Don’t fall victim to Smurfette Syndrome in your writing

There was a nice interview in today’s Boston Globe G section with Geena Davis, who is on a campaign to generate more women’s roles in G and PG-rated movies. She’s noticed over the years that a lot of movies for young people have one woman character.

Thank you, Geena for giving some Hollywood backup to one of my biggest peeves.

For years I’ve been ranting about what I call Smurfette Syndrome. Decades ago it occurred to me that the Smurfs (for those of you unfamiliar, a cloying uninspired cartoon that was inexplicably popular decades ago) had a bunch of characters, all stereotypes — the doctor, the carpenter, the happy guy, the smart guy, the dumb guy, etc. Then there was the one female. Smurfette. As though she were another subset of the bigger set. I don’t remember if she had any particular talent or characteristic that distinguished her, aside from being female. But then, that was the point, right? One guy was a doctor. One was a carpenter. Smurfette was a girl.

Smurfette Syndrome doesn’t only occur in movies and cartoons. It happens in life, yes even in the “post feminist” year of 2013.

And it happens when we write.

It’s easy to make characters fit stereotypes, even ones we don’t agree with. There’s so much thinking to do when it comes to writing a book (or a story, or an article), that some things automatically get put on the brain’s back burner and don’t get fully cooked.
Minor characters, or even secondary ones, are thrown in sometimes without the thought we ought to give them.

I’m not saying this explains Smurfette Syndrome in the greater world around us — there are a lot of societal issues that go into that — but that doesn’t mean we can’t do our little part to stamp it out in our writing.

This doesn’t only apply to gender stereotypes, but to cultural, religious, ethnic, career stereotypes as well.

We live in a diverse, interesting world with a lot of diverse, interesting people. Consider the people you live with, work with, see every day. Do most of them conform to stereotype? I’m guessing not.

I won’t go into a long thing about our social responsibility to stomp out stereotypes one character at a time and by doing so, maybe we can help make the world a better and more welcoming place for generations to come. You already get that.
But I will make a case here for interesting writing. The more interesting your characters, the more interesting your book.

Face it, no one really found the Smurfs interesting, did they? I didn’t spend much time on them, except to wonder why there was only one girl (and wonder about ALL the implications of that, sexless as the Smurfs seemed).

Less cartoony, more interesting, should be our goal as we work hard at writing words that people will want to, and enjoy, reading.

YA Mysteries: Tangled Threads in the Middle

This diagram is one of the simplest to show how threads can be used to carry the movement of the mystery novel — in this case, from The Technique of the Mystery Story by Carolyn Wells (more here: http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/ToMX24.htm). Three “hypotheses” to explain a disappearance are presented: murder, elopment, and theft. The author presents evidence for each, tangling them to the point where the reader can’t be quite sure — at least, until close to the end of the book! — which one is valid.

In my “three-dimensions” writing/reviewing lab (a.k.a. the little office), I’ve sometimes done this with actual yarn, trying to show how a novel’s threads go in an out, back and forth. But more often, I simplify to a flat sheet of butcher paper on the wall and color-code (markers, crayons, or sticky tags) what’s going on. For All That Glitters, where I’m posting first-draft chapters on WattPad (second draft begins this summer), the mystery’s threads that correspond to the “hypotheses” above are tracking why there’s a gun in teen sleuth Lucky Franklin’s house (a gun that’s been used to shoot her dad!); what scuzzy Sean Perkins is actually doing in the two bookstores (just how big is his illicit “weed” operation, anyway?); and whether state politics are involved somehow, considering that Lucky’s dad was appraising the governor’s old books when the shooter arrived.

An essential to keeping the threads in play is “red herrings” that are specific to the young adult audience: romance, family rules, wanting to be an adult but also wanting some protection … Stephen D. Rogers (a “brother” member of Sisters in Crime New England) sorts red herrings into those of person, place, and objects (http://www.writing-world.com/mystery/herrings.shtml) and adds,  “There is a difference between misleading the investigator and misleading the reader. Readers watch Sherlock Holmes follow logical (and apparently logical) trails. Readers are riveted by investigators who don’t know something the reader does, especially if the knowledge could lead to a crisis situation.” [So there's also the aspect of what the reader knows versus what the sleuth knows -- and that can be the prime difference in the YA mystery experience for the younger reader versus the cross-genre adult reader, often the purchaser of the book. See the Flavia de Luce mysteries by Allan Bradley, especially I Am Half-Sick of Shadows -- the entire series includes a gradual reveal to Flavia of something the acute adult reader may have guessed early on.]

YA mysteries may look “simpler” than the “grown-up” genre at first glance (and often the language is simpler) — but the best YA mysteries are about much more than the plot. Character, risk, integrity, challenging what’s wrong, seeking courage when you really wanted your folks to do it for you: those are all major parts of YA mysteries. Laurie Halse Anderson nails this (http://madwomanintheforest.com) and is now engaged in a stunning social justice movement as one result (http://www.rainn.org/speak).

So after laying out a few threads of plot, it’s helpful to also look at the threads of the YA character: facing the world, separating from childhood, standing up for what’s right, dealing with the wounds that arrive in such efforts. Those threads, as well as the plot ones, must move through the book.

How does the writer craft the final knot of all those threads for the YA mystery? See the next YA mysteries post. Meanwhile, here are the 2013 Edgar Award nominees in YA mysteries, in case you want to investigate some threads yourself: Kathryn Burak, Emily’s Dress and Other Missing Things; Elizabeth George, The Edge of Nowhere; Niall Leonard, Crusher; Kat Rosenfield, Amelia Anne Is Dead and Gone; and the winner, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.

What YA mystery threads are on your mind today?

Crime Bake registration is open!

It’s hard to think about November in May. I know, I know. You don’t want me to make you.
But tear your eyes for a minute from those tulips sprouting out front and imagine the cold, dead trees, the wind blowing through their empty branches and — yes — Crime Bake!
It may be months away, but the best weekend of the year for those of us who write mysteries and people who are simply fans of the genre is open for registration.

The event, scheduled for Nov. 8, 9 & 10 in Dedham, Mass., is a great way to network with other mystery writers, meet agents and editors, eat and drink and talk mystery. It’s co-sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.

This year’s guest of honor is suspense novelist Meg Gardiner. Friday’s master classes will be taught by award-winning Hallie Ephron (Anatomy of a bestseller!),  Peter Abrahms, Elizabeth Benedict (on writing great sex scenes!), Linda Barnes, Stuart Horwitz, and Maine’s Paul Doiron.

We’ll have more info, thoughts and other neat stuff about this event in coming posts. But today the message is sign up. It fills up fast. Wicked fast. I know it’s hard to imagine that when spring has barely sprung (especially for those of us in the frozen north), but it will be here before you know it.

Go to http://www.crimebake.org for more details.

MURDER BY THE MINUTE

At Plymouth (MA) public library, a stellar line-up!

Over the course of 48 hours, SinC members throughout New England participated in our Reading Weekend event. Volunteers from Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, organized venues in their home state and invited members to read from a short story, a work in progress, or a novel excerpt. This year’s events took place in libraries, homes, New England Mobile Book Fair, and a vineyard.

I can’t thank Louisa Clerici, Julie Hennrikus, Marilyn Kemp, Linda Machett, Edith Maxwell, Maureen Milliken, and Lynn Marie Steinmayer, enough for volunteering to host events. Without them, the Reading Weekend would not have been possible.And thank you all of you who attended and shared your writing with us.

Marilyn, Linda, and Louisa shared their thoughts and experiences with me:

Marilyn Kemp East Greenbush Library, East Greenbush, NY

On March 23rd at the East Greenbush NY library, SinC/NE and the Hudson Valley Writers Guild co-sponsored an afternoon of 5-minute reads, which turned out to be 10-min reads because we only had 7 readers and I wanted to fill an hour.  Attendance was small; 17 people of which 7 were the readers, but Saturday is not a good day for programs in our area.  Even week days are better for attendance.  Despite that, we had an extremely varied program, with areas ranging from typical noir to historical to psychological to comical. Readers included Susanne Alleyn, author of the Aristede Ravel series set during the French Revolution; Julie LoMoe who writes psychological suspense; M.E.Kemp,historical mystery author of the two nosy Puritan series; Cynthia Merkin who writes in the style of Sue Grafton only set in Paris; Kate Laity and Vincent Landri, more noir in tone and Tom Martin, traditional mystery.  It was gratifying to listen to so many fine local authors from the Berkshires to the Albany area.  As word spreads I’m sure we’ll attract more readers for future programs.

Linda Matchett- Wolfboro Public Library, Wolfboro, NH

The day of our event dawned crystal clear and warm – unusual for a March day in New Hampshire. Would that bode well for our reading event or prove to be a recipe for disaster? As the time drew near to head to the library, I pushed aside the tentacles of fear and nervousness and decided to enjoy myself no matter what happened. Worst case, I could read aloud to myself.

I was in for a pleasant surprise. At the stroke of 2:00, a former business colleague walked in the door. I see him in our small town several times a month, yet I never knew he was a fellow mystery writer. Another writer who carves out time from working for a living and trying to have a family life to write “the great American novel.”

Did anyone else come? No. Did that matter? No. Two writers came together and shared their work. We discussed the writing industry, conferences we had attended, classes we had taken, commiserated over the difficulty of balancing our writing life with our “real” life and swapped information and ideas. My favorite part after listening to his well-written pages was when we regaled each other with our favorite rejection letters. We had a good laugh over that then encouraged each other to press on.

Before we knew it our two hours was up. Another successful Sisters in Crime event. No mystery there.

Louisa Clerici- Plymouth Library,Plymouth, MA

We had a fun afternoon on Saturday, March 23rd at MURDER BY THE MINUTE in Plymouth, Ma. So many talented writers read from their work, among them the delightful and funny, Arlene Kay, the amazing Mary Stibal, brilliant literary couple Judy Travis Copek and Hans Copek and the award-winning Gary Braver. Everyone enjoyed hearing Steven Marini and Gina Fava for the first time and new Brother in Crime – Kevin Symmons, who joined Sisters in Crime that very week and read at our event – a great addition to our group! Books were sold and refreshments nibbled. Thanks to the Plymouth, Ma. library and our librarian Jennifer Harris who said she really enjoyed the event and was so helpful. And thank you to all the listeners who appreciate mystery, suspense, thrillers. It was a pleasure to host this event! -

Again, thank you to everyone who volunteered and took part in our Reading Weekend. I’m already looking forward to 2014’s Murder by the Minute. Hope to see you there!

Sharon Daynard

YA Mysteries: Beginning, MIDDLE, End, Part 3

Choosing the target age of a “young adult” (YA) mystery is an adventure in itself. The genre usually markets to readers aged 10 to 15, maybe 17. And, as mentioned by 22-year-old author of YA fiction Shannon A. Thompson (see my preceding YA Mysteries post), the fact that 10-year-olds may read a book means there are moral choices involved. To what will you expose your reader? How close to a Scandinavian noir will you cruise? Does your mystery depend on the grim circumstances that made, and still make, the fiction of Robert Cormier (The Chocolate War; Tenderness) so frightening and controversial? Or are you reaching for a less “fraught” and more direct mystery sequence, as in Michael D. Beil’s Red Blazer Girls sequence and Jane Langton’s The Mysterious Circus? These choices are style, and they have roots in who the writer is and what the writer believes fiction “is.”

Remember Hemingway’s quip about how being a writer is simple — just sit down at a typewriter and bleed? YA fiction at its best demands character depth, and while forging a character may not always be bloody, there’s a nakedness involved in it. Honesty and insight produce a protagonist like Mara Dyer in The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (*caution: volume 1 of a trilogy, and volume 3 won’t be published until autumn 2013). Mara spends a lot of time looking into mirrors: seeing danger, but also seeing the changes in herself and not always thrilled about them.

When I write chapter 1, I know a lot of details about the person I’m portraying: name, age, hair color, manner of speech. And I know some character traits, which are usually (no coincidence here!) traits that are stubbornly my own, or facets of others whom I’ve admired or loved and thus studied in detail. “Write what you know” for me means writing the character I believe in, commit to, am willing to spend years with (oh no, you’re not done with a character when you write your last chapter — but we’ll get to that, later in this series).

But character is revealed most strongly through choices, not through interior monologue. Mara Dyer looking in the mirror can dread or embrace what she thinks she sees — but Mara Dyer confronting a bully or taking a stand against a killer becomes memorable. And the character’s choices are, of course, embedded in the Plot.

At the top of this post is a basic “plot diagram” of the kind used in many schools today (note: YA readers experience these!). It’s based on Freytag’s pyramid, which in turn comes from a study of classical drama, especially the Greek.

The second diagram, though, is one of mine — for Charlie’s Place, which I’m co-writing with teacher Sue Tester — and has a different shape. I like my crisis, my turning point, to come about two-thirds through a book, because I want the suspense and pressure to build steadily to that point.

Take a moment now and draw something that represents the movement of a mystery to you. Add labels. Include opening situation, complications, threats that grow in magnitude, and even decisions made by your protagonist. (Yes, this applies to “cozy” or amateur sleuth mysteries, too. And yes, to police or detective procedurals — even Sherlock Holmes has his “aha moments,” as does Watson.) If you have a hard time adding labels to the final one-third of your diagram, don’t worry, that’s normal … you’ll be able to fill those in later, and I’ll talk about this issue when I reach the posts about endings.

But the next post (two weeks from today) will address a “middle-ness” aspect of YA mysteries that is a bit harder to diagram: Threads, and how they multiply, interweave, and resolve. Hint: If you’ve thought of writing a mystery “about” something, that’s a thread.

What shape did you choose for your diagram (on paper, or in your thoughts)?

Side Effects: Learning from Movies

Like most people, I’ve always loved a good movie or TV drama.  In fact, my earliest remembered dream is of sitting behind the Lone Ranger and Mickey Mouse as we gallop down the street on that magnificent white horse, Silver. Go figure.

But since becoming a writer, the movie-going experience has taken on a new dimension. Movies have become quick studies in what makes a good plot, usually taking no more than an hour and a half.

So recently, when my friend and fellow writer, Barbara, suggested the movie Side Effects as an example of a fine mystery, my husband, David, and I rushed off to see it. As usual, Barbara was right. This tightly plotted movie sets us up to believe one thing and then shocks us by slowly revealing something quite unexpected.

So of course I wanted to study it. How do you study a movie? One way is to get your hands on the script. Since for Side Effects there didn’t seem to be one available, the next stop was the Internet. There I found multiple interviews of Stephen Soderbergh, the director, and Scott Z. Burns, the script writer, where they discussed the development of the movie. In one interview, Scott Z. Burns, noted that his script was influenced by Hitchock’s Rear Window in creating the empathetic central character, see:  (http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Side-Effects-Writer-Scott-Z-Burns-Talks-Hitchcock-Influence-Pain-Letting-Things-Go-35645.html).

Even better, there was a wonderful website where blogger Larry Brooks painstakingly dissects Side Effects so that writers can see how the plot evolves from inciting incident to climax. Larry’s blog can be found at: http://storyfix.com/deconstructing-side-effects-a-writers-movie. I won’t say more so as not to spoil the story for those who haven’t seen the movie.

Thinking about what can be gained by studying movies got me thinking about another benefit—it can be a shared experience. An experience David and I will enjoy a second time when Side Effects comes out on DVD in late May. This time we’ll watch and discuss it with Barbara and her husband, Patrick—a delightful side effect of its own.

Do you have a favorite movie that helps you think about your writing? If so, what have you learned from it? 

The Empowered Author–A Post about the Kristen McLean Event

After a terrible week in Boston (which I will write about at some point, but right now it is too soon) I was glad for the distraction of an event for Sisters in Crime New England on Sunday. Kristen McLean of Bookigee was our guest speaker, and she did a workshop about the empowered author. Though there are challenges for today’s author, and the publishing world is topsy turvy, Kristen talked about the opportunities.

Per Kristen, there are two trends to pay attention to right now. First, that there a number of new routes for content. While traditional publishers are still the top of the pyramid, they aren’t the only pyramid. There is self publishing and small presses. Additionally, she pointed us to Wattpad and createspace as new models for content distribution. I am still wrapping my brain around Wattpad–it deserves its own blog entry.

The other trend she talked about was the rise of the empowered authors. Hybrid authors (both traditionally and non-traditionally published) are entrepreneurs in the field. Statistically, these authors are likely to earn more, and to be using social media (on Facebook. blogging,  or on Twitter). These hybrid careers are much more fluid, and able to adjust to the author’s strengths.

Part of being an empowered author is to understand the business, and do your research.  Are you self publishing? Go on Goodreads, look at the covers of books like yours, and take that into consideration when considering cover art. Why does that matter? Titles with cover art sell 268% more books.

Do you know what metadata is? It is 31 pieces of data that is attached to your book. Titles with complete metadata sell 98%5 more titles. And the “read inside” option on Amazon? Enabling that has a huge impact on sales.

Kristen and her partners run Bookigee, and are also building apps and platforms to help empower authors. Bookigee was created to “not out to take over the publishing industry—we’re out to reinvent it, and to help everyone embrace the opportunities of the digital age.” Here is a link to one of her articles. “The Author as Entrepreneur: the new model for success“.  Perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea, but the future is ours, and what we make of it.

Here’s to being empowered.

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J.A. Hennrikus is the 2013 President of Sisters in Crime New England. This post is being cross posted on the NHWN blog.