For Reasons Unknown - Writing/Editing
By Michael Wood
For Reasons Unknown is not the first novel I have written.
However, it is the first novel I have had published. The reason for this is
because the others were obviously not very good. My approach to this novel was
different too. I decided I wanted to write a series rather than a standalone so
before I began with the story and plot I concentrated on my main character.
I wanted my protagonist to be a strong independent woman
with a mass of vulnerabilities and lacking in self-confidence. DCI Matilda
Darke is at the top of her career, and, on paper, seems to have everything
she’s always wanted. In her personal life she is a complete mess. She has
recently lost her husband, and her career is on a downward spiral as she made a
massive error in a highly publicised case she was working on while her husband
was dying. Now, she is a shadow of her former self. I needed a sounding board
for Matilda, someone she can turn to when she is feeling low and who will
listen to her. This task befalls to her best friend Adele Kean. Adele has also
been through a tough point on her life, however, she has come through it and is
stronger than ever. Adele represents everything Matilda wants to be. She will
get there – eventually. How? That’s a question even I don’t know the answer to.
Creating Matilda’s team was interesting and a fun exercise.
I wanted a range of characters, all with their own private lives which they
were dealing with silently, whereas Matilda’s private life had been brought out
into the public domain. They all look up to Matilda and admire her. However,
she needs them more than they need her. She just doesn’t realise it yet.
Once the characters were in place the story came next. As
the title suggests, I am more interested in the psychology of a crime – the
whydunit rather than the whodunit. I didn’t want to create the story in detail
before I sat down to write it as I’m a very fluid writer; I like conversations
to be natural and if I don’t know what the characters are going to say until
I’m writing them, then the plot can go off in any direction. That is the
excitement of writing. I was more than three-quarters of the way through
writing For Reasons Unknown before I decided who the killer was going to be.
Once I had written the first draft and chosen my killer I then went back
through it all dropping red herrings along the way.
The editing process is a difficult, but important one. The
writing needs to be tightened up depending on the pace of the novel and
sentence structure and words chosen are looking at carefully. Researching is
important too. I had to rewrite a whole chapter once I had found out what
happens when someone is stabbed in the stomach, which was a shame as I enjoyed
the original chapter.
I am at my happiest when I’m writing, but I also enjoy
editing too, especially after the first draft is written. When the story is
complete it is interesting to go back over the story and see who says what and
why. Editing it just as important as writing.
I am approaching the end of the first draft of book two. It
is at this point that the hard work begins. Strangely, I’m looking forward to
it.
About Michael Wood
Michael
Wood is Sheffield born and bred and has chosen the steel city to set his crime
fiction novels in. He is a former journalist and currently works as a freelance
journalist and book reviewer for CrimeSquad; a website dedicated to crime
fiction. His debut novel, For Reasons Unknown, was published in Autumn 2015 and
the second in the series featuring DCI Matilda Darke is due for publication in
late-Spring 2016.Find Michael Wood on Twitter - @MichaelHWood
By Michael Wood
Published by Killer Reads (5 November 2015)
ISBN: 978-0008158675
Synopsis
Two
murders. Twenty years. Now the killer is back for more…
A darkly
compelling debut crime novel. The start of a brilliant series, perfect for fans
of Stuart MacBride, Val McDermid, and James Oswald.
DCI Matilda
Darke has returned to work after a nine month absence. A shadow of her former
self, she is tasked with re-opening a cold case: the terrifyingly brutal
murders of Miranda and Stefan Harkness.
The only witness was their
eleven-year-old son, Jonathan, who was too deeply traumatized to speak a word.
Then a dead
body is discovered, and the investigation leads back to Matilda's case.
Suddenly the past and present converge, and it seems a killer may have come
back for more…
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