NaNoWriBlo: Oh God, Not The Backstory!

Also known as "this thing happened, but I don't want the plot to revolve around it." Also known as balancing story, setting and backstory. Yes, I talked about this before.

But first, time for some NaNoWriMo history on my end:

For my first NaNo, I didn't actually plan that much. I had a setting and some characters and I knew the specific plot twist I wanted. Then again, it was set in a world I had already established years ago, so no big deal there. This is actually the one I like the most, even though it gets weird.

My second NaNo was set in a whole new world (insert reference here). I did lots of planning for the setting, and I had that huge list of things I didn't want to turn into huge plot points because that's been done and I felt it was kinda ugh. I struggled to get my 50k and padded with all main characters watching the key scene of the ending.

My third NaNo was me trying to write by the seat of my pants and I failed horribly. I restarted after ~5 days, but couldn't catch up any more.

So I had varying degrees of story, backstory and setting, and I'm still not sure what the right combination is. But I have learned from my past mistakes, so, in order of the NaNos that taught me that, here's my list of things I'm trying not to do this time:

I won't let specific aspects of the setting take over everything.
I won't try to desperately exclude facets of the setting/parts of the backstory.
I won't drop all story planning because I think I can pants this.

Let's see how fast everything derails this time.

The Big Event

Right now, there's basically one big event that's defined in the setting's history, and that's the attack on the mining colony town Betsev-4. People died, people were injured, the town was damaged, but most importantly, it was an incredibly bold move. Even twenty years after it happened, this event is still present in the minds of people. You could say it changed the world. Not just Betsev itself, but the whole network it's part of.

My first idea was to go "but this is not what the novel is about". Problem is that it is. The main character was present when it happened, so of course there's got to be an influence.

That doesn't mean it's the main plot. Twenty years is a long time. Just because something influences a character, that doesn't mean it's all there is to them. In this case, sure, Betsev-4 is going to come up, and it's going to play a role, but it's just that. I wish I could draw landscapes, because then you'd get concept art.

Inventory

Words: 0 (Still not november.)
Current status: I'm fighting the urge to make Yuka more popular. Also, I think I worked out how Betsev-4 fits into the plot, but it's still kinda vague. I'm also not sure what Yuka's and Ron common backstory will be. If there is any. (And I still fail to draw Yuka.) There's also going to be a space pirate clan leader, maybe the one who lead the clan when the attack happened, or her heir. I think I have to think about space pirates more.

Putting the Crime in the Novel

I'm writing a crime novel. Well, I'm trying. There's still research to be done, details to be figured out and all that. But I'm doing this, and it got me thinking. The cases in these novels have something special. I've singled out a few things I kept stumbling across and thought about them. And since this blog is here for me to ramble, here it comes.

By the way, I'm focusing on police procedural, since that's what I'm intending to write.

The Serial Killer

I swear, I can hear you groan from over there. From the future. Serial killer plots have been done to death and back a few times. They were also the first kind of common plot to come to mind when I started thinking about this. Because even though they're ooold, they still work.
Why does it work? The serial killer is the ultimate clock. After you've found your second victim killed in the same way, with details no one outside the police could know, you know you've got yourself a serial killer. You know they'll strike again, somewhere, some when. While you wish that no more people get killed, each new crime scene could give you the little hint you need to nudge the investigation in the right direction.

The Dead VIP

It's just one victim, but damn if this victim wasn't somehow (in)famous. It doesn't matter if it's a pop star, a local politician or a bank director. The murder itself has most likely been committed out of personal reasons.
Why does it work? Again, there's the clock. This time it's not from the killer, but from outside. It's the higher ups, trying to keep things under the cover, the press, trying to get to the big scandal and the dead person's affiliates. Take too long and the killer's gone forever, and you're up to your head in dirty laundry.

The Controversial Murder

This is a variation on the dead VIP. Again, the focus is on one victim, but this time we're going the hate crime direction.
Why does it work? Like with the dead VIP, the clock is everyone around you. There's going to be debates, double standards and even more dirty laundry. I'm not sure how I should feel about this plot, since it's easy to get into exploitation territory. Also, if you touch on issues, you'd better do your research.

It's Personal

It doesn't matter if it's a serial killer or a regular murderer, but something about this case is linked to the main investigator character. Some share their secret involvement with their colleagues, some don't and do incredibly stupid things.
Why does it work? This time, it's not about a clock. This time it's about stakes. In the examples before, the stakes were vague and purely those of the police force as a whole. In a personal case, there's much more at stake for the main character than the others. That means that your main character needs to be especially compelling. Still, please refrain from throwing reality out of the window. The last time that happened, the investigator kept his relationship to the suspect (his brother, who's also a serial killer at large) and stuck to that decision. I wanted to punch him through the pages for being that stupid.

Besides The Plot

While I'm sure there's enough variations on the aforementioned plot, as well as plots I haven't thought about, there's no completely new plot. Sure, your protagonists are cops, and most of the time, they play by rules. Still, since there's only a bunch of different plots, the biggest difference between all of them is the characters. I only speak for myself here, but I can say that while I remember a few distinct police procedural plots, I've read about more interesting characters than I think I could remember. They're important too, since they're the people we're going to spend a whole book with. Having good characters also makes it possible to turn single books into series. In the end, it's all about the execution. As usual.