Write Away: V is for Villain

Due to volition, a villain perpetrates violence on a victim. Lots of V word options for mystery and crime fiction writers to know.

I’ve been fascinated with the word “villain” ever since I learned of its etymology. A vilein (Old French) was a boorish rustic from the villa. This is an example of pejoration in language use. In pejoration, the meaning of the word takes on negative connotations over time. Today a villain is a nasty piece of work, not just an unsophisticate. (The opposite of pejoration is amelioration in which the word’s connotation becomes more positive over time. “Nice” originally meant “simple, foolish” and has come to mean “kind, considerate”.)

Villain is an interesting word on many fronts. Often it is used as a synonym for “antagonist”, but they are not necessarily interchangeable. An antagonist is the foil for the protagonist. “-agonist” is “actor”, so a “protagonist” is the leading actor/character. The “ANTagonist”, is the hostile opposition to the “protagonist.” That doesn’t necessarily make the antagonist the villain. It might, but it’s not a given.

Villains ring of melodrama, lashing the maiden to the railroad tracks, and all that kind of folderol. We view them as cruel, evil, conniving, and capable of committing crimes. The villain of the piece is the acknowledged bad guy. The antagonist only tips over into villain with the commission of or attempt at major felonious crimes.

We often see the villain as someone who manages to evade the law and justice for long periods as opposed to the day-to-day criminal activities of crooks. To be a villain implies long-standing criminal activity over time. Villains are usually seen to be highly planful and vindictive in their crimes. I would call sociopaths, villains.

Villains at their best are likely to immoral or amoral, cunning, visionary, intelligent, powerful and committed to a course of action without second guessing themselves. They believe they are above the law and above detection. Authors typically build in an explanation in back story to explain how the villain became villainous.

The best villains foil the detective by having strengths in the areas of the detective’s limitations. Just like sidekicks provide a positive counterpoint, villains provide a negative counterpoint to the detective’s strengths.

When writing your baddie, decide whether he is truly a villain before labeling him as such. He has to be bad through and through with no redeeming social graces. Or is he just an ordinary crook?

Some would argue villains fall along the line of a continuum from mastermind sociopath to knave. Is your bad guy a thug, trickster, an assassin, a rogue, a traitor, a fanatic, a nemesis, or just a bad boy? Define the kind of traits your villain possesses so you can write him or her coherently, convincingly, cogently, and consistently. This site provides descriptors todefine your villain.  

Is it really over in “The List”? 

            Vacantly, Mort stared out at the crashing surf, high tide now.  Turning toward Frieda, he said,  “I’m going now. You have this place until noon Saturday. Turn the key into the office on your way out of town. I put a map on the passenger seat showing the route to take back to the City.”

            “You can’t be serious! This is absurd, Mort!” Frieda followed him into the living room and yelled at his departing back at the stairs to the ground level. “Come back here immediately!”

            Mort turned at the top of the stairs and blew her a kiss before descending to the parking lot below. “Bye, Frieda.”

Write Away: P is for Plea Bargain

Again the options abound for words today. I discarded persecution, the distinctions among kinds jails and prisons, and the ever-popular “Perp”. By the way, “perp” is more of a TV show word. Real law enforcement officers prefer suspect or perpetrator. So unless one of your characters is a low life who only knows life from television, don’t use “perp.”

Nope, none of those. I settled today on plea bargain because there is so much angst and misunderstanding around the process.

A plea bargain (also plea agreement, plea deal, negotiating a plea, or copping a plea) is any agreement in a criminal case between the prosecutor and defendant in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a particular charge in return for some concession from the prosecutor. This may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to a less serious charge, or to one of several charges, in return for the dismissal of other charges; or it may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to the original criminal charge in return for a more lenient sentence.

Not all cases can be plea bargained. If the crime the perpetrator was charged with has a mandatory sentencing requirement, the prosecution cannot amend the sentence. But sometimes the prosecutor can reduce charges to moderate the harsher, mandatory sentence.

However, no prosecutor can guarantee the suspect a sentence, only recommend a number on the range given for sentencing on specific charges. Sentencing is judicial purview, so savvy prosecutors involve the judge early on in the process so the judge and prosecutor are in tandem.

Both defense and prosecuting attorneys weigh the strength of the case and whether or not a trial or plea bargain is the more attractive option. Either attorney may broach the option. The suspect must agree to this option before it is implemented.

Even with a plea bargain, the defendant appears before the judge for a voir dire (oral examination) that might be quite lengthy. The judge will typically ensure that the defendant knows he/she is giving up certain rights: the right to a trial, the right to call witnesses, and the right testify. The judge makes sure the defendant knows what the charges are and what a guilty plea to each means. Without voir dire, a defendant might have claims for an improperly conducted judicial process. And that could result in additional time and money, one of the major reasons for the plea bargain.

Even though criticized, 90% of criminal convictions are achieved through plea bargains. For sure, there are advantages and disadvantages to the plea bargaining process. The mystery writer could build several scenes around the process using these pros and cons.

Pros for the defendant:

1) The trial might reveal more evidence that is even more damaging to the defendant with a risk of more severe penalty.

2) The jury could find defendant guilty of more severe charges.

3) The judge could be a stricter one and throw the book at the suspect.

3) Lesser charges appear on the defendant’s criminal record.

Pros for the prosecution:

1) Plea bargains result in a higher conviction rate than if all cases went to trial.

2) A plea bargain might result in harsher penalties for a co-defendant using testimony from the defendant in the plea deal.

3) The prosecutor clears a case from a crowded calendar avoiding a perhaps lengthy and expensive trial.

4) A jury might acquit or be hung, unable to decide (so a decision to re-try could happen).

5) Judges like settled cases for the same reasons so attorneys build good will with judges.

6) Prisons are overcrowded, so reducing sentences clears beds sooner.

Cons for the defendant:

1) The defendant must admit guilt and can’t try to convince judge and jury of innocence.

2) If innocent, the defendant gives up the right to try to prove that

Cons for the prosecution:

1) Victims and the public often see a plea bargain as being soft on crime, that justice was not served.

2) If the plea deal doesn’t include specifics of sentencing, judges might be more lenient.

Even with a plea bargain, and thus a prosecution, in the criminal case, a civil trial is still possible and some will plea nolo contendere (“no contest”) or “guilty with a civil reservation” proviso so as not to admit to civil liability. That doesn’t stop civil cases moving on and does not affect a verdict. The civil case has to prove itself without an admission of guilt for civil charges. The convicted criminal is saying, “I’m not going to help you prove your case.”

Are you reading “The List”? Things are not good with Freida and Mort. What will she do with this revelation?

           “Please tell me this means we are vacating that dreary apartment you’ve had since the Dark Ages?”

            “Well, not exactly,” Mort looked out at the water. “It means you are.”

            Mort picked up a mussel shell from a collection he had started earlier in the week. He stroked the purple-black linee that formed the striations on the outside of the shell. Still not looking at her, Mort explained the key and what it meant for their future.

Write Away: N is for Niggle and Notes

While it’s true that both professional detectives and amateurs consider inconsistencies or anomalies, both niggle and notes are both referred to more often by the amateur detectives in our books. It’s probably an attempt on the author’s part to make the cozy mystery amateur detective look more mindful, attentive, and analytic.

Niggle, though not technically a mystery term, is an interesting word. It comes to us through Scandinavian in the early 1600s. It means a persistent anxiety. A suspicion. An annoyance or discomfort. Something you can’t shake off. Niggle can be a noun or a verb.

Just as professional detectives have hunches, so do amateurs, but amateurs seem to comment on them more. And things bother them more. They niggle. A fact doesn’t jibe. A comment niggles as the sleuth tries to recall why it might be important. Or a clue niggles at them as to how it fits with something else.

Niggling is at the root of sleuths figuring out the puzzle. If everything fell into place easily and smoothly and accurately, where would the story be? An author plants the clues in strategic places. Some of those niggle because they don’t seem to fit with other facts. But our amateur sleuth knows to pay attention to the little internal voice, the niggle, that urges further examination.

Notes are another essential part of our amateur’s toolkit. Oh, sure, police detectives take notes, too, and they will have scenes of examining them for patterns. But that happens even more frequently with amateur sleuths. They have a notebook, or a computer file, or backs of envelopes or write on their palms. Or maybe they use all these ways to keep track of the information flow.

Amateur sleuths pore over their notes. They cut them apart and reorganize information. They tie their notes to a timeline of activity. They highlight, circle, and underline things that niggle, things that seem insignificant but are likely of import. Some amateurs categorize notes from the get-go; others have a jumble of notes from clues listed as encountered.

Every amateur detective knows the minutiae of a murder case is overwhelming. Notes help with clarifying thinking as well as acting a central repository for information. The sleuths in cozies, especially, seem to feel the need to write notes for examination and re-examination.

What does Frieda think of her new car in today’s episode of “The List”?

            “Now don’t go getting all pinch-lipped on me, Frieda. I know how much you hate to change things, but it’s time. As to the car, hell, past time! Clyde told me the last time I took the Beemer in for a tune-up that it didn’t have much life expectancy left. He’s the one who advised me to get you another car. You said that’s the only garage you ever trusted, so I thought Clyde’s word would be good enough for you. Trust me, she drives like a dream. You’re gonna love ‘er once you get used to where all the buttons are! Wanna go give it a spin now?”

            “Not really. Though you probably should move it around to those extra parking spaces by the tennis court in back. Was that smart to park it on the road out there? You know how people speed down this dinky little road. I don’t want it wrecked before I even have a chance to drive it.”

Write Away: M is for Means and Motive

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So many possible M words for my theme of mystery terms. Mystery, itself, of course, is the big one. But I’ve written a lot about mysteries on more than a few blogs.

And McGuffin, a favorite M word, is scheduled for its own post later this year. Other M words abound, but I focused on two critical M words for this post.

The bookends for MOM, Means and Motive are the detective’s opening sorter for suspects. Means and motive provide the guts of any mystery story. The O is coming up on, you guessed it, O Day!

Most murderers are not psychopaths or hardened criminals. Psychiatrists who study murderers agree that most of them appear perfectly normal until they kill. In those cases, something happens that tips them over to murder. And your bias is true. Most murderers are men. In a study with 5000 participants, researchers found that 84% of women and91% of men have had at least one clear homicidalfantasy.

So let’s get to means and motive.

Means is an interesting word, a polysemous one, in fact. But in mysteries and crime fiction means has a very specific definition.

Means, in general, is an action or a system bringing about a result. In murder or other serious crimes, there is an intent component. The intent is to kill or to burgle or commit some other felony. Intent causes the perpetrator to select and hone the means in order to conceal the action or system or the creator of the action or system. The perpetrator does not want to be found out or caught. Additionally, the means includes the murder weapon and the facility of the killer to wield the weapon, be it car or gun or knife.

Thus means, for a felonious act, typically involves manipulation of dates, times, places, other suspects or additional aspects of the crime in order to conceal involvement. Perhaps the murderer takes shooting lessons to ensure the ability to perform the task. Means is more than the action of the crime itself. When writing mysteries, the means is one of the earliest decisions the author makes. Right means keeps the book focused and on target. Messy means, inconsistent means, illogical means and your book is in danger of falling apart.

Motive is the impetus for the crime. Motive is the raison d’être leading to murder or theft or kidnapping or other felony.

P.D. James says there are only four motives for a crime: Love, lust, lucre, or loathing. Maybe. But I do think that is simplifying the term overmuch. In the article cited above, criminologists think crime has two bases: instrumental (gain of money or something else) or expressive (anger leading to impulsive killings). Perhaps. But there is a pathology for serial killers that doesn’t match that. Motives are complex and thus can be fun for the mystery writer to develop.

After extensive research into kinds of motives (okay, an hour on the Internet), I came up with dozens of motives. I am categorizing murder motives in a future blog post for you to use in your books. I will give examples of how the motive plays out. I could do a similar chart for other felonies, and I may.

Think of why someone would resort to murder. What could be a motive for a heinous act? Could you ever reach that point? If so, what are the circumstances of such a situation? I would kill, I think, to protect my children. Try putting yourself into the mind of the murderer as a way to develop a reasonable motive and one you could write about honestly and authentically.

Read on to see what happens with Mort and Frieda in “The List”. 

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            Mort faced Frieda. “Is that what you think of me? Is that how you see it when I try to take care of you?”

            “Take care of me? Oh, yes, I see you very clearly. Everything’s about you and your comfort. What you want with never a concern about me and the pressures I face and the magnifying glass that is on me and all my actions. A nobody like you can fly under the radar, but I, I am always on display. Why, not more than a week goes by but I don’t get asked for my autograph. Whoever asked for your autograph or asked you to speak to ten thousand people?”

            Mort picked up his gin and tonic and sipped. Putting the glass back on the table, he peered into her concealed eyes.  “Nobody knows me, you’re right, and that’s just fine with me. I’d rather make my millions quietly. And just when did you last speak to ten thousand people, Frieda? I think you don’t get it that your star is no longer rising. I’ve tried to shield you, but your contract may not be renewed. It’s time to start making plans for the future.”

            “I have my future, and it’s just like my past. Calm, ordered, boring even. I hate drama. And you’re wrong about my contract. There’s just a delay getting the details worked out. I’m certain the contract is in the works. But my car? How could you get rid of my car?”

Write Away: C is for Clues, Crime, and Custody

It amazed me, as I prepped for this challenge, just how many options I had for most letters, and C was one of those. I chose this big three because they are central to mystery and crime writing. The mystery or crime fiction story begins with the crime, which leaves clues, and ends with custody.

Clues are left after any crime. Some are very subtle and only make sense in conjunction with other clues, such as a timeline of suspects’ actions. Others are bold and obvious and supportive of other evidence, like DNA analysis. But some clues are planted to be distractors or are misinterpreted in light of other evidence.

Susan Spann, in an article on writing mysteries on Chick Wendig’s “Terrible Minds” says there are three kinds of clues: “genuine clues” that point to the criminal; “fake clues” meant to lead the reader and detective in another direction; and “pivotal clues” meant to change or shift the investigation in the story. The mystery writer needs to make a list of each to sprinkle into the story.

Some pivotal clues lead to the breakthrough from yesterday’s post. In story arc terms, they probably occur at the major turning points.

Crime is an unlawful act for which there are penalties if apprehended (a really good A word). In most mysteries and crime fiction, the most common crime is murder. Murder is the ultimate stakes. One can recover from a burglary or robbery or can usually recover from assault and battery. There’s no coming back from murder. The higher the stakes, the more engaged readers tend to be. But there are lots of other crimes, that written well, can also draw in readers. That’s why we use the modifier “murder mystery” to identify the mystery’s crime.

Custody is a synonym for being imprisoned or jailed. The suspect is locked up, does time, or goes inside. An interesting thing about custody relates to due process rules on questioning and Miranda rights. More on those in later entries. Suffice it to say, you may be confused about how interrogation happens legally as I used to be. I can clear that up for you.

Being in custody is the direct result of being arrested, but not all custody comes from arrests. Custody can result from other actions as well, such as the suspect submitting to the authority of a public safety official or being detained for questioning.

An arrest means you were charged with a crime. For serious crimes the suspect can be held in custody for a long time, with a judge determining if the person can be released on bail pending trial.

If not arrested, but only detained (held in custody) for questioning, police can hold a suspect for eight hours, only four of which can be questioning.

Now let’s get to part 3 of our continuing tale:

Categorizing her questions was a brilliant move she’d made decades ago. Now she had a pool of answers she could tap into so the responses seemed genuine, heartfelt, and on the mark. Still each answer required her to personalize it because people had a way of sending the damn things in and later asking for them to be reprinted. She obliged, but it wouldn’t do to have the exact words appearing over and over! She sighed as she picked up a folder of the latest stack of repeated questions and answers she’d given.

Why couldn’t people be more original or, maybe more appropriately, why was there such a limited supply of situations that caused angst? Why didn’t she ever get a letter that said the person was a serial killer and wanted to off her? Why didn’t a thief want to know how to anonymously return the stolen goods? Why didn’t abusive priests seek absolution from her? Now those would be questions to sink her teeth into. These petty issues about cheating husbands and out-of-control children, over and over and over, were boring. She sighed, picked through some of the letters and began to read one.

What is the April A-Z Blog Challenge?

This is my third year of participating in the annual AprilA-Z Blog Challenge. I love this challenge for several reasons: I grow as a writer, I meet new people who find my blog, I discover new blogs to follow, and it’s just so much dang fun to plan and execute! You can still sign up, but you'd better hurry!

I always have several ideas for an A-Z blog focus for April, so I pick the one that fits best the blog I am writing for. Because I have three blogs, with very different foci, I have options for the April challenge. "Write Away" wins this year.

Every day (except Sundays) bloggers post something that begins with an alphabet letter, in alpha order. Four Sundays subtracted from thirty days gives 26 posts to write. This year, Wednesday April 1 is A, April 2 is B, and so on. 26 days for the 26 letters. But in 2017, there are five Sundays, so I am curious what we’ll be told to do that year.

I discovered most bloggers use a theme which makes writing posts easier and the whole body of posts is more cohesive. But I didn’t know that when I started in April, 2013. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing so it was a hodge-podgey kind of month, but centered around relationships with some days better than others. You can check the archived posts for April, 2013 at“Romance Righter”

In 2014 I got more focused and did cooking terms and equipment at “Parsley, Sage and Rosemary Time”. My posts caught the eye of the A-Z Challenge organizers, and I was featured in an interview you can read here.        Check out my archived posts for April 2014 

So what’s up for 2015?

This year, I am writing about terms mystery/crime writers know and use, so this is sort of Mystery Writing 101, but with some new information or insights, I hope, for even experienced writers.

In addition to “the term of the day”, I am writing a short story for you (sorry, not a mystery but it does have a twist--hmm! Could that be the "T" word?). The opening paragraph begins with the letter of the day. (Stay tuned for “X”, right?)

So, come back tomorrow and every day in April except for Sundays. I get Sundays off for bad behavior. I think that’s what the organizers said. 

April A-Z Blog Challenge

Coming soon to a blog near you! At my blog, in April, you get a two-fer! Here’s a sample:

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W is for Walk-on Characters

Ever write a story with walk-on characters? [That’s my W word on Day 23.]

Walk-ons shouldn’t be throwaway characters. Nor should they be extraneous. Each character in your story …

Story--W: Day 23

         “Will you help? Please?” She sat next to his cooling body, picked up a lifeless hand, and looked up at her captor. “I don’t want to leave him like this.”

         She thought she caught a flicker of doubt in his eyes as he shifted them to the wagon behind her. …

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Come back on Day 23 to read more. Better still, mark your calendar to start following me daily (except Sundays) in April. Each day you will get a two-fer! I’ll post a writing tip or tidbit for authors, and then I will post the next segment of a story broken into 26 pieces. Each day’s story segment will begin with that day’s letter of the alphabet. Doesn’t that sound like too much fun???

If you have a blog and haven’t signed up for the most fun Internet challenge ever, now is your chance! Visit the A-Z challenge site

and add your name to the hundreds of others. By April 1^st, there will be thousands of us. I just signed up and am super excited for this year’s challenge to begin.

Two years ago I posted on “Romance Righter” about random words. Okay, I was just getting the hang of it. It got better.

Last year I posted on “Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time”. This January I was interviewed about my posts on food terms and techniques, and it was published on the A-Z blog site. Yay!

This year I am posting on my third blog, “Write Away”. Trying to share the love. Ya’ll come back in April. Of course, I’d love to have you visit me before that, too. On Tuesdays, I post a new piece. Check out my archives and add me to your blog visitation schedule! I have great fun here!