Be True to Yourself

By Catherine Dilts

I’m anxious to start writing a new series. It’s been on my mind for a couple of years now, and darn it, I want to start writing the books.

Instead, I am carefully outlining books one through three. This is taking far longer than I expected. I know the beginning and the end. What’s the holdup?

I’ve been struggling to find the right tone. So much depends on exactly what type of story I envision. When I began veering into a darker telling of my tale, it felt wrong.

Collins Cemetery in Willow Lake, South Dakota

Was I failing to be true to myself?

Most of my novels and short stories have a cozy mystery tone. What does that mean? The generally accepted elements defining a cozy are: an amateur sleuth mystery set in a small community. There is no on-stage violence or sex. The tone is light. There may be humor. If an animal companion is involved, it will be featured on the book cover. The ending is reliably happy. The mystery is solved. The bad guys or girls will receive their just punishments.

Why would I veer away from such a comfortably optimistic universe?

Insecurity. Cozy mystery authors don’t receive the same respect in the literary world as thriller authors. Like romance authors (the ever-enduring most-read fiction genre), people writing cozy mysteries sometimes suffer from insecurity. Am I really an accomplished author when I don’t receive the recognition of other genres?

What’s keeping me from writing in a sub-genre getting more respect? Or stepping out of mystery genres entirely, and tackling a top-shelf women’s fiction series, or literary crossover?

South Dakota cornfield

You might think writers creating bright, happy worlds are living charmed lives. You would be wrong. Sometimes, creating a safe community (aside from the occasional murder) is the writer’s attempt to find a safe space in fiction that doesn’t exist in her reality. Solving the crime at the end of the story is a way to bring order to a chaotic and frightening world.

Not that I believe writers in other genres live charmed lives, and seek adventure through their fiction. Not at all. I suspect some thriller and horror authors embrace their worlds as a way to kill the demons in their real lives.

The basis of most cozy mysteries is that there will be light after the dark, and the dark won’t be too scary or oppressive. Edge-of-your-seat tense, but not lie-awake-at-night terrifying. Our own personal realities are likely much harsher. If I’m guilty of wanting to escape reality, I embrace that charge, along with the millions of readers hoping to disappear into an uplifting tale for a few hours.

Right now, I’m reading a very light series, Annie’s Museum of Mysteries. The lives of the characters may be a touch unrealistic, but I treasure the simplicity of their world. I know what I’m going to get, and it’s going to be fun.

During the outlining phase of my new project, I decided that I don’t want to turn my small town into a horror show of blood and despair. I want a safe harbor from scary reality. The trilogy may not fit the cozy mystery category precisely, but it will have that feel.

I need to stay true to myself and my writing voice.