29 September 2006
I've finished another Dag Håmar story and have posted it on my Security & Exchange site. This is the second mini-mystery in which Dag resolves a mystery and brings a criminal to justice. In this story, Dag has to deal with a possible murder in the family as he visits his cousins in Sweden. Enjoy.
Just a quick question about Dag that I need some help with. In his home there is a picture that he especially loves. A painting, I assume. It is his private "vacation" spot. If he needs peace, he is irresistably attracted to the picture which he sits in front of and stares at for hours.
What is the painting and who is the artist?
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jisatsu_crisis:
I'd say the Starry Night Of Vincent Van Gogh, or other, maybe a bit lighter, by the same artist :)
wayzgoose:
I love Van Gogh, but the practical side of me says "too expensive" or "too tacky". He couldn't possibly get the original of Starry Night even if he could afford the millions for a VanGogh, and I just don't see Dag having a poster. It could be a serigraph or a screenprint, limited edition type thing, but I don't think a picture of a famous painting would do it.
a_belletrist:
I saw graphite sketch of a lake or cove on one of the San Juan Islands, that has faint color tints washed over focal points. It was rendered by a friend of his who Dag helped out one time. Dag took it as trade.
So mostly black and white, with occasional bits of subtle color.
wayzgoose:
I like this. Especially that Dag took it as trade or that it came as a gift. The description of the local scene is also good. It may need to have more vivid color. Dag is colorblind, but at a significant moment near the end of the story he is overwhelmed by seeing the colors in the painting.
cloister27:
Two thoughts. One--and this is a personal issue of mine--I can't stand Starry Night, and I can't see it working for Dag. Partly it's because that painting has become so cliched that I can't really imagine Dag taking any solace from it.
Two, it's probably better if the painting is NOT something famous or by a famous artist. I mean, you can't really drop names like Degas and Gaugin without, well, sounding like a name-dropper. And whatever famous piece you pick, some readers will like it, some will hate it, and some will think you're just trying to make Dag sound more urbane. I'm in agreement, in a sort of tangential way, with A Belletrist. It should be a picture with some kind of sentimental connection to Dag's past. Maybe his ex-wife painted it, and even though it isn't very good, it's nice enough to look at and reminds him of happier days. Or maybe his college sweetheart painted it and gave it to him as a present because at the time they were both too broke to buy real presents. And while he lost touch with her after she went to New York to study art, Dag never could bear to part with it.
Anyway. Being an imaginary piece by an imaginary artist also means that you get to _describe_ the piece, rather than just _name_ the piece, which has to make for better writing. That whole "show, don't tell" thing again. Tell us about the painting, and let us fill in the details. I guarantee, letting the reader imagine the art from a description will produce something in the reader's mind that is in accord with the reader's own artistic tastes.
wayzgoose:
Yes. My question of who is the artist and what is the painting of are more searching for the story of the painting rather than looking for an actual piece of art. I should have been clearer on that, but perhaps I wasn't clear in my head yet when I posted. I like the girlfriend idea. It fits with some of the "teen years" reminiscence. I see several places where it fits with the story. I just need to describe the scene, style, colors, etc.
cloister27:
The girlfriend idea also ties in nicely with Dag sorting out his feelings for Reily, who is presumably of an age similar to the artist woman in his memory...
What is the painting and who is the artist?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
jisatsu_crisis:
I'd say the Starry Night Of Vincent Van Gogh, or other, maybe a bit lighter, by the same artist :)
wayzgoose:
I love Van Gogh, but the practical side of me says "too expensive" or "too tacky". He couldn't possibly get the original of Starry Night even if he could afford the millions for a VanGogh, and I just don't see Dag having a poster. It could be a serigraph or a screenprint, limited edition type thing, but I don't think a picture of a famous painting would do it.
a_belletrist:
I saw graphite sketch of a lake or cove on one of the San Juan Islands, that has faint color tints washed over focal points. It was rendered by a friend of his who Dag helped out one time. Dag took it as trade.
So mostly black and white, with occasional bits of subtle color.
wayzgoose:
I like this. Especially that Dag took it as trade or that it came as a gift. The description of the local scene is also good. It may need to have more vivid color. Dag is colorblind, but at a significant moment near the end of the story he is overwhelmed by seeing the colors in the painting.
cloister27:
Two thoughts. One--and this is a personal issue of mine--I can't stand Starry Night, and I can't see it working for Dag. Partly it's because that painting has become so cliched that I can't really imagine Dag taking any solace from it.
Two, it's probably better if the painting is NOT something famous or by a famous artist. I mean, you can't really drop names like Degas and Gaugin without, well, sounding like a name-dropper. And whatever famous piece you pick, some readers will like it, some will hate it, and some will think you're just trying to make Dag sound more urbane. I'm in agreement, in a sort of tangential way, with A Belletrist. It should be a picture with some kind of sentimental connection to Dag's past. Maybe his ex-wife painted it, and even though it isn't very good, it's nice enough to look at and reminds him of happier days. Or maybe his college sweetheart painted it and gave it to him as a present because at the time they were both too broke to buy real presents. And while he lost touch with her after she went to New York to study art, Dag never could bear to part with it.
Anyway. Being an imaginary piece by an imaginary artist also means that you get to _describe_ the piece, rather than just _name_ the piece, which has to make for better writing. That whole "show, don't tell" thing again. Tell us about the painting, and let us fill in the details. I guarantee, letting the reader imagine the art from a description will produce something in the reader's mind that is in accord with the reader's own artistic tastes.
wayzgoose:
Yes. My question of who is the artist and what is the painting of are more searching for the story of the painting rather than looking for an actual piece of art. I should have been clearer on that, but perhaps I wasn't clear in my head yet when I posted. I like the girlfriend idea. It fits with some of the "teen years" reminiscence. I see several places where it fits with the story. I just need to describe the scene, style, colors, etc.
cloister27:
The girlfriend idea also ties in nicely with Dag sorting out his feelings for Reily, who is presumably of an age similar to the artist woman in his memory...
28 September 2006
This is driving me slowly crazy. I though I had it all figured out, but the reasoning all seems so flimsy.
Riley is in danger and Dag rescues her, killing Bradley in the process, then having a heart attack while running away from Smiesen.
It all sounds so simple. But what danger is Riley in (linked to the whole embezzlement and death of Simon and what's on his computer) that would move a man awaiting a heart transplant to risk himself, that he could do without dying on the way, and that is sufficiently motivated to be believable in the story? I thought Bradley was holding Riley hostage until Dag gave him the computer, but I figure there are easier ways to get that. I thought she was being held in a sixth story apartment that Dag could see from his Pier 61 office. I thought that Dag would scale a fire-escape up to said sixth floor window, listen with a high-tech device, and crash through the window, knocking Bradley over (who shoots himself accidentally), then racing out of the building with Riley and up Union where he has a heart attack on the Harbor Steps. Only problem is that given this scenario, Dag would die at about the third floor on the fire escape and Riley would be lost.
I need better motivation and a plausible rescue scenario that doesn't leave Dag dead before he has a chance to rescue Riley.
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crasi:
What's wrong with the apartment's elevators? Dag could recieve a call from an upset Reily, and had to quickly go over to apartment to prevent her from doing something stupid, like harming herself or confronting/contacting Bradley. He arrives in time to save Reily and escape using the elevator.
Or you could just move the apartment down to a lower level, or even have the exchange occur in a more public place.
cloister27:
Not all heart attacks are super-deadly. Having never head a heart attack, I can only go by what I've read and such, but I gather they're tremendously painful, even a minor one. So rather than a full-on killer M.I., Dag could just have a little heart attack that hurts like hell, makes it really hard for him to breathe, and makes their getaway more dramatic. Basically, have Dag, who probably believes this is the end for him, fighting to stay conscious long enough to be sure Reily is safely away. Once they're in the clear, he says something appropriately maudlin/sappy/sentimental, believing them to be his last words, and then of course wakes up later in the hospital.
With Dag's weakened heart, I can totally understand your worry that just about ANY daring-do would do him in, but consider also that when ER doctors are trying to get people's heart's going, they often use adrenaline to do it. Surely Dag's adrenal glands would be working overtime in that situation, which could keep his ticker going long enough to get the job done, but leave him on the door of collapse by the time they get out of there.
wayzgoose:
It's a really fine line. Dag has more than two heart episodes in the story, and I'm not keen on overdoing it, but want it clear that it's killing him. It's the connundrum we talked about early in the design of this story. How many times is the guy almost killed without being finished off? I'm having to look carefully at where and when the episodes occur in the story and make sure that they are enhancing the storyline and not dragging on to the point of being ridiculous.
Riley is in danger and Dag rescues her, killing Bradley in the process, then having a heart attack while running away from Smiesen.
It all sounds so simple. But what danger is Riley in (linked to the whole embezzlement and death of Simon and what's on his computer) that would move a man awaiting a heart transplant to risk himself, that he could do without dying on the way, and that is sufficiently motivated to be believable in the story? I thought Bradley was holding Riley hostage until Dag gave him the computer, but I figure there are easier ways to get that. I thought she was being held in a sixth story apartment that Dag could see from his Pier 61 office. I thought that Dag would scale a fire-escape up to said sixth floor window, listen with a high-tech device, and crash through the window, knocking Bradley over (who shoots himself accidentally), then racing out of the building with Riley and up Union where he has a heart attack on the Harbor Steps. Only problem is that given this scenario, Dag would die at about the third floor on the fire escape and Riley would be lost.
I need better motivation and a plausible rescue scenario that doesn't leave Dag dead before he has a chance to rescue Riley.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
crasi:
What's wrong with the apartment's elevators? Dag could recieve a call from an upset Reily, and had to quickly go over to apartment to prevent her from doing something stupid, like harming herself or confronting/contacting Bradley. He arrives in time to save Reily and escape using the elevator.
Or you could just move the apartment down to a lower level, or even have the exchange occur in a more public place.
cloister27:
Not all heart attacks are super-deadly. Having never head a heart attack, I can only go by what I've read and such, but I gather they're tremendously painful, even a minor one. So rather than a full-on killer M.I., Dag could just have a little heart attack that hurts like hell, makes it really hard for him to breathe, and makes their getaway more dramatic. Basically, have Dag, who probably believes this is the end for him, fighting to stay conscious long enough to be sure Reily is safely away. Once they're in the clear, he says something appropriately maudlin/sappy/sentimental, believing them to be his last words, and then of course wakes up later in the hospital.
With Dag's weakened heart, I can totally understand your worry that just about ANY daring-do would do him in, but consider also that when ER doctors are trying to get people's heart's going, they often use adrenaline to do it. Surely Dag's adrenal glands would be working overtime in that situation, which could keep his ticker going long enough to get the job done, but leave him on the door of collapse by the time they get out of there.
wayzgoose:
It's a really fine line. Dag has more than two heart episodes in the story, and I'm not keen on overdoing it, but want it clear that it's killing him. It's the connundrum we talked about early in the design of this story. How many times is the guy almost killed without being finished off? I'm having to look carefully at where and when the episodes occur in the story and make sure that they are enhancing the storyline and not dragging on to the point of being ridiculous.
22 September 2006
Where to begin... I just got back from a presentation by John Wood titled after his book, "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World." A few years ago, John left Microsoft to establish Room To Read, a not-for-profit organization that builds schools, libraries, and provides scholarships in developing countries. Not surprisingly, an organization that encourages people to write also encourages them to give with a portion of the proceeds going to endow libraries in those countries through Room to Read. Here is a great statistic to chew on. Room to Read has built 3,000 libraries so far. For reference, Carnegie totaled 2,900 in his great library building phase in this country. Add to that the fact that all Carnegie's libraries were empty. Room to Read's libraries are fully stocked with bi-lingual books!
...and we helped.
After NaNoWriMo.org (now a not-for-profit called the Office of Letters and Light) meets its expenses through the generous donations of those who donate to the organization, half of the remaining funds are put aside to fund the costs of the next event, and half is donated to Room to Read to build libraries. Yay! for all of you who donate to Office of Letters and Light!
Three of us at Microsoft completed NaNoWriMo in 2005 and decided to try to do something good with our efforts. We've published them together as After Hours, an anthology of NaNoWriMo winners. Through our own checkbooks and a generous donation from our group VP, we have purchased 100 copies of the anthology. During the annual Giving Campaign that starts October 1, we will send a copy of the book to any Microsoft employee (up to 100) who donates at least $25 toward the library fund at Nano. The donations will be matched by Microsoft now that Office of Letters and Light is officially a 503c corporation. If we get enough donations to give away the whole run of 100 books, it will mean that we can donate a total of $5,000 to the Nano campaign. That's endowment for two libraries in Viet Nam.
The book is also for sale at www.lulu.com and we have committed to donating al the proceeds that we receive to the fund. Our cut on individual orders is about $9.40, so if you buy a copy of After Hours at Lulu, you can know that is how much will be added to our campaign and matched when we give it through Microsoft.
We are excited and psyched. And the stories aren't half bad! Chris Baty is coming to Microsoft on October 17 to talk about Nano and autograph copies of No Plot No Problem, and help us promote the anthology to our colleagues. Keep your fingers crossed that we'll be able to get the 100 $25 donations that will enable us to endow two libraries!
After Hours is also available at After Hours on Lulu.
...and we helped.
After NaNoWriMo.org (now a not-for-profit called the Office of Letters and Light) meets its expenses through the generous donations of those who donate to the organization, half of the remaining funds are put aside to fund the costs of the next event, and half is donated to Room to Read to build libraries. Yay! for all of you who donate to Office of Letters and Light!
Three of us at Microsoft completed NaNoWriMo in 2005 and decided to try to do something good with our efforts. We've published them together as After Hours, an anthology of NaNoWriMo winners. Through our own checkbooks and a generous donation from our group VP, we have purchased 100 copies of the anthology. During the annual Giving Campaign that starts October 1, we will send a copy of the book to any Microsoft employee (up to 100) who donates at least $25 toward the library fund at Nano. The donations will be matched by Microsoft now that Office of Letters and Light is officially a 503c corporation. If we get enough donations to give away the whole run of 100 books, it will mean that we can donate a total of $5,000 to the Nano campaign. That's endowment for two libraries in Viet Nam.
The book is also for sale at www.lulu.com and we have committed to donating al the proceeds that we receive to the fund. Our cut on individual orders is about $9.40, so if you buy a copy of After Hours at Lulu, you can know that is how much will be added to our campaign and matched when we give it through Microsoft.
We are excited and psyched. And the stories aren't half bad! Chris Baty is coming to Microsoft on October 17 to talk about Nano and autograph copies of No Plot No Problem, and help us promote the anthology to our colleagues. Keep your fingers crossed that we'll be able to get the 100 $25 donations that will enable us to endow two libraries!
After Hours is also available at After Hours on Lulu.
19 September 2006
...because I'm not really that snappy. I'm looking for the ten top comebacks that a crusty detective would snarl at a person who asked if he was who he was. Here's the setting. Woman walks into Dag's office and says "Are you Dag Hamar?"
And he responds....
What else? Come on guys. You are all clever. What could he respond?
apocalypsegrrl:
"Unless you owe me money- no."
"No, I'm just sitting in his office every day until he comes back."
"No, I'm the Pope. Just left the hat at the Vatican today."
cscottd:
"Sure, if the price is right.
"That depends. Were you in Vegas back in '92?" (replace with city and year of your choice)
"That's what it says on my licence."
"If I'm not, my mother's got some explaining to do."
"Not if he owes you money."
"For you? I'll be anybody you'd like me to be."
"No, I just like hanging out in his office."
"Well, these are his clothes..."
khesretitui:
"Nope; I'm Mann K. Wrench. Hamar is across the way."
"Last time I checked, yeah."
metafrantic:
"Let me check my underwear. No, apparently I'm Calvin Klein."
tapestry01:
"That's my name, don't wear it out."
kirylin:
"That's what it says on my door."
"And what if I am? What's it to you?"
"..."
hetzakoatl:
"Arrr, no miss, I be the dread pirate Roberts. I be standin' in for Dag "the Cap'n" Hamar, 'tis his turn t'cap'n the Queen Anne's Revenge."
virusq:
"That depends, are you free for dinner?"
"That's what my mother used to curse."
"No, I'm Dag. What brings your beauty to this neighborhood?"
"No, I'm here to rescue you."
"No, I just work here. Alone."
"...are you the one with the missing cat?"
bototo:
"Are you DAFT?"
hellixe:
"No, I'm the janitor. Just felt like rifling through the paperwork."
harpoholic:
"No, I'm his evil twin."
"No, I'm his imaginary friend."
"Philosophically speaking?"
"Do Vampire Squids eject clouds of bioluminescent mucus when threatened?" (Or any other random fact whose truth the woman would have no way of knowing)
Alternatively:
Woman: "Are you Dag Hamar?"
Dag: "Are there purple birds flying in circles around my head?"
Woman: "So you're not Dag Hamar."
Dag: "Oh, I am. I just wanted to check."
And of course, there's always: "Nope."
dr_pretentious:
The birds are really promising.
cloister27:
"Only if you're Ed McMahon"
"How should I know. Does anyone really know who they are?"
"So you're telling me the $95 I spent for the sign on the door was a waste, then?"
"No. Didn't you hear? They passed a law so now we all just go by our social security numbers."
"Yeah. I tried getting a replacement, but nobody else wanted the job."
"Not for long" <- extra bleakness points for that one. ->
"No, I'm Guy Noir, and you're on the third floor of the Acme building. Got one of life's persistent little questions for me?"
clairebunny87:
"Only between the hours of 6 and 10."
"No, I'm his mild-mannered alter-ego."
airycat:
"Let me check." Pick up a mirror and looks at himself. "Yep. And you are...?"
bookbatkat:
"Usually not until I've finished my drink."
sacredbean:
"No, I'm Santa."
"No, I'm your mother."
"I don't know, wait a second while I check."
"Nah, my names Eumorahn, I'm just wearing this nametag for fun."
"O RLY?"
"Are you alive?"
"No, the plaque on the door got there by mistake."
quitereasonable:
So mine is more nerdy and snarly than the rest, but...
"Are you Dag Hamar?"
"51% of me wants to tell you no and to go away. Another 33% wants to say something slighty sarcastic, like."
"And the other 16%?"
"And the rest?"
"The other 16% wants to point to the name on the door and the nameplate on the desk next to the picture of me and my niece and ask you who you think would be sitting so comfortably at Dag Hamar's desk?"
sforzie:
"No, I'm just his hot secretary. Would you like to leave a message?"
When I'm at work and someone askes me if I'm me (er, my name), I usually look down at my nametag and say "Well, I'm wearing her nametag today."
london_setterby:
"That depends. Are you from the IRS?"
"Only on certain days of the week."
"No, I'm Hamar Dag. Dag Hamar is on the other side of the hall."
"No, I'm his doppleganger."
"Only if you're hiding a bottle of scotch under that coat."
And he responds....
"Who's asking?"
"Is this Wednesday? I guess so."
"Do you have a subpoena?"
What else? Come on guys. You are all clever. What could he respond?
apocalypsegrrl:
"Unless you owe me money- no."
"No, I'm just sitting in his office every day until he comes back."
"No, I'm the Pope. Just left the hat at the Vatican today."
cscottd:
"Sure, if the price is right.
"That depends. Were you in Vegas back in '92?" (replace with city and year of your choice)
"That's what it says on my licence."
"If I'm not, my mother's got some explaining to do."
"Not if he owes you money."
"For you? I'll be anybody you'd like me to be."
"No, I just like hanging out in his office."
"Well, these are his clothes..."
khesretitui:
"Nope; I'm Mann K. Wrench. Hamar is across the way."
"Last time I checked, yeah."
metafrantic:
"Let me check my underwear. No, apparently I'm Calvin Klein."
tapestry01:
"That's my name, don't wear it out."
kirylin:
"That's what it says on my door."
"And what if I am? What's it to you?"
"..."
hetzakoatl:
"Arrr, no miss, I be the dread pirate Roberts. I be standin' in for Dag "the Cap'n" Hamar, 'tis his turn t'cap'n the Queen Anne's Revenge."
virusq:
"That depends, are you free for dinner?"
"That's what my mother used to curse."
"No, I'm Dag. What brings your beauty to this neighborhood?"
"No, I'm here to rescue you."
"No, I just work here. Alone."
"...are you the one with the missing cat?"
bototo:
"Are you DAFT?"
hellixe:
"No, I'm the janitor. Just felt like rifling through the paperwork."
harpoholic:
"No, I'm his evil twin."
"No, I'm his imaginary friend."
"Philosophically speaking?"
"Do Vampire Squids eject clouds of bioluminescent mucus when threatened?" (Or any other random fact whose truth the woman would have no way of knowing)
Alternatively:
Woman: "Are you Dag Hamar?"
Dag: "Are there purple birds flying in circles around my head?"
Woman: "So you're not Dag Hamar."
Dag: "Oh, I am. I just wanted to check."
And of course, there's always: "Nope."
dr_pretentious:
The birds are really promising.
cloister27:
"Only if you're Ed McMahon"
"How should I know. Does anyone really know who they are?"
"So you're telling me the $95 I spent for the sign on the door was a waste, then?"
"No. Didn't you hear? They passed a law so now we all just go by our social security numbers."
"Yeah. I tried getting a replacement, but nobody else wanted the job."
"Not for long" <- extra bleakness points for that one. ->
"No, I'm Guy Noir, and you're on the third floor of the Acme building. Got one of life's persistent little questions for me?"
clairebunny87:
"Only between the hours of 6 and 10."
"No, I'm his mild-mannered alter-ego."
airycat:
"Let me check." Pick up a mirror and looks at himself. "Yep. And you are...?"
bookbatkat:
"Usually not until I've finished my drink."
sacredbean:
"No, I'm Santa."
"No, I'm your mother."
"I don't know, wait a second while I check."
"Nah, my names Eumorahn, I'm just wearing this nametag for fun."
"O RLY?"
"Are you alive?"
"No, the plaque on the door got there by mistake."
quitereasonable:
So mine is more nerdy and snarly than the rest, but...
"Are you Dag Hamar?"
"51% of me wants to tell you no and to go away. Another 33% wants to say something slighty sarcastic, like
"And the other 16%?"
"And the rest?"
"The other 16% wants to point to the name on the door and the nameplate on the desk next to the picture of me and my niece
sforzie:
"No, I'm just his hot secretary. Would you like to leave a message?"
When I'm at work and someone askes me if I'm me (er, my name), I usually look down at my nametag and say "Well, I'm wearing her nametag today."
london_setterby:
"That depends. Are you from the IRS?"
"Only on certain days of the week."
"No, I'm Hamar Dag. Dag Hamar is on the other side of the hall."
"No, I'm his doppleganger."
"Only if you're hiding a bottle of scotch under that coat."
15 September 2006
I've been talking in various forums about the new technique that I've started using to prepare for writing Security & Exchange for NaNoWriMo this year, so I thought I'd give a little sample of what the mapping on this calendar looks like. First, let me tell a little about S&E for those who haven't heard what I'm doing this year.
Security & Exchange is a first person narrative Detective mystery set in Seattle and other locations during the month of November 2006. I will be blogging the entire novel at Security & Exchange during November, and each day's entry will be the detective's narrative that is associated with that day, what has happened on his case, what he's experiencing, etc. This creates several challenges. First, detective stories often (dare I say usually) take place in a very short period of time. This is so you can keep the action consolidated (an old Greek theater term called Unity of Time, Place, and Action). So one of my challenges is to keep the action moving and interesting over a full month without such great conventions as "a week later I found out..."
In order to facilitate this, I have to consider what else is going on in my detective's life. As he progresses forward through the month and his investigation, he also progresses through the final phases of heart disease that is killing him. Periodically through the month he jumps backward through the decades of his life, reviewing scenes that become strangely relevant to the investigation and the culmination of his life.
In order to cope with the unique challenges of this novel, I need to keep track of a lot of surrounding data that is not necessarily in the direct storyline. In order to do that, I've created an Excel spreadsheet that charts the days of the month across the columns, and all the characters who appear in my story in the rows. For every day, there is some entry that tells what is happening to that character on that day. Here is a two-day cut from my spreadsheet.
Feel free to comment on this and to use the concept if you think it will help in planning your story. What I divide up in days you could map to hours if your novel takes place in a shorter period, or months if it takes place over a longer period. It is especially useful if you are trying to make sure that two characters can get to the same place at the same time for an interaction. It also helps me to highlight visually in the spreadsheet what parts of this action are being exposed to the reader in the narrative, what parts are being exposed to the narrator that he's not passing on to the reader yet, and what parts of the action the narrator hasn't discovered yet. It is possible that I will be able to impart clues to the reader, as well, that have not surfaced in the MCs mind, but that can be deduced by the clever reader. We'll all know how well this works when November 30 rolls around.
Security & Exchange is a first person narrative Detective mystery set in Seattle and other locations during the month of November 2006. I will be blogging the entire novel at Security & Exchange during November, and each day's entry will be the detective's narrative that is associated with that day, what has happened on his case, what he's experiencing, etc. This creates several challenges. First, detective stories often (dare I say usually) take place in a very short period of time. This is so you can keep the action consolidated (an old Greek theater term called Unity of Time, Place, and Action). So one of my challenges is to keep the action moving and interesting over a full month without such great conventions as "a week later I found out..."
In order to facilitate this, I have to consider what else is going on in my detective's life. As he progresses forward through the month and his investigation, he also progresses through the final phases of heart disease that is killing him. Periodically through the month he jumps backward through the decades of his life, reviewing scenes that become strangely relevant to the investigation and the culmination of his life.
In order to cope with the unique challenges of this novel, I need to keep track of a lot of surrounding data that is not necessarily in the direct storyline. In order to do that, I've created an Excel spreadsheet that charts the days of the month across the columns, and all the characters who appear in my story in the rows. For every day, there is some entry that tells what is happening to that character on that day. Here is a two-day cut from my spreadsheet.
Feel free to comment on this and to use the concept if you think it will help in planning your story. What I divide up in days you could map to hours if your novel takes place in a shorter period, or months if it takes place over a longer period. It is especially useful if you are trying to make sure that two characters can get to the same place at the same time for an interaction. It also helps me to highlight visually in the spreadsheet what parts of this action are being exposed to the reader in the narrative, what parts are being exposed to the narrator that he's not passing on to the reader yet, and what parts of the action the narrator hasn't discovered yet. It is possible that I will be able to impart clues to the reader, as well, that have not surfaced in the MCs mind, but that can be deduced by the clever reader. We'll all know how well this works when November 30 rolls around.
01 September 2006
I just figured out who killed Simon and how. Now I know something that Dag doesn't know. No, this is something I'm not telling you either. Read the book!
I've also figured out the secret to the tattooed code on Simon, Bradley, and Angel, and a secret that Dag is going to die not knowing. (Leave something for Riley to uncover in the next book.) It is actually a 512 bit encryption key (very secure). The thing is that each person knows part of the key, but no one knows the whole thing. And even when you have all the pieces, you still have to figure out how they go together. It is possible that Simon knew the whole code. It could be that it is something Dag designed in his youth when he knew Simon and Brenda. You'll just have to read the sequel to find out!
Finally, once you know the code, you don't know the code. Each piece is a 128-bit key to something completely different. No wonder it has taken Dag a month to break this thing. If he had a Cray super-computer, he might be able to do it a bit faster, but you wouldn't trust that kind of thing in the hands of the guys who run Cray supers!
I've also just about nailed down where the money is coming from that Simon is laundering, and how he gets it. But I've also figured out how Bradley is making money without Simon knowing it and is laundering it through Simon's transactions. It is when Simon finds out where Bradley's money is coming from that he suddenly gets religion, so to speak, and starts giving it all away.
Now, if I can just figure out what happens on day 11, I'll be a lot happier than I am at the moment.
x-posted to and .
I've also figured out the secret to the tattooed code on Simon, Bradley, and Angel, and a secret that Dag is going to die not knowing. (Leave something for Riley to uncover in the next book.) It is actually a 512 bit encryption key (very secure). The thing is that each person knows part of the key, but no one knows the whole thing. And even when you have all the pieces, you still have to figure out how they go together. It is possible that Simon knew the whole code. It could be that it is something Dag designed in his youth when he knew Simon and Brenda. You'll just have to read the sequel to find out!
Finally, once you know the code, you don't know the code. Each piece is a 128-bit key to something completely different. No wonder it has taken Dag a month to break this thing. If he had a Cray super-computer, he might be able to do it a bit faster, but you wouldn't trust that kind of thing in the hands of the guys who run Cray supers!
I've also just about nailed down where the money is coming from that Simon is laundering, and how he gets it. But I've also figured out how Bradley is making money without Simon knowing it and is laundering it through Simon's transactions. It is when Simon finds out where Bradley's money is coming from that he suddenly gets religion, so to speak, and starts giving it all away.
Now, if I can just figure out what happens on day 11, I'll be a lot happier than I am at the moment.
x-posted to
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