THE TRIALS OF A CRIME WRITER: BALANCING CRIME WITH EVERYTHING ELSE
I recently got back into writing a crime series. I have always been a writer who likes to genre hop and while it may not be the best idea for everyone hoping to make a career in one genre, for me it works. I spent a lot of time in mystery or paranormal, and kinda drifted away from crime for a period, but then I got the idea for the Disability Detectives series and while you could stay it straddles the line between crime and mystery, for me it's very much more the former than the latter.
The one thing I've always found pretty easy for me is how to balance the crime aspects of the story with all the other subplots. That said, I won't say that I'm always perfect at it, not just because that's impossible, but also because sometimes those subplots start to get bigger and bigger and you realise that you're writing a dual genre book, rather than just crime with something else going on as well.
I especially got to that point as I start the third book in DD which will heavily have a romance subplot. My only concern is that it will explode into the story and I'll end up having to redirect the focus back onto the main plot, which is crime. So I thought I would give you some of my own tips about how to keep that precarious balance when it comes to writing crime with bigger subplots.
#1 DOUBLE CHECK IT'S A SUBPLOT
I say this because sometimes it can be that you do legitimately have a dual genre book, and if that's the case, and it's the story that you want to write, then there's not a problem. Just make sure that it's nicely balanced so that it's not all one, or making it so that the crime element is the subplot, though if you want it to be, that's okay too! But I'd start here because it helps you question and see just what you want your main genre to be.
#2 MAKE SURE THE SUBPLOT STAYS IN THE BACKGROUND MOST OF THE TIME
I say this and it should be obvious, but if you're truly writing a crime novel, with say a romance subplot, then while yes you want that subplot to play out, it shouldn't be always in the foreground. That doesn't mean you can't have it play out in most of the chapters, but that it shouldn't always be the focus of them.
#3 IF FOLLOWING BEATS, HIT THEM FOR BOTH WHEN RELEVANT
Now this is something that I don't have a lot of experience with because while I do plan, a little, I also do a lot of my drafting discovering things as I write them. However, if you're someone who does plan and does use beats, make sure that you're hitting the relevant ones to keep that balance between your crime plot, and whatever subplot that goes along with it.
Like say, for example, I was going to plot out the third DD book with the romance subplot, I would make sure that I was hitting beats for a crime novel, but also making sure that those staples of romance were in the too, like the guaranteed happy ending. It all works in the end.
So there we go, those are my three tips for when it comes to balancing your crime with everything else. I find it easier to do this myself, and so I've never really had to sit down and think too hard about how to do it, so I hope these were helpful, and good luck with your writing.
Any questions? Lemme know in the comments!
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