Writing
romance in your mystery and vice versa
by Maggie Toussaint
The realm of mysteries has clearly defined
categories. There are thrillers, cozies, police procedurals with hard-boiled
detectives, paranormals, and more. Authors stretch the mystery genre to make it
their own by adding elements such as arts and crafts, animals, ghosts, music,
vampires, and busy-bodies, to name a few.
But what happens when an author blends a
hearty dose of romance into the mystery world? Does that change the
classification of the book for editors and bookstore placement?
Maybe, or maybe not, depending on the amount
of romance added. An established genre already exists within the romance world
for books that combine elements of suspense and danger with romance – romantic
suspense. What’s the difference between a romantic suspense and a mystery with
romance? Is there a solid black line separating the two kinds of books?
To answer that question, we must put on our
editorial hats and determine the driving force of the book, romance or mystery.
Full length books invariably contain supportive subplots, such as a secondary
mystery or a secondary character romance, which further cloud the “what is it”
book genre. Let’s examine the genres of romance and mystery in more depth.
Romantic
suspense
Romance readers expect interpersonal conflict
in the story. They enjoy traveling along with the hero and heroine (or the main
characters if it is a same sex love story) to experience the emotion of falling
in love. They worry if the couple will overcome their trials, they rejoice when
the couple finally gets it together. The given in romances is the happily ever
after resulting from the triumph of love. That’s true no matter which genre of
romance you read.
Additionally, romance readers expect certain
settings. They read within their comfort level for sensuality, religion, and
danger.
In a romantic suspense, the love story
between two characters is the over-arching story line. Suspense elements raise
the stakes for the main characters, placing obstacles in their paths,
oftentimes threatening their lives. Finding love and committing to each another
provide the happily ever after and conclude the story momentum for a romantic
suspense. The danger element, though integral to the plot and highly entertaining
for the reader, will usually conclude first.
To write a romantic suspense, the majority of
the scenes relate to the romance, a lesser amount of the scenes will boost the
suspense. A rule of thumb that is often quoted in the romance world for a
romantic suspense is that the blend is about 60 percent romance and 40 percent
suspense. A story with a higher percentage of suspense will cross genre
boundaries into the mystery world.
Mystery
with romance
Changing gears, a mystery with a strong
romance subplot will devote more scenes to the mystery and less to the
developing relationship. Depending on the mystery genre, sex and violence may
occur off-screen, so that the author builds up to the moment and then allows
the reader to use their imagination to fill in the blanks.
Within a mystery, a protagonist, the story
lead, actively seeks an answer to a crime or puzzle. The antagonist, or the
villain of the piece, can be a known threat with no proof of wrongdoing or
he/she may be an unknown, acting in such a concealed way that the reader tries
to determine who-dun-it before the protagonist solves the puzzle. Authors throw
in red herrings to misdirect the protagonist and the reader and to heighten the
story tension. The driving force in a mystery is finding the answers the
protagonist needs.
Adding a romantic relationship to a mystery
often raises the stakes for the protagonist. He/she is torn by wanting to
protect the other person and fearing that the other person’s motives are
suspect. The romance adds emotional depth to the lead character, forcing
him/her to act out of his/her comfort zone, and increases the level of story
conflict.
In series mystery with a romance subplot,
even if the protagonist finds comfort or happiness in a relationship in a
story, that partnership is doomed to have severe ups and downs in subsequent
books. The romance will continue to serve as a means of conflict because
conflict drives a story. Though romance is present in the story, it occurs
around the framework of the mystery, and no happily ever after is promised.
In a stand-alone mystery, a romance subplot
may end well, though it is not the focus of the plot, the mystery is.
Love
and murder
To recap, a mystery with a strong romance
subplot has the majority of the scenes devoted to figuring out who-dun-it and
how they did it; the romance subplot adds tension and conflict to the story but
does not promise everlasting love. A romantic suspense is driven by the love
story between two individuals; the suspense subplot adds to the conflict and tension
of the story by forcing the characters to make choices under pressure.
A happily ever after is implied or stated in
a romance novel.
A sense of justice is served, along with a
triumphant protagonist, accompanies the ending of a mystery. Both endings are
satisfying to readers. To determine if your book is a mystery with romance or a
romantic suspense, define the main plot and ensure that the majority of scenes
are devoted to that story line.
The
balance point for one author
The best thing to do is to write a great book
that fits squarely in one genre. However, if you’re like me and your stories
come out a blend of romance and mystery elements (or other genres blended with
mystery), rest assured that it is still possible to get published, but most likely
you will have to work harder to find the right publisher.
When I first began marketing my work, I
received mixed criticism, until finally one day an editor asked point-blank if
the story was a romance or a mystery. I popped right up with an answer, “It can
be whatever you want it to be.” Imagine my surprise when the editor came right
back with, “What do you want it to be?”
That was an eye-opener. Editors don’t have
time to tell you what your story is. I took a look at one of my stories, making
an Excel spreadsheet and noting which scenes supported the mystery plot and
which supported the romance plot. The split was about 50-50, but the blend was
bad, with the romance scenes frontloaded and the mystery scenes backloaded,
which led to an aha moment.
Yes, it’s important to make your characters
three-dimensional, but it’s equally important for the author to exert firm
control so that each segment builds upon both plots. I guided the rewrite of
the story with the same mindset as disciplining a small child. A firm stance
and positive reinforcement for getting it right goes a long way toward training
yourself how to write marketable books.
Keeping
it fresh
Though this advice is for blended genre
authors, these tips should come in handy each time you sit down to compose or
edit. Every sentence you write should be the very best you can make it. Don’t
think to yourself that my writing is better than a crappy published book I read
the other day; make sure it’s as good as a great book you recently enjoyed.
Find a way to keep yourself on task as you
write or edit so that your finished product is a better fit for an already
established genre category. Failure to write to an established bookselling
category, unless you are the next J.K. Rowling or Diana Gabaldon (authors who
broke the rules and still made it big), will result in a file folder full of
rejection letters. Once you break in, you will find that published authors have
slightly more leeway to bend the rules.
Conflict is the story engine in fiction.
Whether you are writing a mystery series with a romance subplot or a romantic
suspense series, each book must delve into a new aspect of interpersonal
conflict. Tension can arise from the setting (his house or hers), from their
immediate family (nothing like kids and pets to add spice to your characters’
lives), from extended family (a relative in need of food, shelter, or money),
from their careers (no time for fun), or even from the couple’s disparate
viewpoint on long-term commitment.
The spreadsheet idea works well for authors
who are more typically known as “plotters,” because they tend to work well from
an outline. Authors who are “pantsers,” as in they write without much
pre-writing routine, may respond better to different methods of tracking the
story scenes. Pantser friends of mine have used brightly colored sticky notes
or note cards to help get them organized after they spit out the first draft.
All
over but the shouting
When it comes down to it, I enjoy writing
both types of stories. That dichotomy makes me a mystery author and a romance
author, but most of all, it makes me a storyteller.
--
The
digital mystery is available now!
Buy it here:
A
scientist by training, a romanticist at heart, Maggie Toussaint loves to solve
puzzles. She writes cozy mystery and romantic suspense books, one of which won
Best Romantic Suspense in the 2007 National Readers Choice Awards. She has four
published romantic supsense books and four mysteries, including her campy cozy
from Muse It Up Publishing, MURDER IN THE BUFF. Visit her at www.maggietoussaint.com and http://mudpiesandmagnolias.blogspot.com/
.
3 comments:
Thanks for a very clear breakdown of this sometimes bewildering genre, Maggie. I write romantic suspense, but in retrospect some of my stories have been hard to categorize as such because of the percentage of romance versus mystery. I use a spreadsheet, but not as a plotting device. It acts as a record of scenes after the first draft, prior to starting the revision process. I can see where it could be very helpful to add a column for tracking the balance of the romance and suspense focus of scenes.
Hi Carol,
My computer thinks its on vacation and doesn't want to work. But I'm doing my best to wrangle it into submission.
I wrote this article because I needed to be able to articulate the difference between my romantic suspense novels and my romantic mysteries. And whenever I get stuck plotting a book, I refer back to it for inspiration. Blending anything is always a delicate job, but once you get the mix right, the engine runs just fine!
So glad you dropped in with a comment. Wishing you all the best with your writing.
you are invited to follow my blog
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