Emily Brightwell | Who dun it?

“How on earth do you come up with your stories?” That’s the question I get asked
more often than anything else. Actually, at one point in my career, I wasn’t
really sure how I did it, I just sat my butt down in front of the computer and
the story seemed to flow…no, that’s actually a big fat lie. The story only
flows when the story knows where to go. But as to the mechanics of how I do it
for each and every mystery I write, I start with a question:

What do I want to say in this book?

Now, don’t get me wrong, I know what I write and I know it’s not a philosophical
tome or the great American novel, it’s entertainment pure and simple. I write
genre fiction and I love what I do…but I’ll admit I’m a tad opinionated and I
have a lot to say.

When I sat down to write MRS. JEFFRIES RIGHTS A WRONG, I knew I wanted to craft a story that examined hubris and arrogance; you know, that guy born with a silver spoon in his mouth who then brags to anyone who’ll stand still for ten seconds that he earned it all on his own, that it was his own brilliance that made him rich and successful. So that was step one in my process, I decided what I wanted to say. Then I asked myself why I wanted to say it – and that was easy. I was sick and tired of the way the rich always think they did it on their own – when they didn’t. Study after study has shown that most wealth attainment is done via inheritance, not hard work and effort. Mind you, some fortunes are earned by individual effort but that’s another story, not this one. Step two – I decide the ‘milieu’ for the crime – this isn’t just the setting, it’s a setting allied with my theme – oh, didn’t I tell you that step one is really a ‘theme’…sorry, should have mentioned that but the word seems to remind people of their sophomore English classes so I tend to avoid it. But I’m digressing again…sorry. The victim in MRS. JEFFRIES RIGHTS A WRONG is murdered in an upper class hotel and this provided the perfect background for the book. I wanted the setting to reflect the world I wanted to play with.

Step three – I give my characters names and the names are always meaningful – at
least to me. I sit down and have a good think and then I do a quick write up of
the victim and the suspects. I do a physical description and then, just for the
fun of it, I borrow an old fashioned technique from the late, great Erle Stanley
Gardner’s “Perry Mason” novels and write up a ‘cast of characters’ roster. This
is never part of the final book it’s just for me. The list is a tongue-in-cheek
couple of sentences about the personality of all the major players in the story.

Step four – I write my first ‘crime line’…this is where I sit down, decide how
the murder is committed and then walk my killer through the steps he/she takes
to do the evil deed. I keep this very general.

Step five – I start the book. I plunge straight in and write like mad – after
all, it’s a first draft and I know I’ll be making lots of changes. The hardest
part is coming up with the opening line.

Step six – When I’m halfway through the first draft, I stop and redo the crime
line. But this crime line is very detailed…so detailed that it will be the
instrument that gives me the clues that my sleuths will use to solve the mystery.

Step seven – finish the first draft (except for the last two chapters)

Step eight – do the second draft including the last two chapters.

Step nine – do the third and final draft (I do this intensely, working flat out
for hours at a time and keeping my head completely in the story – frankly, by
the time I’m finished, I’m a bit of a zombie).

Step ten – send the manuscript to my editor and hope that she likes it!

Step eleven – make any changes suggested by the editor.

So for those of you who have curious about my process, this is it in a
nutshell…there’s only one step left and of course, it’s the most important one.

Step twelve – cross my fingers and hope that my readers will enjoy what I’ve
written.