Here's a little more on that interesting thread on CrimeSpace last week, started by our own Kathryn Lilley ... about hobby/crafts mysteries, a sub-sub genre I've just entered. One poster worried that hobby/crafts writers might be using said hobby as a substitute for character development.
Quite possibly, but no more likely than any other writer.
It's true that we don't want a recipe or knitting instructions interrupting the action, but neither do we necessarily need a graphic sex scene to help us "understand the character." Think of all the cliché traits that have been used to define a character in crime fiction, such as alcoholism, listening to jazz, chain-smoking, and bar fighting. Any of these devices can be used well or as a cop-out for the hard work of creating a three-dimensional protagonist.
What a good hobby mystery writer should do is what any good writer should do: use the protagonist's hobby as a window into his/her worldview. How does the character see the world? In terms of the next bar, or as a tapestry to be woven? What metaphors is she/he likely to use for life? A pattern to be embellished, or the bottom of a bottle? Is studying an ancient piece of needlework less worthy than looking deep into a chest cavity, minus its protective covering?
The protagonist in my new series is a miniaturist. She looks at everything around her as potential material for modeling. A thimble becomes a wastebasket. A long bead becomes a vase or a lamp base. Her thinking is outside the box, since in her mind, the box is actually a refrigerator.
Does this help her solve crimes any better than a jogging-obsessed PI, a renegade cop, or a bed-hopping bounty hunter?
Sometimes.
7 comments:
What a thoughtful entry! I agree we hobby/mystery writers ought to be wary of substituting the hobby for character development, rather than using the hobby as a way to look into the character of our sleuths. In fact, it has made me think that I ought to go back to a scene and do a little re-write which will open up the whole thing. Thanks, Camille!
You are so right!
You're such good examples, as all our "killerhobby" bloggers are.
Monica, I admire the way you always tie the main plot points into your craft (I often cheat) and Deb, you have a collector's eye for detail and thoroughness so necessary for an investigator.
Whether in your finished novels or the MSS, I don't see that you cheat. I see that you continue to teach (and be thoughtful; thank you, Monica), and isn't that grand! xoxoxo
Great post, Camille--and I love the photo, by the way! Best, Kathryn
Yes! I think that a protagonist's choice of profession/hobby should tell us something about her character, but while it may be shorthand, it's no substitute for making her a vital person on the page--it's only background.
How many of our hook crafts can be compared to puzzles? Certainly cooking, knitting, or making almost anything with one's hands--which is a nice parallel to solving the mystery.
Sheila .. when you have a minute, I still want that thumb print cookie recipe!
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