I spent yesterday interviewing a murderer.
That’s because I started serious work this week on Fool’s Errand, a dark and promising little mystery novel that’s been brewing in my head and notebook for almost two years now.
The interview process is one of those writer’s tricks that you don’t hear much about. In order to learn more about a character and his or her background, writers sit down with their imaginary friends and have a conversation. The writer plays the role of Barbara Walters (“Who are you? What’s your first memory? How did it feel when you killed Ricky Petit?”) The character responds, temporarily assuming control of the writer’s fingers and tapping out his answers.
The exercise is a bit like working with a Ouija board, especially since characters often shock authors with what they have to say. In yesterday’s interview, the character revealed the murder with a level of detail I personally wasn’t prepared for … I frequently found myself withdrawing from what the murderer described.
Stranger still were the justifications — explanations that, from the murderer’s point of view, make his actions understandable … or even necessary. In one three-hour session, I experienced repulsion, sympathy, clinical interest … and, ultimately, a kind of horror as the character revealed to me a plot twist more gruesome than I would ever have come up with on my on.
The words are piling up fast. Frustration will set in by the time I finish the first act, I’m sure … writers usually “hit the wall” about fifty pages into a project, convinced that what once sounded golden is, in fact, just trash.
But for now, I’m writing and writing and writing simply because I can’t wait to find out what happens next. It’s a great feeling.
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