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Craft of Writing

Marcia Kiser

Coloring Outside The Lines
How To Add Depth & Texture To Murder Mysteries

In this three-part series, Marcia Kiser will show how mystery writers add depth and texture to their work by going beyond the obvious. This first article covers character descriptions.When I was young, one of my favorite treats was a new coloring book with a brand new box of crayons. The box of 64 was great, but the box of 128 was awesome. Tongue caught between teeth, I'd color the heavily outlined drawings with all the concentration of a nuclear physicist splitting an atom. And, most importantly, I'd stay inside the lines.

As writers, we need to make our characters living, breathing people. We need to go beyond obvious and dull descriptions, such as blonde hair or blue eyes. As writers, we need to color outside the lines and add texture to our characters.

Give Your Characters A Twist
The first important lesson novice writers learn is that no character, or human, is completely good — or completely bad. Dudley Do-Right and Snidely K. Whiplash are one-dimensional stereotypes. To make a character memorable, the writer needs to make them real.

To make a character memorable, do the unexpected. Years ago I read a book, which I, unfortunately, no longer remember the name of or the author. I do, however, remember one character: Angel. The novel was a suspense-thriller and Angel had a very small part, only appearing to report on, or accomplish, an assassination. No description of Angel was given although the reader formed the impression that Angel was the stereotypical hired gun — the older, disillusioned, hard-as-nails, mercenary male. The character turned out to be female, fat, short, middle-aged, and extremely unattractive. This unexpected revelation changed a worn cliché into a remarkably memorable character.

The movie "Nature Of The Beast" is an excellent example of how important character descriptions are and how easy it is to befuddle a reader by relying on stereotypes — or by twisting those stereotypes. In this movie, two men are traveling together. One is clean-cut and clean-shaven with a suit, tie, and shined shoes. The other has long hair, two- or three-days' worth of beard, faded and torn jeans, a baggy, stained T-shirt, and a worn flannel shirt. As they drive, two crimes are reported on the car radio: a hit on a Las Vegas casino and a series of killings believed to have been committed by one person. Part of the fun is trying to decide which man is responsible for which crime or if one man is responsible for both and, if so, which one?

Bring The Inside Out
As individuals, the way we wear our hair, clothing, and make-up tells others a great deal about us. We can use these as reflections of our personality or as camouflage. As writers, we want our characters to be human. But we also want them to be memorable. When describing your character's outward appearance, throw out the heavily drawn lines and color beyond the obvious.

Thomas Perry, in his Jane Whitefield series, shows us just how important outward appearances are. Jane's job is to "spirit" people away from danger. One way she "disappears" a person is to change them physically. Hazel eyes become blue, or green, or brown with contact lenses. Blonde hair becomes brunette, or auburn, or black. Long hair gets cut short. Clothing preference is altered. A quick-paced walk is changed to a slow ambling gait. By changing the outline, she changes the person.

Slight nuances also make a big difference in how readers perceive our characters. Are your character's lips simply "pink," or are they "pale to the point of being bloodless"? Is a person's complexion dark, or is it bronze, gleaming olive, the color of a burnished penny? Are the eyes the icy blue of a glacial heart or the soft blue of faded denim? Is your character's hair brown or is it dishwater blonde, mousy brown, walnut brown with golden highlights? To make a character stand out, give your readers something unique to remember, like dark, shaggy eyebrows, a scar, or an eye twitch.

Accessories Make The Murder
Our favorite mystery characters usually have unique identifiers that readers remember. All one needs to hear is "deerstalker cap" and Sherlock Holmes leaps to mind. Hercule Poirot has an enormous mustache, Mike Hammer carries a .45 named Betsy, and Kinsey Milhone drives a VW sedan. Some have a character flaw, like Nero Wolfe's obesity or Peaches Dann's terrible memory. Others are identified by their day jobs: China Bayles runs an herbal shop, Clare Malloy runs a bookstore, and Christine Bennett is a former nun.

One caveat. This is one item to give careful consideration. Whatever you decide on should be reasonable and memorable but not completely outrageous. Hopefully, you'll be writing the character a long time, so you don't want the identifier to become cumbersome.

The Color Of Murder
Colors have a language of their own. Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense, paid attention to every detail of his films, including the coloring of the costumes for his leading ladies, to create subtle, yet lasting, impressions.

In "Psycho," Janet Leigh first appears in white undergarments. After she steals the money, she's in black, indicative of a good girl gone bad. In "Rear Window," Hitchcock has Grace Kelly appear in a black and white gown, which reflects her personality as a glamorous woman who sees everything as black and white, good and bad — with no middle ground.

And then there's Hitchcock's "women in red." Joan Chandler has switched boyfriends three times. Not truly promiscuous, so Hitchcock dresses her in a dark red dress to acknowledge that she's not quite a scarlet woman. Grace Kelly, on the other hand, appears in a true scarlet gown in "Dial M for Murder" while in the arms of the man who is not her husband — a true scarlet woman in Hitchcock's world. That image of the red gown stays with the audience throughout Kelly's ordeal, even when she's dressed in a frumpy gray dress.

Twists, descriptions, accessories, possessions, and colors can help make your character memorable. Writers have imagination. Use that imagination to color outside the lines. Go beyond the obvious and make your characters walk and talk and stay with the reader...long after the last page has been read.

About The Author
Marcia Kiser writes, works, and lives in Lubbock, TX. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and her short stories have appeared in Nefarious, The Thrilling Detective, Dusty Cowboy, Novel Advice Mysterical-E, FUTURES, and the recently released Novel Advice Anthology. She can be contacted at Mek357@sbcglobal.net .

Craft of Writing

Coloring Outside The Lines How To Add Depth & Texture To Murder Mysteries

Coloring Outside The Lines
How To Add Depth & Texture To Murder Mysteries