Heimlich VonVictor
Vigilante
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Aug-27-2009 20:07
A few people have PMed me asking me for advice on scripted mystery writing. My biggest piece of advice is this: Put emotion into your writing. If you can feel for you characters then you can make the reader feel for them. My goal when I write is to get a reader emotionally invested in the story. This not only ensures that the reader is likely to read something else that I've written, but also increases the chances that your reader will remember you story.
How do I put emotion into writing? As strange as it sounds, I use music. If I need to write a sad scene, I have a playlist of sad music that I'll put on. Same for action, upbeat, danger, and suspect capture. The mindset that you are in while writing will come through to your reader.
Since I know many of you probably don't believe me right now, I'm going to give you two examples from the ending of The Executor's End.
For the first part of the ending I used a song called "Letter to Dana" by Sonata Arctica. It's a sad song, but brings across the overall tone of the scene very well because it starts off quiet and calm, but escalates to loud and angry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkR9ELR6cpM
For the second part of the ending (I won't say when that starts due to spoilers) I used "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon. The song exemplifies exactly what I want the reader to feel during that scene. For those of you with the cases to spare, replay the mystery and I guarantee you'll notice an immediate change in tone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B7bVD_DkM4
I also used this technique while writing in RP threads. In fact Eric Marvington's backstory from "Frame-up" was set to the tone of one song, although I won't mention which one ;)
Hope this helps some of the great writers on here who may have been struggling with this aspect. If you have any questions feel free to post.
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