The Word Cloud

Hey, i haven't been on here for ages as i've been away from home and i have so much to catch up on!
Two book ideas i'd like thoughts on as i'm not sure which one to write first, they'll both help me gain experience, and although i read lots of Crime i've never really written it before so any extra advice could be great.

1)
Kate now lives in the City with her 11 year old son, Chris. She gets a phone call saying her estranged father has just committed suicide (he was dying of liver failure through drink) and that he has made her the executor of his will. Her life with her father was unhappy and she's done all she could to block it out.
When she was 18 she was engaged to the Vicar's son, Peter, and due to his religion they weren't going to have sex until they were married. Kate had an affair with the husband of her best friend and feel pregnant with Chris. Her friend's husband turned away from her. To afraid to go to her friend for help, and knowing Peter's father would stop the marriage, knowing she couldn't hide her pregnancy, she allowed her father to send her away. (She vanished without a word)
Now she must go back to a place she was unhappy and face a situation she'd run from 11 years ago. How can she face Peter, a man she betrayed but still loves? How can she hide the true identity of her son's father from her friend?
Whilst going through her fathers papers she discovers something that suggests it wasn't suicide, but murder. Her father was not a popular man, the only people he knew lived in this small town, people she grew up with. But more importantly was he involved with something in her absence or did it spread back through her childhood?.
As things begin to heat up, her personal problems swarm around her, her father's killer seems to have made her his next target. Does she have in her possession something he/she wants very badly or does she know something that she's not aware of?

2)
Mike was an Inspector for Scotland Yard, until he quit 6 months ago after the shooting of his wife. He is still in mourning when he gets a phone call from an old family friend, telling him that the body of their son (Daniel) who disappeared 20 years ago has been found. Daniel's elder sister, Roberta (Mike's best friend from childhood) is in France working. They ask for him to go and collect her, thinking she'd need a familiar face.
Arriving at Roberta's flat in France he finds it's been broken into, he is seen going in by a neighbour. Roberta is frightened by the break in but whoever it was didn't take anything, it seems it wasn't burgled but searched. They had to catch a flight in the morning, Mike allows Roberta to stay in his Hotel Room with him.
When he wakes in the morning he finds Roberta has been murdered. And all evidence seems to point to him as the killer. As they have nothing solid on him he is released but it doesn't look good, desperate to solve the Crime and prove his innocence he requests the help of his old partner, who he has not seen since his wife's funeral.
His old partner is working the Crime herself and it on opposing sides, it seems her new boss is adamant in pinning Mike for the murder of not just Roberta but Daniel too. Mike is a suspect, but her loyalty to him is stronger and she helps him try to clear his name. But as they begin to investigate Roberta's life before the murder, they discover that she wasn't an innocent as she always appeared. If she wasn't responsible for the murder of her little brother, is it possible she knew who the killer was and protected him? Especially if it was someone close to her that she loved. Did she have evidence against the killer?

Thank you
x

Both seem like plausible plots - I do like a good mystery/ thriller! I think it depends on which POV you want to write in. The first is from a woman's POV, the second is a man's - which will you relate better to? that should answer your question...:)

Thank you Islander8, well the first one will be all from the woman's POV but the second may be multiple, and i guess i relate to both characters really. I can write things from a man's POV because no two men are alike and he'd be my character i created.
But i guess i more naturally relate to the woman.

That's what I was thinking...I can write a male POV - but I always wonder if I get it right. Obviously, I know how a woman thinks - being one helps!!! Ha ha...

Yeah that's always an advantage!
I use to avoid writing from a guys POV because they seem a bit Alien, and they think totally different from ladies, but then i realized no to are alike so i just spend extra time getting to know them. I think of it as writing a really butch female.
Ha!

I don't think anyone but you knows which one of those to tackle first. I'm sure you are leaning a little more towards one over the other ( the first one because its a woman's POV perhaps?). I'd say, pick one, write some and then let the crime writer Cloudies help where it might be needed.

Good luck with whichever plot you choose!

yeah, thanks i haven't written in a while and it's a fairly new Genre to me so maybe it's confidence i'm lacking...
Cool shades by the way!

Articles like this can help: http://ticket2write.tripod.com/id28.html
Not that you have to follow any set plan, but it can help you get your thoughts together and form a starting point - especially when you're new to the genre.

Which of these two stories draw you the most?

They both do! i like both for different reasons.

But tomorrow i'll do a little work on both of them, i think then see which one i roll with more.

Hi crimefan.

What it all boils down to is what you think would be the better story. They both seem plausible, so the choice is really up to you.

Thanks Barb for the Article it was really helpful and answered a lot of my questions.

Cheers Sassie, that's a great name by the way.
x

Hi,

what do you read?
what are your favourite books / stories
what gets you all fired up in the pub? politics / comedy / tragedy ?
what life have you led ?
do you know people like the characters you are trying to create?

write what you know is a cliche but, if you know enough then write about it.

Personally, on the gender issue, I'm not that well tuned into my female side to attempt a female POV.

as ever - ignore at will - good luck

Both plots have a lot of potential. Personally I veer towards the first because it has a lot of scope for relationship sub-plots to vary the textures of the story. (Like Kate Atkinson has in the Jackson Brodie crime series - if you haven't read those, then they're a must! Research aid #1 in my opinion.)

I liked both plots but preferred the first one. I like the back story of betrayal and think that would add to my interest. I would want to know what she has that is worth being killed for too. I think it'll be a challenge with her son involved, but this could add to the pressure as well as lighten it at times.

Good luck whatever one you choose and I'm more than sure both stories will end up being written either way.

Yeah I agree, I've started panning it up still a long way to go!