Why Are Americans Obsessed with British Crime?

 

My husband and I spent last evening in the quaint seaside town of Aberystwyth, Wales (Population 18,093 in 2011, per Google). For such a small university town, it has a  lot of murders. We sat on the edge of our seats as a car was pulled out of a pond on a farm, revealing the body of a dead woman. For the next 90 minutes, in rain and sunshine, we took a scenic tour of the hills, dales, and coast of this beautiful area. Every episode of Hinterland on Netflix provides us with another reason to say, “We should go there some day!” However, I don’t think the creators meant to make this a travelogue—or did they?

British crime shows cast a spell and keep us there until we are released by the end credits. How do they do this? They use the power of story.

1. First and foremost, they start with interesting, complex, characters.
2. Back stories for these characters are introduced slowly over time.
3. The characters’ motivations, goals, and conflict are interwoven with the plot.
4. It is a “standard” police procedural, but the plot is anything but.
5. The villains are just as interesting as the heroes, with their own motivation, goals and conflicts.
6. The dialogue (while accented) is realistic. There are gaps, misunderstandings, and meaningful silences.
7. The actors’ performances are understated, nuanced, and rely on subtle changes in facial expressions to communicate emotions.
8. There is a satisfying solution to the crime puzzle at the end of the episode(s).
9. The clues are laid out for the viewers—but the writers still manage to surprise us.
10. It’s like traveling without the inconvenience or costs.

I’m thinking about biting the bullet and subscribing to Acorn, but before I do that, tell me your favorites so I can put them in my Watchlist!

Happy “travels”!

Sharon Buchbinder writes paranormal, romantic suspense stories that take place in Florida, Montana, and points in between. Her police procedural novel, Tears of the Wolf is a 2021 RONE Award Nominee and is available in Kindle, Paperback, and Audiobook.

Catherine E. McLean says, "BEWARE OF IT!"

"It" seems like such a tiny word but far too many writers gloss over this pronoun's affect on their storytelling. Fewer remember the proper English grammar rules for pronouns, let alone the definition of:  a pronoun is a class of words that function as substitutes for nouns or noun phrases and designate persons or things asked for, previously specified, or understood from the context.

Okay, so that definition sounds convoluted to anyone who isn't an English teacher. Because I'm for simplifying things, let me explain it in simpler, more useful terms— When writing fiction, a pronoun takes the place of the last noun, thing, or name used.
The most serious infraction when using "it" is, of course, a Pronoun Reference Error. Such mistakes cause various calamities, faux pas, awkwardness, hilarity, and downright confusion when a reader encounters such errors.

Why? Because CLARITY ensures the reader doesn't stop reading to puzzle out what the pronoun refers to. After all, nothing should ever stop a reader from enjoying what they are reading. Here is a correct example of pronoun use—

    "Marsha loved ice cream. It was her comfort food."  ("It" refers to the ice cream.)
Now for an example of what can go wrong—

    He dropped the thermometer, securing it to the side of the boat so it dangled in the water. The temperature held at forty-eight degrees. It was cold enough to make him shudder.

Now let's translate those "its" to show what they refer to—

    He dropped the thermometer, securing the thermometer to the side of the boat so the boat dangled in the water. The temperature held at forty-eight degrees. Degrees was cold enough to make him shudder.

The humorous image of the boat dangling is one a reader should not conjure in their mind. And the last sentence makes no sense because "Degrees" is the subject. This passage also has what's called a crop of "its."  Crops of are unnecessary repetitions and should be ruthlessly weeded out. So, let's look at this passage for what was actually meant—

    Using string he'd attached to the top of the thermometer, John lowered the digital device over the side of the dingy. When the thermometer was half submerged in the water, he secured the line to an oar mount. He leaned over, watching, waiting, noting the digits slowly winked down until they held at forty-eight.
        Forty-eight degrees. Would his wet suit keep him warm enough, long enough?

In your mind, you had no trouble with the correct example. You easily followed what happened as it happened. You didn't stop and go back to puzzle anything out. This re-edited passage shows (instead of tells).

Which brings me to—"it" often peppers a page because "it" is one of those "shorthand words" grabbed in the heat of drafting. Take a moment now to test your writing for the use of "it." You can use a sample of five or ten pages, or one of your short stories, or a chapter of your novel. Use your computer's search-find feature and type in it — however —  be sure to put a space before and after the word so the computer doesn't find words with "it" as part of the word.

Since your computer highlights the word "it," what do you see? Did you pepper a page?  Do you have "crops of?" You should also do a ratio (divide the total number found into the total number of words checked, which will net 1 "it" every ____ words). Nothing beats a visual to actually see what's what. And nothing beats doing a ratio to discover repetitions that are detrimental to the story or which showcase overuse of crutch words (words unknowingly relied on).

Oh, and do consider this—if you have a problem in those few pages you sampled, it's likely there are hundreds more in the rest of the manuscript to weed out.
  
For those who don't seem to have a problem with "it," take no chances. Add a "pronoun reference error check" on your Revision To Do List when you get to the polishing stage for your story. You do have a check list for your revision process, right? After all, you want the best possible manuscript to present, one that's free of repetitions without purpose.

By the way, "it" is number four on my free Writers Cheat Sheets list of 10 Red Flag Words.
  
And lastly, I collect ratio data on repetitions of Red Flag Words like "it." If you do an "it" check, please share your findings with a comment.

Catherine E. McLean website:  http://www.CatherineEmclean.com
Email: catherinemclean00@gmail.com
Writers Cheat Sheets website: http://www.WritersCheatSheets.com
Writers Cheat Sheet Blog:  http://jewelsofthesky.wordpress.com
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Valentine's Day Work in Progress Contest! Enter NOW!

 Three cash prizes:      

1st prize - $100.00

2nd prize - $50.00

3rd prize - $25.00

Our team of anonymous judges is comprised of PRG Reviewers and Beta readers.

We want each author’s work to shine on its own, so all entrants will be assigned a number. No author names will be known to the judges.

We will be accepting the first 50 entries that follow the rules to enter.

Winners to be announced on or about Valentine’s Day.

To Enter:

1. Send an email to prg.wipcontest@gmail.com

2. Subject: PRG Valentine’s WIP contest

3. Attach the first two (2) chapters of your WIP on a Word document. (One entry per person) The first line of the document should include the title, and if this is part of a series, the book number in the series. For check in purposes, your name should be at the top of the document as well. (The person checking your entry in will black out your name on the document and assign a number.)

4. You will receive an email stating we are in receipt of your entry and you will be given a link to the PayPal buttons. The fee for entry is $5.00 if you are a PRG paid author member in good standing or $10.00 for non-paid author members. You have 24 hours after receiving the confirmation email to pay your entry fee. Your entry will not be finalized until payment is received. If payment is not received within the specified time limit, your entry will be terminated.

Once the contest has ended and the winners announced, all entrants will receive the score cards for their WIP from the judges. The judges' names will not be released under any circumstance.

Good luck!

 

Never Grow Up and Other Contrarian Advice

As a relatively recent arrival to the realm of “Published Full Length Romance Author,” I am here to provide the contrarian’s guide to achieving this status. There truly is no one route to publication. You really don’t need an MFA. You don’t even have to have majored in English, although being able to use the language correctly is a plus. You don’t have to starve in an attic writing timeless prose or poetry. You don’t have to have lived in the belly of the underworld and struggled with alcoholism and addiction, although that has worked for others. You don’t even have to have designated office space. What do you need? Here are my top ten tips for becoming a published romance author.

1. Never grow up. Be curious about the world around you and wonder, “What if?” Grownups (i.e., anyone who is done growing) are boring. Childlike curiosity is not childish. It enables you to see the world with fresh eyes and to bring a new perspective to a story. Look at F. Paul Wilson’s The Keep. Paul is a physician who started writing medical thrillers. Then he had a wild idea: what if Nazi’s encountered vampires in World War II? The result is a cult classic. Keep saying, “What if?”
2. Be yourself. There is only one you, and you have your own voice. Don’t try to be a clone of another author. And don’t promote yourself that way. Do not say, “Oh, my work is just like Nora Roberts.” Um, no it isn’t. You will only be a pale imitation of that author--but you are unique.
3. Get a job that pays. Money. Preferably with benefits. Because you have to live. While this flies into the face of those who say "do what you love and the money will follow," this is a tough business. Even for the most talented author, it takes time to climb the book rankings. Besides, who wants to live in their parents’basement forever?
4. Seize the moment. You can write in 15 minute blocks, at lunch, on break, in a fast food restaurant, on a napkin (yes, I’ve outlined entire books on a napkin), before the kids are conscious, in the bathroom, in the middle of the night when you can’t sleep. If you are passionate about writing, if it is an obsession, you will be unable to resist the urge to write. Where ever you go, have a notepad or phone and jot or text your ideas to yourself. I used the notepad app in my phone and made a list of story ideas. When I looked at it 3 years later, I had written all those stories. Carpe diem, carpe noctem, carpe wheneverem.
5. Get rejected. Yes, get rejected. You will learn from those rejections what works and what doesn’t. I was rejected by over 100 (no, that is not a typo) agents. That experience taught me to look at other avenues to publication.  Paper your office with your rejections. The right agent can be an author's best advocate in the competitive publishing world.
6. Have trusted readers. When I started writing my first novel, I needed a cheering section to keep me going, to give me the courage to keep writing. That first stage should not last more than a year--at most. The next step is to put your work out there for others to read and critique. No smoke blowing allowed. Regardless of what path you go--paid editor, critique group, critique partner--you must have other readers. Otherwise, it’s like well, dare I say it? Masturbation. It feels good for you, but it wasn’t good for the other person. Be brave, get alpha and beta readers and listen to their constructive criticisms.
7. Be persistent. Did I mention I received over 100 rejections from agents? If I hadn’t been persistent, I would have never had the courage to send my work to contests, I would have never won writing awards, I would have never had the chutzpah to send my little story to a small electronic publisher and gotten it published. You must press on.
8. Do not whine. No one, and I do mean no one, likes a whiner. If you get rejected, allow yourself no more than 24 hours to cry, stomp your feet, and have a pity party. After 24 hours, STOP. Be child like, but not childish.
9. Don’t take it personally. While the story of your heart is your baby and you know this is the best (fill in the blank) story ever told, publishing is a business. The publisher is not going to take a story that doesn’t fit with their lines or needs. They are in business to make money.
10. And finally, if it doesn’t fit, find another publisher--or publish it yourself.  Right now, we have a lot of choices as authors. Agents, editors and publishers are feeling the pressure to perform. Some are responding to the sea change and stepping up to the plate to market and promote our stories. I believe there are many great opportunities with traditional publishers.  I don't think this is an either or proposition. I see self-publishing as a great prospect (with some caveats) to connect with our readers and do what we do best: tell a story.