Today, I want to talk to you about something that came up in my social media feeds a
couple of weeks ago. And the question was, how do I plot a crime novel?
Now there's a lot of people in the world who will argue about how to plot a
book, but for me,
the crime novel is specific in that I believe that a crime novel is very hard to
write off the top of your head.
I will spend about three months plotting my novel before I even start
writing it. So for me,
it's essential in crime fiction that you do have a structure and you do know
where you're going.
I'm going to give you some ideas and some tips on how to approach a crime novel
specifically.
So the first thing for me is that I always start with character.
Character is so important in crime fiction because you've all read those
kinds of books that are really generic.
So your characters are kind of like this faceless investigator.
That's probably an alcoholic he's maybe in his mid thirties,
he's a little bit jaded with life and turns up to work a bit scruffy.
And like hasn't showered for a few days. Those kinds of books are fine,
but I don't find them particularly interesting because the character I've seen
before, and it's a leftover from, you know,
the 1920s and 1930s hard-boiled detectives. And I mean,
that trope has been around for a hundred years. So I feel like we can do better.
Right? Think about those characters who are really memorable for you.
I think of Phryne Fisher with her fabulous outfits and pearl handled
guns,
or I think of Hercule Poirot with his mustache and going around and solving the
crimes. He's from Belgium, not from France,
but we remember these people and they occupy a very specific
kind of niche.
So really think about who your investigator is in the first place,
because that will determine all of their responses to the crime.
And then therefore that will help you write the part of your story.
Really think about what you're trying to say about the world.
So crime is a great vehicle for talking about life and death,
truth and justice, injustice, corruption,
all of those really big picture things.
So you really need to think about what is the purpose of this story that I'm
writing. It's not just to be entertaining,
but what am I really trying to say about the world?
And one of the books that has really helped me think about this is John Truby is
The Anatomy of Story. And if you haven't read the book,
I highly recommend it.
And it really breaks down this idea of story structure based on a
common moral problem.
And I really like that approach because it means that every moment of the story,
you're thinking about how this scene and this character works
towards this ending and this particular moral that I'm trying to
present the world.
It's not to say that you're going to hit your reader over the head with I'm
moralizing to you. It's not doing that at all,
but it's really building a structure around what you're trying to say.
So my third point is getting to this idea of plot and it's actually to use
an existing structure. So following on from my last point books,
like Truby's the Anatomy of Story. You know,
Joseph Campbell's famous Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Even things like Freytag's pyramid, the three act structure.
Looking at these existing structures is a really great way for writing a
crime novel because they really do look at how you build the
stakes in novel. I know people shy away because they think it's cliched,
but the way you avoid cliche is not to write a cliched story.
Using these structures,
the structures are there to help you frame that narrative.
They're not the actual story itself and find one that works for you.
The reason I like Truby's so much is that it is actually very flexible.
It doesn't, it isn't prescriptive about, you need to have this here.
It's saying that here's a structure for you. That is helpful.
If it's not helpful,
don't use it and don't be afraid to go outside of the structure.
So the next point I want to say is that you always need to be upping the ante in
a crime novel.
So you start at a certain level and you want each scene to
increasingly become threatening to the investigator in the story.
So you want to make sure that the place where you start is not
more scary than the place where you,
and you really want to make sure that the threats are increasing.
So that by the time you get to the end of your book,
the reader is just hanging on for dear life,
with your character because the investigation may cost them their life.
And don't be afraid to put them in conflict because that will really drive the
story forwards. We don't want the investigator agreeing with everyone.
And we certainly don't want the kind of book where the clues fall in the
investigator's lap.
The investigator needs to do things in order to achieve those clues
and get to those goals.
So I've read a few crime books where the investigator sits at home and people
turn up at their house to give them clues.
It doesn't work for me because the investigator needs to be active
in the investigation.
So the reversal is another way that you can really make a crime novel
shine. And it's the twist in the tale. It's, you know,
the ending of the Sixth Sense. It's the thing that people didn't see coming,
but when they reevaluate the whole book,
they understand that that's what you had in mind all along.
And it can be really powerful, but if you're just starting out as a writer,
there's absolutely nothing wrong with writing a straight crime story.
So I've already talked about this a little bit,
but one of the biggest things that you need to do when writing and plotting a
crime novel is avoid cliches.
Crime fiction has so many cliches in that we all know the classic one,
the Femme Fatale walks into the office with her fur coat and her little dainty
hat and says to the PI, 'my sister is missing, help me,
I need you to investigate'. Clearly, this is a trap. Do not investigate.
She's going to, she's out to get you somehow. If you're going to use a cliche,
I reckon subvert in some way or make it so spectacularly good
that it's going to be the best cliche that anybody's ever seen, right?
So you can still use them, but be really aware when you're using them.
If you start finding yourself veering into cliched territory,
whether that's that kind of alcoholic cop who is jaded with the world,
try and bring a little twist into that character, try and reverse it,
try and think the opposite of what that character might actually be like.
Finally, just some practical things. For me,
when I'm plotting a crime novel or any novel in general,
I will do the old palm card trick.
So I will write down all of the scenes and I will structure it
on those big Post-It notes that have lines on them. I absolutely love them.
I can stick them all over my wall and then I will work it out and sit down.
How do I escalate this action?
And I'll do a lot of writing and note taking during this plotting period
just to make sure that I've actually got everything down.
Another thing that I use in plotting crime novels is I actually use a lot of
maps. So maps are really helpful for figuring out well,
if this person and this crime happened here,
then where do they go next? And how do they get there?
And what's the journey that they take apart from that,
the main thing is that you have fun and you follow your imagination.
And your curiosity,
I will say that a lot of research and reading about the history of
crime about investigation can really help spark plot points and make your
story more authentic.
So I certainly recommend that if you're just starting out in terms of plotting a
crime novel, make sure you've got your basics in order.
And really just dig into crime fiction, read widely,
and these things can help you to understand the structure of a crime novel.
One of the tools and the workshop ideas that I think you could do as an exercise
coming out of this video is take one of your favorite crime novels.
And I would certainly sit down and look at the key plot points through that
book. How does this author build suspense?
How does this author escalate the stakes?
What are the major significant moments and turning points and how do they
execute any of the reversals they have in the story?
I hope that's helped in starting out how to plot a crime novel.
I'd love your feedback in the comments below. I'm happy to answer any questions.
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And I hope that you're having a great day wherever you are, enjoy yourself.