Gosh Jane, I would've never thought of reverse-engineering from the villain's POV, such a genius tip! I love that Jane looks so sweet and innocent but has deliciously mastered the art of murder :-)
Haha, thanks so much! Sometimes I think about creating a video called, “Christian homeschooling mom thinks of nothing but murder all day.” But I don’t think the algorithm would know what to do with it.
Another superb video by Jane the Fiction Technician! The villain absolutely drives the action in a mystery. Even the most active main character is responding to what the villain has done/is doing. Plus...who knew a run-of-the-mill episode of Columbo had a far more complex villain scheme than an Agatha Christie classic!
Could you possibly consider doing a video regarding writing "the aha moment" for detectives? As in, that moment when everything comes together; how to make that satisfying for the reader, and what some good and cliche (bad) ways to trigger that "aha moment" are? I find this to almost be more of a climax than actually catching the villain, and I'm never really sure how to set it up and approach it. I think your channel is amazing. You provide specific nuts and bolts tips about difficult aspects of mystery writing that are ACTUALLY USEFUL for beginners to experts. It's amazing. So much stuff online is very broad act 1/2/3 kind of advice. I'm plotting my fourth noir mystery and am finding a ton of your videos extreeeemly helpful. Your passion for the subject is clearly evident and it makes it a lot of fun. I'm burning through all your videos and wish you great success.
Wow, what a great idea! I do have some plans for a series about writing specific scene types--searches, interrogations, the drawing room scene, the villain's confession--this would fit right in! Thank you! It'll probably take me a bit to get there, though; I think more research is needed. Thank you so much for your kind words about my channel. Very glad to hear you find it helpful!
Your work is miles ahead of everyone else. This field is infested with so many vague and useless points or advice. Your content is so rich with substance that one can start working on something IMMEDIATELY. Thank you! I'll be checking out your books to support you.
I shared your channel with my cousin. She is binge-watching it! We're considering co-writing a mystery series together that is connected to my current series.
@@janekalmes It's true. I wanted so badly to take your course but Social Security doesn't go far in the new economy. I hope you do well with it .You so deserve it.x
Love it as always!!! This is a deliciously simple idea but it seems like it'd be so helpful. I bet it's a lot easier to come up with ways something can go wrong for the villain than ways something can go right for the sleuth/hero, even though it's the same plot point. Super interesting to think about.
Short story question. Aside from the usual rules of a short story are there do's and don'ts that are different between a short murder mystery < 100 pages and a novellette 100>pages>250 and a big novel 400pgs?
Hmm, I don't have any really precise do's and don't, but here are my basic thoughts. I think the shorter you get, the fewer twists you need (I always do a midpoint twist for a novel, but I'm not sure it's needed for a novella). When you get really short, it may be easier to do howdunits, or just "crime stories" where the villain is known from the beginning; that way you don't need a big cast of false suspects. Here's a link to my playlist on howdunits, in case that's helpful. th-cam.com/video/IHn26nviHlM/w-d-xo.html
No, but that’s a cool idea! Here’s the closest thing I’ve got; it’s a video that talks about how the Sleuth changes and grows over the course of a mystery. th-cam.com/video/OLAvEclvzA0/w-d-xo.html In the video, I refer to two beats called “The Challenge Accepted” and “Go the Hard Road;” these are the same beats Snyder calls “Break into Two” and “Break into Three.”
I just realized that you mistaken Roger Haversham’s name for Roger Havering and that makes me think you’ve been reading Agatha Christie because that was the name of a character in a short story called “Hunter’s Lodge”
Love this! In addition to all the great plotting tips, a major lesson here is: Blackmailing the villain never ends well for the blackmailer!😂
Haha, very good point!
Gosh Jane, I would've never thought of reverse-engineering from the villain's POV, such a genius tip! I love that Jane looks so sweet and innocent but has deliciously mastered the art of murder :-)
Haha, thanks so much! Sometimes I think about creating a video called, “Christian homeschooling mom thinks of nothing but murder all day.” But I don’t think the algorithm would know what to do with it.
@@janekalmes I know right! FYI, I would totally watch something with that title :P
We will find out years from now this entire youtube channel was an elaborate alibi.
Another superb video by Jane the Fiction Technician! The villain absolutely drives the action in a mystery. Even the most active main character is responding to what the villain has done/is doing. Plus...who knew a run-of-the-mill episode of Columbo had a far more complex villain scheme than an Agatha Christie classic!
Thank you so much, Meredith! Putting the villain through the wringer is where Colombo always shines!
Third time commenting this because Jane keeps deleting it:
Hercule Poirot *AND* Columbo!? Jane, you just made me happy :)
SO sorry about all the upload issues today, Luka! You're a trooper for coming back again!
Could you possibly consider doing a video regarding writing "the aha moment" for detectives? As in, that moment when everything comes together; how to make that satisfying for the reader, and what some good and cliche (bad) ways to trigger that "aha moment" are? I find this to almost be more of a climax than actually catching the villain, and I'm never really sure how to set it up and approach it.
I think your channel is amazing. You provide specific nuts and bolts tips about difficult aspects of mystery writing that are ACTUALLY USEFUL for beginners to experts. It's amazing. So much stuff online is very broad act 1/2/3 kind of advice. I'm plotting my fourth noir mystery and am finding a ton of your videos extreeeemly helpful. Your passion for the subject is clearly evident and it makes it a lot of fun. I'm burning through all your videos and wish you great success.
Wow, what a great idea! I do have some plans for a series about writing specific scene types--searches, interrogations, the drawing room scene, the villain's confession--this would fit right in! Thank you! It'll probably take me a bit to get there, though; I think more research is needed.
Thank you so much for your kind words about my channel. Very glad to hear you find it helpful!
Your work is miles ahead of everyone else.
This field is infested with so many vague and useless points or advice.
Your content is so rich with substance that one can start working on something IMMEDIATELY.
Thank you! I'll be checking out your books to support you.
Wow, thank you so much! This comment made my day.
Hi, Jane. Thanks for the trick. It is true that I think of things going wrong for the protag but not necessarily the villain.
Awesome, glad this was helpful!
Wow! Another super-fast and info packed video!
I shared your channel with my cousin. She is binge-watching it! We're considering co-writing a mystery series together that is connected to my current series.
Oh, wow, that is so cool! Thanks so much for sharing the channel with her!
I love this way of approaching the mystery puzzle! Thank you for sharing👍
You’re so welcome!
I just LOVE you! I could listen to you for hours. You are THE BEST!!!
Wow, what an incredible compliment! Thank you!!!
@@janekalmes It's true. I wanted so badly to take your course but Social Security doesn't go far in the new economy. I hope you do well with it .You so deserve it.x
Brilliant Jane! Thanks. :-) I usually ask what the villain did to cover up their crime and how it didn't work. Yours seems a more direct route.
Yours is also an important piece of the puzzle, though. Glad you liked the video!
It makes me so happy to see that your videos are getting more views and likes. Your channel is amazing.
Thank you so much! I can’t lie - it makes me REALLY happy, too!
Rewatching...love your content 😊
You're the best! So appreciated!
You deserve more views, every video including this one is crime fiction writing gold!
Thank you so much, Tomas!
Great work. Useful ideas even as a non-mystery writer. Cheers!
Thank you so much, glad it was helpful!
Great suggestions, as always!
So glad you think so! Thanks for watching!
I just love your vids. Thank you!
Great video, Jane! (Commenting to help the algorithm hopefully!🤗)
Thank you so much, Erin!
Great stuff!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Love it as always!!! This is a deliciously simple idea but it seems like it'd be so helpful. I bet it's a lot easier to come up with ways something can go wrong for the villain than ways something can go right for the sleuth/hero, even though it's the same plot point. Super interesting to think about.
Thank you so much, crowla!
Another great video! xoxo
You're the best! Glad you liked it!
That was really great - Thanks!
You're very welcome! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Great video as usual!!
Thank you so much!
Perfect as usual
Wow, thank you so much! 😀
This is great! So helpful - this is a game-changer.
Wow, thank you so much, Susan!
Thank you!
You're so welcome, thanks for watching!
@@janekalmes 💕✨
Could you please make a video of the all time best sleuth movies till date?🙏
Ooh.. that is a great idea, thank you!
Short story question. Aside from the usual rules of a short story are there do's and don'ts that are different between a short murder mystery < 100 pages and a novellette 100>pages>250 and a big novel 400pgs?
Hmm, I don't have any really precise do's and don't, but here are my basic thoughts. I think the shorter you get, the fewer twists you need (I always do a midpoint twist for a novel, but I'm not sure it's needed for a novella). When you get really short, it may be easier to do howdunits, or just "crime stories" where the villain is known from the beginning; that way you don't need a big cast of false suspects. Here's a link to my playlist on howdunits, in case that's helpful.
th-cam.com/video/IHn26nviHlM/w-d-xo.html
Do you have a video where you breakdown blake snyder's beat sheet with a murder-mystery example?
No, but that’s a cool idea! Here’s the closest thing I’ve got; it’s a video that talks about how the Sleuth changes and grows over the course of a mystery. th-cam.com/video/OLAvEclvzA0/w-d-xo.html In the video, I refer to two beats called “The Challenge Accepted” and “Go the Hard Road;” these are the same beats Snyder calls “Break into Two” and “Break into Three.”
You da best… :)
I just realized that you mistaken Roger Haversham’s name for Roger Havering and that makes me think you’ve been reading Agatha Christie because that was the name of a character in a short story called “Hunter’s Lodge”
Thank you!
You’re so much!