I have eclectic tastes in books and movies though my default is to typically choose crime stories and/or thrillers. I attribute my tastes to the detective spirit in me wanting to solve mysteries. Or I think I thrive on the unknown and unpredictable. Interestingly, most, if not all, of the crime novels I read or thriller movies I watch, tend to eliminate evil characters toward the end, keeping them alive throughout most of the storyline as these characters play key roles in the plots. So, imagine my shock when this concept was turned on its head in a television series I am now watching, when some of the “bad guys” were killed off way too early; before their nefarious schemes could be fully realized.
This not only confused me but had me questioning the writer’s intentions. I am hesitant to name the British series this happened in to avoid being a spoiler; in case anyone wants to watch it. Hint: it’s a 10-plus year-old, six-season British police series that I just happened to stumble upon last month on Amazon Prime Video. It is fast-paced, well-written, and provocative. Plus, the variety of colloquial accents spoken by the actors kept me awake while having my head spinning. I needed to constantly rewind to relisten to the dialogue to catch the slang. Thank God for streaming and closed captioning otherwise I’d be lost! (Note: there are 40 different British accents and dialects, varying on the county or region of the UK.)
Each season has six episodes revolving around an anti-corruption (AC) team of three detectives and an analyst who investigate “bent coppers.” Each season has a wildly different plot line with completely different characters investigating multiple murders. Only the AC team remains static throughout. I just started Season 4 and true to form, one of the supposed bad guys is killed off in the second episode. To my way of thinking, I like to keep bad guys around till the bitter end. Bad guys provide the fodder for the plot. They are the glue that keeps the story together.
To Kill or Not to Kill
So, I bring this up to expound upon my blog in January where I pondered the question of which character or characters I would kill off in Plague to succinctly wrap it all up. Would I be killing off the wicked entrepreneur Angela Barrett or the self-serving Mayor of Tustin, CA Maria Muncie? Maybe I’d kill them both; they were both duplicitous and deserved justice. But I will not divulge in this blog which one was eliminated, if indeed one was. You will have to wait for the book to be published to find out their fates. What I will say is that there is a couple of intriguing twists at the end with someone wrongly accused of someone else’s demise.
When I start writing a novel, I have a general idea of the characters and plot line, but I do not know how I want to end it. Indeed, I never block out a synopsis or outline and then fill in the blanks with content and dialogue. The process I use and have always used is to sit down at my computer and start writing using my initial characters and plot and then allowing inspiration to flow from my subconscious through my fingers. It is undoubtedly a spiritual process that I am convinced is divinely inspired. Some may question my obsession with murder having just admitted being inspired by the divine. All I’ll say to that is if you believe that evil exists, you will also believe in divine justice.
Divine Inspiration Never Fails
As such, I am often surprised at the ideas I come up with to continue the plot line and work with my characters. Even if I occasionally experience “writer’s block,” I don’t panic but rather overcome it by sitting down at my computer and allowing inspiration to infuse me. The beauty of this process is the writing and storyline do not have to be perfect as everything can be edited (or edited out). And I am always happy with the inspired ideas that flow from the divine. So, when I contemplated who to eliminate in Plague a couple of months ago, it was an easy decision. While I am still pondering how I will end the novel—I am so close I can taste it—I know it will come together perfectly. Divine inspiration has yet to fail me.