THE 3 BEST THINGS I’VE LEARNED FROM OTHER MYSTERY WRITERS

It took me two-and-a-half painstaking years to write my first murder mystery, and since publishing it in 2002, I’ve tried to discover as much as possible about making the process easier and improving at the craft as well. I’ve learned some good stuff through trial and error (lots of error!), but I’ve also gained a ton from listening to other mystery and thriller writers.

I go to their talks at bookstores, libraries, and conferences, watch Q and As with them on YouTube, read their newsletters and blogs, and while standing next to them at events like Bouchercon, try to suck thoughts from their brains like an alien would.

Just kidding, of course, about the last one.

In many cases, I come away impressed and inspired but without any specific skill I can apply. A pantser, for instance, is never, ever going to convince me to write a book without an outline.

But there have also been a fair number of occasions when I’ve heard a tip that I immediately put to use. Here are three of my favorite strategies I’ve culled from listening to other writers talk about their process. Perhaps you’ll find them useful in your writing, too.

1. When finishing for the day, stop in middle of a scene you’re really enjoying writing. I heard this trick from the amazing Linda Fairstein at a Sleuthfest years ago, and she admitted it was actually advice that had been passed down from Ernest Hemingway (though not to her directly!). A Google search led me to the Esquire magazine article where it first appeared: “The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day when you are writing a novel you will never be stuck. That is the most valuable thing I can tell you so try to remember it.”

2. Light a scented candle when you sit down at your desk. I heard Lisa Gardener give this advice while she was on a Thrillerfest panel one year, and maybe because I’m a candle fan (and a little New Age-y in my instincts at times), I began doing the same immediately. This trick makes your writing space smell good, but it’s more than that. Using a certain scent seem to signal to your brain that it needs to get its ass in gear. Unfortunately I have not yet found the scent that instructs my brain how to write the stunning prose Lisa Gardener produces.

3. Start by editing what you wrote the day before. This I heard from the awesome C.J. Box during an interview he did at this year’s Thrillerfest. He was simply describing his workday, not offering it as a strategy for the audience to consider, but back home I couldn’t get the concept out of my mind.

I’d never tried an approach like that because I was afraid it would suck all of the day’s mental energy away before I even started to write fresh material. And yet I began to wonder if it would make editing easier because I’d be doing it when the material felt familiar (though I’d still have a little distance on it).

Well, I gave it a try and I love it. Not only does this strategy make editing easier, but it actually energizes me for work on the day’s new stuff. Since introducing it, I’ve changed my output from four to five pages a day. If you hate editing, you may find this works for you, too.

Thanks, C.J., for helping me think “out of the Box.”

—Kate White

Kate White, the former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, is the NYTimes bestselling author of six Bailey Weggins mysteries and five stand-alone psychological thrillers, including the upcoming The Secrets You Keep (March 2017).