her) family members - if only to be able to identify someone who's "new" - someone who doesn't belong in his company, around his residence.
An agent needs to know what does (and doesn't) belong in a parolee's closet, his car, his refrigerator, his medicine cabinet, needs to know everything that's "normal" in order to spot something that's not normal. An agent can't do that with a once-a-month visit that lasts a couple of hours or less. But that's all an agent has time for with a caseload of 40 parolees. Why?
Because you have to factor in driving time to and from the various locations the agent has to go to find the parolee (and it takes longer in high metropolitan/high traffic or remote areas), observe from a distance sometimes, prepare all the paperwork the agent has to write and sometimes submit for every visit/observation/neighbor or employer contact. And then there are unit meetings and mandatory training and briefings regarding new parolees. Add in mandatory office hours for each of your parolees to report each month and give some form of a drug or alcohol test in the form of a urinalysis. Each agent is usually assigned one or more days a month to be the "Unit Agent on Call" which can mean handling whatever walks through the door or whoever calls on the phone for anything (from police agencies requesting information to mothers complaining that their sex offender registrant sons are being harassed by neighbors).
As a former state parole agent, I can verify that there are few weeks that went by that I wasn't the recipient of a telephone call in the wee hours from a uniformed officer on the streets requesting some form of information regarding a parolee who had just been the recipient of a vehicle stop. These, too, require attention and, sometimes, additional paperwork if not an immediate get-up-and-meet-the-officer-at-the-scene(or local jail). This is just the "normal" workload. Nowhere here have I provided an example of a parolee who has created a false fenced backyard to hide the kind of buildings and environment we are learning about that has been existing in Antioch, Calif.
I feel for everyone... except the perpetrators. And I'm so glad I wasn't one of those people who are now wondering "Did I miss something?"; "Should I have seen something?" That kind of guilt is suicide-making and there's nothing for it. Except smaller caseloads and more agents and a prison system that doesn't let that kind of an individual out early - EVER. It requires a more effective supervisory system with better priorities for who should be going to prison and who should be staying there and how we fund justice system components in the first place.
Of course, this requires an educated public. Which is why I write.
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