Love of mystery

I want to write mysteries; paranormal mysteries with a bit of romance thrown in for good measure and spice. Life shows me over and over again that things aren’t what they seem. There are layers of events to any situation in life. People come and go from our lives, stresses enter and leave us, we become overwhelmed with work, then something at home explodes, then your kid gets sick, then your grandmother takes a fall and breaks a hip – all within the span of a week. Mysteries are no different. You see a person who solves mysteries, but there are so many layers left untouched if that is the only event you write about. What of their personal life, friends, family, mental stability, love, anger, disappointments, history? There’s so much more to delve into in addition to the actual mystery and those involved. That’s why I want to write mysteries; so I can delve into these layers and write about them. I want to catch a reader off guard so they say to themselves, I didn’t think of that.

I love the research, the ideas just pop out of me as fast as I can type them out sometimes. There are definitely times when it isn’t easy. My hard part is once the research is in place, the basic outline and ideas are there – then I have to start writing the story and dialogue. I don’t want to sound like other writers of the same genre, but at the same time, they’re being published so they obviously know what they’re doing. I read them because I enjoy the stories, and I write down ideas and writing styles I recognize. Things I can try to use in my own writing; in my own voice – hopefully.

I second guess my writing. Is it good enough? Did I say that right? What other words can I use? I’ll reread my writing so many times and edit it to the point of utter exhaustion. Then, when I get back to the actual writing I don’t have anything left to say. I’m trying to stop doing this and just write what’s in me at the moment. I can always go back later to reevaluate the specifics to make sure I’ve said what I want and how I want. And I’m finding that I can try to write an outline for my novel, but stories really do take on a life of their own. I’m 85 pages into my novel; I’m not sure where the ideas come from, I’m just going along trying to keep the dialogue going when a completely new idea pops into my head and I find myself rethinking where I want the story to go, adding new characters, getting more in depth in some areas and cutting others out completely. But at some point I realize I’m over-thinking everything. My original outline is pretty much trashed, but to be honest, I really like where the story is going so I’m going to try as best I can to enjoy the ride. But again, that can be the beauty of mystery. There are so many avenues to travel, so many twists and turns, so many inner stories to discover; trying to create individuals with colorful characteristics that make readers want to read about them. Conflicts that mimic real life so readers can identify with them; love them, hate them. Every character needs an internal struggle to make them real and interesting in addition to what is going on in the story. It can be fun, or utterly frustrating trying to give characters there own separate and uniqueness from the other characters, but that’s the only way to make your story work. Mysteries are great, I love them, and now – for better or worse, in good times and bad - I’m going to write them. I’m a writer.