crime writing

Top Five for Crime

~ meg

The lovely Liss at Northern Rivers Writers Centre did a quick interview with me for the August edition of their Northerly Magazine. Here’s a snippet, and I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on adding to the list.

Oh, but first, a little taste of paradise…

picture of Byron Bay Writers Festival 2012
Byron Bay Writers Festival 2012

What are your top 5 tips for Crime writers?

1. Read widely and think deeply to understand the different sub-genres within crime and thriller literature.

2. Know where your story meets or subverts reader expectations.

3. Practice writing in short, medium, and long form.

4. Connect with crime and thriller communities, like Sisters in Crime, and with writing centres like NRWC.

5. Put your work out to carefully selected critiquing buddies and beta readers to develop confidence and strengthen your writing.

Research for Crime Fiction

~ meg ~ 5 Comments

You know when you have a little idea sitting in the back of your brain that just won’t go away? And it builds up so much detail and energy that it demands to be shared? And then, when you finally say it out loud (or by email), suddenly there’s this rapid dominoes effect and the idea is actually happening, a real thing, out in the world?!

I had one of those last year. I dreamed up a workshop for writers to explore ideas and information to create cracking crime stories. To my surprise and utter delight, the workshop was a hit.

This year, I had another idea to take the workshop in a new direction. I approached the Queensland Police Museum to see if they would host it. After all, what better place to learn about juicy resources for crime writers!

picture of a display from Queensland Police Museum
QPM: crime story ideas

I have just spoken to the curator of the Queensland Police Museum, the awesome Lisa Jones, to organise final details for next Saturday. Lisa has confirmed that for the ‘hands on’ part of my workshop, in addition to our tour of the museum, we will also have a BACKSTAGE PASS to all the good stuff behind the scenes at QPM.

From an overview of crime fiction subgenres and how they set your research agenda, through finding useful resources, to letting your muse loose in a room full of artefacts – there’s nothing like devoting a whole day to thinking, writing, touching, breathing ideas for your stories.

If you’d like to come along and join the fun, you can book online here, or call Queensland Writers Centre on 07 3842 9922.

  • Research for Crime Fiction workshop
  • Saturday 16 June 2012, 10:30am to 4:30pm
  • Info: Any crime fiction author will tell you the secret to compelling crime is in the details. Learn how to access primary and secondary research resources to find great ideas for your crime writing, and to flesh them into gripping stories. Meg Vann will show you how to best locate and engage crime experts for advice, and at what point in your project to consult them. You will explore creative writing techniques and structures to prompts and strengthen your use of research, and develop a research action plan for your own crime story premise.

Deadly Sex

~ meg ~ 2 Comments

Yesterday, Sisters in Crime (Brisbane Chapter) met to discuss a topic dear to our hearts and loins: sex in crime fiction.

I’m sure State Library patrons were wondering what the hell was going on behind the QWC acoustic curtain! As the Sisters shared sexcerpts from our works-in-progress, there were moments of graphic or inventive terminology (acroposthion, anyone?), as well as plenty of laughter, from shy giggles to howls of hilarity.

Some SinC writers prefer their fictional sex explicit, while others enjoy the tension more than the consummation. Some like it romantic, others deviant, or both! Most like it female-driven. We all agreed it was important that sex scenes worked as hard as any other scene to develop conflict (i.e. plot) and character – in most crime fiction,  a sex scene that existed purely to titillate would fall flat (apart from in some crime/erotica*).

We discussed the challenges in writing about sex:

  • finding fresh and non-objectifying ways to evoke sex scenes,
  • meeting readers’ generic expectations about the level of detail,
  • knowing when to resolve/consummate the build-up of URST** (especially tricky for writers of series titles – who else lost interest when Stephanie Plum finally got it on with Ranger?).

Of course, the Bad Sex in Fiction Awards got a mention: everyone agreed the 2010 winner was well-chosen for this line: ‘Like a lepidopterist mounting a tough-skinned insect with a too blunt pin he screwed himself into her.’

Ew.

We also reflected on how difficult it was for us to share our sexcerpts. The women around the table were all mature, confident and experienced. And SinC is a supportive environment of skilled and encouraging critique buddies. Yet most of us felt a level of embarrassment when reading our sex scenes.

The meeting was a wonderful and empowering forum for better Deadly Sex.  I’d be really interested to know what crime writers you think write sex scenes well – please let me know in a comment, so I can check them out!

~

* which I hereby dub “Crimrot”. Not because it’s rotten – I’m all for it! But people who know me know I just have a thing for inventing portmanteau words.

**Unresolved Sexual Tension

Brisbane Sisters in Crime

~ meg ~ 8 Comments

Great news! The Brisbane chapter of Sisters in Crime is re-forming.

Women who love crime writing and live within cooee of Brisbane are welcome to come along to our first meeting.

Sisters in Crime Australia logo

NEW BRISBANE SISTERS-IN-CRIME MEETING
Where: Avid Reader bookstore, 193 Boundary St, West End
Date: Saturday 7 May 2011
Time: 12.30pm
Cost: FREE! (Lunch available for purchase from Avid Reader café)

Come along to chat about what you are reading, what you are writing,
and what you would like from your local chapter of Sisters in Crime Australia.

Sisters in Crime Australia (SinCOz) was inspired by the American organisation of the same name, founded in 1986 by Sara Paretsky (creator of Chicago PI VI Warshawski). It exists to celebrate and promote women’s crime writing.

SinCOz has been running since 1991. It produces fantastic events and opportunities for crime writers, such as the Davitt Awards, the Scarlet Stiletto Awards, and the SheKilda Conventions. The Sisters in Crime Australia website explains what SinCOz is all about:

  • To bring together women crime writers, screen-writers, producers, booksellers, publishers, lawyers, judges, police, forensic specialists, librarians, academics, and critics but in the main, readers and viewers.
  • To discuss and analyse books, film and television shows, law and justice issues, new trends and critical issues of the crime genre.
  • To explore the contemporary issues at the heart of much crime fiction as well as dissecting its rich history.
  • To promote the professional development of women crime writers, especially emerging writers.
  • To provide opportunities for networking between writers, publishers and producers and between writers and their readers and viewers.
  • To have fun – and lots of it.

For more info, leave a question in the comments here, or like our page on Facebook.