The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

Ken wrote: "Let me pose a question to the group. I'm writing a crime/detective book and am trying to emulate the style and feel of Raymond Chandler's work.

I was working on this over the weekend and writin..."

Ken, for cosy mysteries I prefer 3rd, the distance adds to the 'safeness', but I think gritty mysteries like the Marlow ones work best in first for a couple of reasons. There's more at stake, we are more invested in the characters and finally I think we relate more to the main character and understand their flaws and struggles.

Love this style of mystery and will be keeping an eye out for your book!

Mysteries have been my "go to " genre for years. I like the way it makes me think about the plot. From trying to figure out"who done it", to how they did it and why, keeps me thinking about the possible outcomes. That stimulates my brain. It also keeps me from worrying about ordinary daily problems in life. I never get tired of this genre.

Ken wrote: "Let me pose a question to the group. I'm writing a crime/detective book and am trying to emulate the style and feel of Raymond Chandler's work.

I was working on this over the weekend and writin..."

Great question, Ken. I actually prefer omniscient point of view. It's the way Agatha Christie and all the writers of long ago wrote where the story teller had complete control. But it fell out of favor because of the advantages mentioned for first person and third person close (think Michael Connelly -- the books are from the viewpoint of Harry Bosch but written in third person). I think I like omniscient because it is less artificial. We know the storyteller knows everything so why pretend the reader can only see through one character's eyes? I find it too confining for a complex, realistic tale. Still omniscient is not considered "modern" though some books go to great lengths to create an omniscient view. In The Book Thief the author creates Death as the narrator just so he can have the speed of telling a story from an omniscient view. To me, it's like the difference between a low budget movie that uses only one camera and and the versatile cinematography of unlimited cameras.

I'm the kid that named his bulldog, "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle," so you can guess my first love in reading.

I think I'd go with your natural tendency, because the writing may flow better.

Sue wrote: "Great question, Ken. I actually prefer omniscient point of view. "

I used that POV in my first books (shameless plug follows,
.

I found it easier to write as I had a large cast of characters moving in and out of the story. In this one, because of the genre I decided first person is the way to go and some readers I sent samples of both agreed with the first person.
When I look at examples, Chandler uses first person as if he is telling the story after it happened (Farewell my Lovely). Carl Hiassen in Basket Case uses first person present. I found both seem to intermix the present and past tense with abandon. I bought a copy of and for some coaching. I'm finding the conversion of the stuff I had written to first is tedious but the new work comes easily.

I too like mysteries, like to see if I can figure who the bad is.

Ken, The Power of Point of View is a wonderful book! If you're in the Houston area, you can hear Alicia speak in a week or two.

POV conventions vary by genre, era, author, etc. Mystery and Young Adult have a history of doing 1st person really well. A lot of literary is 1st person.

Romance in the last century used to be pretty much all 3rd person, except gothic romance. And that has now changed. Lots of 1st person.

I think that both 1st and 3rd person are very well adapted to writing as they are the natural language of the original oral storytellers. These storytellers were either telling a story about themselves (I) or someone else (HE/SHE).

Hugs,
Diane

Diane wrote: "Ken, The Power of Point of View is a wonderful book!"

I'm standing by the mailbox waiting for it to come. I spent the weekend editing and after I get some POV direction, I'll have another go.
Once I got past editing all the verb tenses and started writing from scratch, its all coming together much easier.

Diane wrote: "Ken, The Power of Point of View is a wonderful book! If you're in the Houston area, you can hear Alicia speak in a week or two.

POV conventions vary by genre, era, author, etc. Mystery and Young..."

Hi Diane! Your sign-off, "Hugs, Diane," got my attention, and then I saw Houston. Fancy meeting you here!

Saytchyn

Hello!! It's Saytchyn! Squee! Yes, I'm starting to get out a little bit now. :)

I read C. Rossi's Under the Never Sky , and it reminded me why I like reading. I't so hard to find a book I really, really like. So, thought it was about time to check out Good Reads. I know. Finally!

Hugs,
DianeUnder the Never Sky

[Just a reminder, this is the "Why do you like mysteries" thread. The POV discussion should be moved elsewhere. Thanks]

I like this genre because I like puzzles and the game of chase where the hero go up against the villian of the most. The battle between the minds has begun and those that are link will get hurt. However we must protct the innocent.

I like that part of it too, Nguyen.