I have a question, How do you ease into the plot, I'm writing a novel(la - im not sure) about a murderer who kills people in a pattern. (telling the pattern would be spoiling) My MC is a 16 year old girl who lost her uncle on the hands of the murder. I want the plot to move along and her to find out the reason for her uncles killing but I dont want to be to fast. Like I dont want the phone to ring and a person says meet me here and she goes there and finds out everything. Especially since this is a mystery story that involves conspiracy which has to be solved step by step-ish. thank you -Adrian Whitefield
I had a similar problem, trying to write a kinda conspiracy plot for one of my friends the other day. I had a start point and a vague endpoint, but no idea how to connect them. So, I did the simplest thing I could think of--imagined how I would act in that situation, realistically. Not how some action hero would act, but how I would behave should I become involved in something like that. Once I started moving along that train of thought, the rest was a lot easier. Obviously some of the things had to be changed to suit the story and the character, and for the sake of the story there was a fair bit of slightly suspicious luck and coincidence, but it was all based on this framework of 'how would I do this'. So I suggest trying that, just starting at the beginning and imagining your every action as you go along, seeing what you come up with that way.
I have heard it said before that 90% of the time the first chapter in every manuscript can be left off. Just remember to place the reader right before the action begins, not too far before and certainly not at the end. Hope that reply wasn't too vague.
By the sounds of it, you're talking about a serial killer, right? If so, you have a lot of room for character buildup. As opposed to drug gang members who have a more "simple" life of 24/7 criminal, many serial killers appear to be average people. One famous killer was a clown and another guy was an animal control officer. So, if you could take "snap shots" of their lives you'd see Bob entertaining kids at a party, which is just adorable. Another shot has him carefully applying his makeup, because he's a pro who cares, but then opps! There he is raping some guy he just tied to an electrified bedsprings! That was the real MO of a serial killer whose name escapes me. In your novel you could have alternating chapters. You have the girl, and then puzzlingly a chapter about the daily life of Mr. Average or whover your killer is. That will only work if your killer isn't strictly evil all the time.
I agree O), in crime novels like this it's important that the reader knows more than the 'detective' but less than the killer. That dynamic creates most of the tension that drives these plots as it keeps the reader anticipating the detective's process and giving them a pay-off at the same point that the detective makes the 'breakthrough'. However, since the plot seems to revolve around a very particular MO, I'd avoid giving away much of it at once (though enough should be revealed by the end that the big reveal is not completely out of the blue).
Your plot isn't your premise. The premise--a girl seeks to whatever the serial killer who killed her uncle--should often not be revealed on page one, but the plot should definitely start there.
