Smoke Screens and Red Herrings

 

Thinking about motives has got me thinking about Smoke Screens and Red Herrings.  If you are unfamiliar with the terms, it basically means misleading your audience by either hiding information, trying to obfuscate the information or offering false or unimportant information to muddle the issue.  In writing, these are common, especially in mystery writing.  They have to, or it would be a very short book.  

In murder mystery party games there are multiple schools of thought.  Some people believe that red herrings are hilarious and necessary because they add challenge to a traditionally light mystery.  Others believe that they are unnecesarry because they frustrate the players.  Honestly, I see both sides.  I've played enough Mystery Party Games to know that it can be written very badly and enrage the players because there was no way to "win".  It can also be written very well and not land for the audience because there is too much information and it got lost in the crowd.  It has been my experience that even when I write a red herring that is VERY outlandish, and I think NO ONE will believe it, people will pick it up and run with it to the finish line.  In my experience, people will make up their own red herrings.  I don't include them in large mystery party games at all because the large crowd is already a smoke screen.  Getting all the information requires the character to be intentional about seeking out and prying information from every other character.  Not everyone who plays is going to be an extrovert much less have played enough of these games to focus in on solving the mystery.  People will always be slightly uncomfortable with strangers, being dressed up weird, trying to embody a character and taking in tons of information.  

Whether you choose to include a red herring into your story or not, never over saturate your story with them.  Red herrings really shouldn't be more than 20% of your total clues and I wouldn't personally go over 10%.  The percentage is always scaled down with the size of your group.  Remember that 90% of the story is already leading to false ends.  Only one person is "guilty", the rest just have motive.

It can be tempting to think of writing a mysetery party game as a competition between you and your audience.  If you can trick most of them, you win!  If that's your goal, remember that you still want your audience to have fun.  Including red herrings can certainly help you acheive the goal of fooling your audience but it will also frustrate your players.  So when you are thinking of motive, and including red herrings, don't forget to check your motivation.  You'll have much more fun watching your audience enjoy themselves than hoping they don't figure it out.  

What's the most outlandish red herring you've ever read?  (Communism doesn't count, everyone knows its a red herring ;))

  

Let's talk motive

 

When I first started writing murder mystery dinner party scripts I did what ever modern person does, I searched the internet for how to do it.  There are a lot of great blogs that outline the basics.  Personally, I quickly became frustrated by the lack of detail beyond an outline.  Create a plot?  How is that helpful?  I wondered if  they didn't want to go into detail because then it would be selling the cow along with the milk.  Giving away the tricks of the trade and ultimately diminishing their livelihood.  I think I was being overdramatic.  Most likely it's because teaching someone how to write is more than the scope of a simple blog article.  

I don't make a living writing.  I have not been formally trained in the art of writing. I do love to read and I love analyzing story.  I enjoy editing and I enjoy writing murder mystery scripts.  So with that being said, I wanted to get into the nitty gritty of how I proceed once I have a theme for the murder mystery.  Before I can figure out who the "villian" is or what they have done, I have to create the over arching motive.  Because everyone has motive in a murder mystery party, you need all the ideas you can get in my opinion.

So let's brainstorm on the Mystery Writer Convention Murder Mystery Party!

1. Revenge
1. Revenge for stolen success
2. revenge for specific incident
3. revenge for a perceived slight
2. Murder by Death style
1. If you've never seen Murder by Death ... Just do yourself a favor and go watch it.  It basically means that the motive is that the villian, or characters, are trying to prove they are the best.  The best detective, or in our case, the best mystery writer.  They all had information they were trying to hide that was used as a reveal as potential motive for murder but ultimately only has a way for each detective to reveal information about another that would prove they were the best detective.
3. Fear, the need to hide daming information
1. has a ghost writer
2. stole their last book idea
3. dwindling 
4. To stop a crime or abuse to themselves or a loved one
1. generally considered self defense
5. To eliminate a source of debt; either from blackmail, loan, or favor
6. love, lust, or passion
7. impulse
8. jealousy
9. tradgedy
10. to get an object of desire
1. job
2. acknowledgement of acheivement
3. removing competition for love interest
4. win competition

This is going to be a working list for now.  There are a ton of potential motives and I haven't listed them all.  I personally rank motives in my own head based on the likelyhood someone would commit a crime to fulfill the motive but there are a lot of different people in the world and the range of possibilities are very wide indeed.  Certainly wider than the ones that make logical sense to me.  Don't think of this list as too small either.  Multiple characters can be motivated by jealousy but it will look different and be motivated differently in each character.  The final motives of your villian will evolve as you brainstorm and create.  Don't get too married to one idea at first.  You're going to give each character a story, not just a one word motive.  

Mysteries afoot

Okay, the year has started out nice with gentle progress towards my daily goals and actually getting some things done.  I mentioned that I had started thinking about writing again and I've been given the opportunity to start working on one of my favorites.  I am going to write another mystery dinner party.  I honestly love writing these.  I have written several large group MDP's because there weren't a whole lot of large group ones on the market at first and then there weren't a lot of good ones.  I have written one for the state patrol youth academy which had to adapt to a very large group on a yearly basis.  I have written several for friends and a couple for local games stores.  I have to admit I tend to try and innovate and think outside the mystery dinner party box.  I want it to be unique and interesting.  I want it to be better than what you can buy in a box.  Two things have come from this desire.  I usually make an overly complicated mystery for a dinner party and I always wish I had a team.

I know that probably sounds weird but, I love brainstorming.  Thinking of all the possibilities and discovering the potential connections just makes the mystery write itself for me.  Getting excited with someone else is a big part of that.  Bouncing ideas off of them, having the instant check when you have gone off the rails, it's magic.  Sadly, people are busy.  Plus, I haven't found the person or people who get as much life out of brainstorming sessions as I do.  I also suspect it's the DM (dungeon master in roleplaying games) problem.  Everyone wants to play, they don't want to make the game. Being a part of the creation means you can't participate. 

So I'll take the next best thing.  I'll share little tidbits with you.  That way we can brainstorm together if you're so inclined.

Are you game?

Let's begin....  

I'm pondering three possible themes.  I've already started fleshing out one of them.  We'll see if you can guess which one.  Of the three, which one is your favorite?  Which do you think would make for the funnest Mystery Dinner Party?  But also, just the act of writing up the summary for the ideas has made me want to write them all....so maybe just help me figure out which one to write first.

1. Tournament Trouble - Dangerous games are being played at the Mage Poke Blood Yu Lore Event.  Someone has been picking off competitors and you may be next.  What's worse, you think they might be cheating so they can win the tournaments prize;  A Rare Shiny Mega Ultra Glamour  Evolved Pecunia Concidat
2. Murder by Murder - Welcome, writers, to our annual Murder Mystery Writers Convention.  Our guest list has been meticulously currated with the best in the genre, which is why you're here.  Rumors of our previous key note speakers untimely demise are sadly true but we have rallied from the blow and have secured a last minute special guest speaker we are sure you will all be shocked to hear.
3. Upstairs Downstairs - Who do you think can solve a mystery faster?  The elite rich, or the servants whose presence they forget?  This dueling party mystery will require alliances, observation and loyalty.  Choose wisely.
4. Truth is Stranger than Fiction - True Crime Podcasters have gathered by invitation to share the story they are currently investigating.  Strangely, as each podcaster tells their story, it all starts sounding a bit too familiar.

Endings and New Years

The end of year is fast approaching.  Only a few more days before resolutions should start and steps forward should begin.  I hadn't realized it had been so long since my last update, but I had been thinking about writing again lately, so here I am. While this blog has felt more like an empty endevor to an audience of one, it is where I can practice the craft of writing and work out my thoughts.  

So lets begin with the update.  I left Iconic Production a year ago.  The isolation and high workload drove me to a dark place and it's taken me a while to begin recovering.  It has been an unpleasant but neccesary journey and it's going to be a while before I can figure out what God taught me during that time and what he has for me next.  For once I'm not pushing him to give me purpose and direction.  I've learned my lesson about rest and recovery (at least this time).  My body hasn't really given me much of a choice there and part of the dark places I've been are very morbid because my body felt like I was dying.  At this point I'm just happy when I have enough energy to clean even a part of my house.  

I have no idea what the new year is going to hold but I do know I'm starting to dream again.  They are simple dreams of keeping my house in order and organizing my life and finishing craft projects and restoring my relationships.  They are intentions to ask myself hard questions about how I spend my time and where I place value with my thoughts.  

I don't want a perfect life, or to even try to attain one.  Our world is filled with exobitionist levels of unatainable seeming perfection.  I just want a life well lived, honoring the God who deserves all glory. So thats the plan in the coming year.  Less TV and social media.  More intentional, rich uses of my time.  More walking and working on honoring the body God has given me.  Sounds easy, right?  I think we all know it won't be.  

So here's to anticipating what God will do.  Here's to celebrating in gratitude whatever God brings.  Here's to finding the adventure again in every day life.

New Beginnings, a little bit late

I have been remiss in updating things and there is a lot to update because there have been some big changes. The flurry of activity, decisions and work that come with change tend to shove lesser priorities to the back burner.

If you are unaware, the "word" for the year that God gave me was 'Grace through Failure'. I knew that meant God was going to give me a lot of practice in failure so I have nicknamed this year my year of fail. What it really means is that I have a lot to learn this year. No one knows all things right off the bat, understands everything once presented with an outline of information or perfectly recalls everything, every time. Or, at least I don't. I hate failing though. I hate not knowing how to do things perfectly. I love knowing things because it makes me feel smart and therefore valuable. I hate learning. Or more accurately, I hate feeling dumb. That's why God asked me to work on viewing the learning process differently this year. To work on being gracious with myself and others when they are learning. To view my lack of knowledge with humility and endurance.

Why is all that important. Because I was wrong about something. I thought God was poising me to start a YouTube channel to go with my blog, Dotted Lines: The Treasure Hunt to Find God in my Every Day. I was learning to be more effective on social media, how to build a brand, how to edit more efficiently, how to create content and how to build a support network. Everything I didn't understand right away was viewed in light of the learning process and I gave myself the permission to take my time to learn. My goal wasn't to be successful right away but to build.

What God was building used the same path but had a completely different destination. I look back now on my year and see the path. It's stretches beyond this year. Sign posts reach back decades, showing me where God has laid the way for me. I don't think I have ever before in my life been able to look back and see God's preparation so clearly. It's breathtaking and awe inspiring.

What am I talking about? I have become the COO, Producer and Social Media Marketing Manager for Iconic Production. It's new and I am growing in it, with it and through it. We are building it from the ground up and there are a great many things to learn. Iconic Production makes videos and podcasts for the role-playing and gaming community. It's a huge step for me and I am so please and excited to be a part of helping the company grow.

In the next few months I will be sharing my progress as we create and build Iconic Production. In the mean time, feel free to ask me questions.

Shameless Self Promotion

If you couldn't tell by my long silence...I've stopped trying to promote myself, my blog or my website.  Life is only full of so many moments and in an effort to:

1. Do what the Lord is calling me to
2. Maintain balance between real people/relationships and tasks

I have been busy.  The Lord opened up opportunities I did not expect.  I am currently the COO and Social Media Marketing Manager and Producer for Iconic Production.  Don't worry, you'll hear about them later.

That means that the time and effort I put into planning, researching, editing, content creation and writing this blog for myself is over.  I'm proud of what I accomplished and I certainly learned a lot which I'm going to use for my new job.  

I'm still going to write but I'm going to commit the unforgivable faux pa of treating this more like a journal than a planned and cultivated blog.  This is going to be the raw me, not looking for followers or influence.  I'm just going to talk.  

As promised...Iconic Production is a TTRPG (Table Top Role Playing Game) video and content creation company.  We play games and produce podcasts, livestreams and videos.  We currently stream live on Twitch.tv/iconicproduction.  We also have presence on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. Mostly, my channels and socials are silent because I'm talking for the company instead.  

That's all I have time for today.  I'll be back.

Which Way Did I Go?

I have spent the last few months trying to teach myself how to start a successful YouTube channel. I had the idea, the concept, the plan.  I spent a great deal of time working on it.  Where is this YouTube channel you ask?  Well, no where.

I thought that was what God was telling me to do.  I thought it was clear that I was supposed to be working on learning video production.  I was.  Just not for me.  More on this later.