My favorite time to write is early in the morning before Gary wakes up. By 6:00 am I am in front of the computer to get two chapters of the mystery re-edited.
First, I have to read through the two chapters to make notes about the changes I want to make. This morning it was adding clues and red herrings to confuse the reader. I don't want too many misleading things going on because that would be cheating. The reader should be no more confused than the detectives. In this case the problem is too many detectives. There are six sleuths with varying theories. Which one is right? And what if one of them is just hiding the fact that he or she is a murderer?
Once I've made my notes I start working through the chapters. One thing I have to change is the names. Originally the garbage men were Mike and Gary. I changed those names to Elywn and Fenton. The librarian was Arlene when I started the novel but now is Shirley. It isn't that easy to catch each and every place those names changed.
I am not writing a romance, but there still is a little sexual tension going between the two main characters. How much of it do I want? And what about humor? It always sneaks into my writing. And sometimes I have to cut some of it out. I'm writing a mystery novel, not a joke book.
Today, I re-wrote the grisly murder at the library. I really enjoy writing death. Does that make me weird? In the eighth chapter we learned more about the first victim. What had he been doing in the years before he was murdered? The sleuths find out about that at the same rate I think it up.
Tomorrow, I introduce a very mean cat. How will she figure in the mystery?
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