BITE-SIZED CHUNKS

On the previous page, I set out the five stages of any story. This is where you put them into action.

I have signed four book contracts, each for three books each, and the requested word count for each book was 100,000 words. Each book I’ve written has exceeded it, usually around 110,000 words, but a good target is 100,000 words. That is a lot of words, and a daunting start. It's like eating an elephant. It’s all about doing it one bite at a time, but eventually it will be gone. So, break the books down into bite-sized chunks.

You’ll form your own style, but crime fiction is meant to be snappy, page-turning. Gripping crime fiction shouldn’t have never-ending chapters, so this is how I construct my books.

As a general rule, I aim for an average scene length of 1,500 words. Some scenes might be much longer, maybe 2,500, some shorter, even as short as 500 words. But 1,500 is the average I aim for.
If your story is going to be 100,000 words long, aim for 115,000 words. I say that for two reasons:

1.    It helps to set it out, as it means there are 75 scenes. A novel is as simple as that: a story written in 75 scenes. If you wanted to be really clinical, if you followed the 5-stage formula on the previous page, that would be 15 scenes to each section. Thinking of a novel that way makes it seem more manageable.

2.    Secondly, Stephen King’s advice is that the story you send to a publisher should be your first draft with 10% edited out. That is damn good advice, which I will expand on in a later page.
 

The reason why a scene length is a good thing to focus on is that it helps you learn how to craft a story. It’s where the balance comes in.

If, for example, a scene is a pivotal scene, where it is crucial to the story, the word count should be higher. If the scene is one that is meant to just indicate a change of direction, the word count should be smaller. The story becomes balanced, the important stuff emphasised.

Let’s say you have scene where the protagonist is searching a house, and will be in danger if caught in there, but it is where the secrets are, the key to understanding the whole story. That scene needs to be a long one, maybe 3,500 words.

But that is a bit of a slog in crime fiction.

Instead, divide the scene. Perhaps a car pulling up outside, with someone walking up the garden path, key in hand. The scene from outside the address, the person holding the key, will only need to be 500 words, because its real purpose is to divide the important scene, but by focussing on word count it really helps the plot. I’ll explain.

Firstly, it balances the action, which is all taking place inside the house, but heightens the tension. The person on the garden path is a distraction that makes the reader desperate to go back inside, now knowing the protagonist is about to be caught in the act. Much more interesting than 3,500 words of someone just discovering stuff in an empty house.

Secondly, it means you can impart a lot of important knowledge for the plot in 3,500 words, but not making your reader slog through a long scene. You’ve kept it snappy by breaking it up, and introduced tension to make the reader’s heart beat a little faster.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly as a new writer, it helps you work out what you need and what you don’t need.

In the example above, the whole search scene is to be 3,500 words, broken down into two sections, but if each part is only 1,000 words each, you’ve got another 1,500 words to find. So, think of what you can add. Focus on all the senses. Sights, sounds, smells. If, however, the person coming up the garden path runs to 1,000 words, you need to get rid of 500 words. You’ve given it too much weight.

Plotting is about balance. Use short scenes to break up long scenes, and keep switching the reader’s attention, a good way to maintain interest.

But how do you start and end a scene for maximum effect? The next page will help.