Don’t count the ones where you’ve misplaced something and can’t find it, or something you can’t remember. I want to hear about any kind of mystery you’ve encountered–the kind that could end up in a mystery story.

Years ago, and I mean lots of years because I think I was 9 or 10 at the time, a young man a block away committed suicide by hanging himself in his garage. At the time, the mystery to me was why he’d done it. I really knew nothing about him, although when I heard adults talking about him, no one else seemed to know the reason either. I remember standing in front of the garage and wondering what caused him to do it.

When I was even younger, one of the church ladies and a friend of my mom, killed her husband with an ax by chopping his head open. No one knew exactly whey, though I overheard one of the other ladies say, “He was so boring, if I’d been married to him, I’d have done the same.” That’s really all I know, except for the fact the murderous wife was put into a mental hospital.

Also when I was in grammar school (6th grade),  a new family moved in with three girls, one was my age and she had an older sister and a younger one. Now, looking back, I know they were poor as can be. The house they lived in was tiny, the girls slept in a screened-in porch, and the one who was my age wore dresses that were far too short for her. I romanticized this family. I thought the girls were beautiful, they had wispy blonde hair. I loved going to their house and wondered what it might be like to sleep on that porch. I was never invited, and they didn’t stay in the neighborhood long. I’m sure there is a mystery attached to what little I recall.

Fast forwarding, there have been two murders where I live now. The first was motivated by greed–the murderer dumb as could be. He killed his landlord and stole all the rent money from him he’d collected and left the dead man in his truck on the side of the road. The murderer might have been smart enough to not leave fingerprints, but when he started buying expensive fancy belt buckles and boots in town, it wasn’t long before he was caught.

Second murder was motivated by passion and greed. A woman who owned a mountain lodge was murdered, and her lover shot in the head while they slept. There were no witnesses or clues. A few months later, it all came out when the paid-for-hire murderer tried to get more money for the one who hired him–the woman’s estranged husband. He shot the murderer. Yes, the husband was arrested and is now serving time.

What about you? What real mysteries have you experienced or happened near you?

Marilyn

I’ve read several pieces lately–parts of ‘how-to” books and blogs–that talk about how many words the writers produce every day. These vary from a total of 500 to 1,500 or more words a day. I read these stats in awe. I guess I’m not a writer after all. I can’t begin to match those word counts.

Sometime in early December, I got stuck on my fourth novel, the third in the Burgess Beach mystery series featuring Andi Battaglia and Greg Lamont. I didn’t like what I had written, which wrapped up the story far too soon, contained no surprises, and was a disappointment to me and to whatever readers I would have. I thought about it and even considered scrapping the whole novel and starting fresh with a new idea and a new plot. The problem with that was that I’d already committed nearly a year and some 60,000 words to the plot I had.

My problem is, of course, that I don’t plot in advance but allow the story and the characters to take over and do what they want. And this time, what they wanted to do wasn’t good. It disappointed me, and it would certainly disappoint my readers. What were those characters thinking?

So did I write my 500 or 1,500 words every day in December? What do you think?   I woke up every morning and thought about what I’d written so far. I thought about what it was possible to do next, given how much I disliked what I’d already done. I knew I probably needed a new villain or at least a diversion from where the story had been going.

But did I feel guilty about not writing? No, I didn’t. I felt I was putting in profitable time thinking, planning, considering. I suppose if I had to make a living from my writing, I would feel guilty and worried. No writing, no money. I think about Dashiell Hammett and F. Scott Fitzgerald, both of whom suffered terribly from writer’s block and couldn’t write at all. Part of the writer’s block may have been due to alcoholism, but alcoholism may have been a result, not the cause.

It was fortunate that my writer’s block came during the holidays. Too much to do, too many people to see, gifts to buy, tree to decorate, gifts to wrap. Everybody was busy, including my writing group, so no one pushed me to write. That’s the pleasure of being a writer without deadlines.

What would I have done if I’d had a deadline? I’d certainly have needed to be a better plotter and a more organized writer. Eventually, early in January, I realized where I needed to go with the story: go back about 500 words, take a new tack and get going. I worked like a charm.

What do you do when you get stuck?

I’ve always been jealous of writers who could think about a story then sit down and write it. You know, no plotting out red herrings and unrelated secrets, no writing up long and complicated character statements, just thinking about a story then sitting down and writing it.

Some time last year I read a fabulous profile of Lee Child. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend it. You can access it here. Child is very much a “pantser” — he doesn’t plot out his books in advance. He says in the article that when he ends one chapter, he doesn’t know what’s going to happen next.

Our very own Janis Patterson, fellow Lady of Mystery, wrote something similar on her blog last week. How exciting! To play out a story in your head as you write it. I can see why these writers’ books are exciting, thrilling, fun to read.

Me? I’ve got note cards, Word docs, downloaded files. I use Scrivener and all the complex tools it offers to organize and reorganize your plot. (As an aside, I recommend Scrivener for all writers who, like me, benefit from the help of plotting tools).

As many of you know, I’m working on book 5 in the Adam Kaminski mystery series. This time, after doing some preliminary plotting, I thought, why not? Let’s give it a try. What’s the worst that could happen?

Yeah. That.

Needless to say, I had to go back. Re-plot. Re-organize. Redevelop and rename characters.

The sitting down and writing experience, as glorious as it sounds, is just not for me. At least now I know. When you’re a plotter, embrace it!

Jane Gorman’s books are available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other retailers.

Learn more at her website, JaneGorman.com.