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What makes reading a good mystery so satisfying?
A writers hard work.
A complex story a laGone Girldoesnt just pop out of a writers brain fully formed on a random Tuesday.
Giving readers what they crave is about structure and pacing and, ultimately, originality.
(Spoiler: Literal crafts are sometimes involved.)
Now, for my second novel, I have an agent and a really good editor.
Id be lying if I said they werent in my head.
I think a lot aboutWould they like this?
What would they think about this?, but its not helpful to focus on that stuff.
You have to try and forget about it and just focus on the story.
Dead Men Should Actually Tell Tales.
Dead Women, Too.
When I started that book, all I knew was whoshewas.
I knew why she didnt want to be in the spotlight.
I didnt know what his job was.
I didnt know what he was going to get accused of.
I didnt know if he had actually done it or not.
Then the book almost wrote itself, because the things I didnt know, she didnt know either.
You tell yourself youre working on your book, and youre really just going down a rabbit hole.
You may as well just yell on Twitter with that time.
Theres a writer named Jonathan Hayes he works with the medical examiners office, but hes also a writer.
He must be in a lot of peoples acknowledgments at this point.
Definitely some sideways glances at the restaurant.
I cant remember ever being so angry.
That book was about a gender war and egregious male behavior and women being complicit in that.
It was my attempt to shed light on things.
I always tell people Im inspired by real-life stories, but theyre not ripped from the headlines.
Im not trying to give people the inside scoop on what really happened.
The bulls-eye is two people, or three people if its a double murder.
It is the killer and the victim.
I ask myself:What makes that completely unique?
What hasnt been done?And then I build around that.
Lets say the killer is a dentist.
Its merely human beings brought together in violent circumstances.
But it all rests on the bulls-eye at the middle.
You Dont Have to Write an Outline …
When I dont use an outline, my books become longer, says Locke.
Theyre more fun to write because I like writing to feel like being a reader.
I dont want to know whats going to happen.
I mean, let me be clear: It makes me fucking miserable.
But I also love it.
Its part of the intense relationship with the reader that you have.
But I never want to be writing towardjustsome sort of an aha moment.
When Im about midway through my novel, I go to a craft store and buy something.
Its the same principle it gets me out of a bad head space.
*An earlier version of this piece misspelled Alafair Burkes name.
