Book Alchemy

Book Alchemy

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Book Alchemy
Book Alchemy
Murder Diaries: Ep. 11
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Oh! Murder

Murder Diaries: Ep. 11

Going to eleven with mystery writing

Caroline Donahue's avatar
Caroline Donahue
Sep 06, 2024
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Book Alchemy
Book Alchemy
Murder Diaries: Ep. 11
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Flexibility in form and schedule

While I’d originally planned to finish the book by the end of August, I’ve decided to give the process more room — mostly because I have more story to tell. I was briefly waylaid by yet another heat wave, hopefully our last, and am planning ahead for a productive autumn getting this book written.

Here’s what I cover in this week’s episode:

  • Break and Inspiration: I took time off for my birthday, which helped refresh my perspective on the novel.

  • Out-of-Sequence Writing: I’m still writing scenes out of sequence and share the goals I have for this approach.

  • Challenges in Writing Short Time Periods: My novels are set over weeks or months rather than sweeping epics over centuries, so I share the special skills needed for this approach

  • Influence of Poetry: I’ve continued to read poetry and have a few craft books on actually writing poems that have been really helpful as I write to share.

  • Cross-Genre Inspiration: I continue our exploration of how poetry can be an influence on mystery and vice versa, with some new discoveries.

  • Beta Reader Experiment: I have the most unexpected group of beta readers, and can’t wait to dive in with them — learn how I found them.

  • Revised Deadline: As you might have realized, the book did not get completed by August 31st, so I have a new deadline to share. Murder Diaries continues!

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