That's everything from Val
Thanks to Val for her time in answering everyone’s questions. She’s signed off:
Before that new book arrives, you can check out her most recent one The Skeleton Road, which is out in paperback this week. Meanwhile the Wellcome Collection exhibition tying in with her recent book Forensics continues until 21 June.
Suzanne Geeves asks:
Do you enjoy being on TV ? You are a very interesting guest.
Guardian contributor Thank you, but I've always thought I had a better face for radio...
Alexia Drew asks:
Following the Jane Austen series are there any other authors/novels that Val would like to reinterpret?
Guardian contributor
insanedreamer also asks:
I’ve heard it said that “there’s no such thing as good writing, only good re-writing”. Would you agree with that? You mentioned you start each day going over the previous days work. But besides that, do you find yourself laboring over and over chapters or passages to get them to where you’re happy with them, or does the writing generally flow out the way you want from the start and you mostly just have to polish it up afterwards?
Guardian contributor It depends. Some days it flows beautifully then when I look at it again I end up doing a lot of rewriting. Some days, it flows beautifully and reads well. And some days it is, as my friend Nevada Barr once said, like carving granite with a teaspoon. Word by word...
insanedreamer asks:
Do you ever face the fear that your next book won’t be as good as the last one or a your previous “best”? If so, how do you overcome that?
Guardian contributor I think it's the constant fear of any writer. You just have to grit your teeth and fare forward in a state of hope. A fellow writer, an alleged friend, once said to me, 'When one is as prolific as you, surely that increases the statistical probability of producing a stinker?' Thanks, pal...
'Humans are very inventive when it comes to discovering methods and motives for committing acts of destruction against each other'
DanHolloway asks:
How do you balance the highly distinctive signature tone of a series with the need to keep each book, and each set of crimes, different but believable? Do you think there is a point at which a series will naturally have run its course, and what factors determine when that is?
Guardian contributor Good question! The way it works for me is that I only ever take it one book at a time. So, I'm currently working on the ninth Tony Hill and Carol Jordan novel but I had no idea what it was going to be about until I was closing in on the end of the previous one. In that sense, it stays fresh every time because it's built directly on what went before, not on some preconception about where the series/characters have to go. When it comes to the crimes, I'm never short of ideas. Other humans are very inventive when it comes to discovering methods and motives for committing acts of destruction against each other and I often find that a useful starting point for evolving a story.
There does come a point in any series where it's time to say goodbye to characters. Either their lives or the crimes they investigate start to become beyond belief. Or else the writer loses interest in writing about them. I hope I will always recognise when that happens. I've already let go two series characters, so I hope I can be brave enough to continue that when it's necessary. Some writers don't let go when the should, and I don't want that to be my epitaph!
tyorkshiretealass asks:
What advice would you give to someone who is starting to write crime fiction? I’m currently working on a murder mystery set in Roman Britain but feel I’m getting bogged down in research (the whole ‘write what you know’ when I’m neither a murderer nor living in Roman Britain) and struggling to actually get going. To that extent, how important do you feel research is - is it better to know all your details before you begin or to just start and fill in the knowledge gaps later?
Guardian contributor In my experience, research falls into two broad categories -- what you absolutely need to know about your world and its inhabitants before you can begin, and all the other stuff that you discover you need to know as you go along. Keep that first category as tight as you can and then push off into the deep end.
Updated
'A book I threw across the room in disgust? Too many to mention'
ilGatto asks:
Has there ever been a book you threw across the room in disgust and couldn’t finish? Mine is The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
Guardian contributor Updated
Darell Philip asks:
Recently we celebrated World Book Day. What are some of your favourite books, authors and characters from your childhood and why?
Guardian contributor I loved reading when I was a kid and read my way round the shelves of Kirkcaldy Central Library, which is still a temple of books. Among the writers I enjoyed most are Elinor M Brent-Dyer, Tove Jansson, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jane Shaw and C S Lewis. What they all have in common is that they were great story tellers and, Stevenson apart (except for Kidnapped and Catriona), writers who understood the joys of series fiction -- that delicious process of picking up a book that is already like an old friend because you know the central characters.
zendik asks:
- I’ve always wanted a formal sequel to Killing the Shadows. Will I get it???
- how has the writing process changed for you over the years. Is it easier/harder? Does the process flow better or worse, and do you have any insights into why.
Guardian contributor Killing the Shadows will almost certainly remain a standalone. I don't think there's enough that's distinctive about geographic profiling to sustain a second novel.
My writing process changed dramatically about a dozen years ago. I'd always plotted in considerable detail before I began a book, working it out scene by scene, chapter by chapter. I found it helpful -- it was like a road map that I could diverge from when I was actually writing, because I knew where I had to get back to. I also found it quite liberating because I could concentrate on character and setting and dialogue while I was writing.
Then with The Torment of Others it all changed. I don't understand why and at the time it was terrifying. The story just wouldn't yield to being broken down in the usual way. I had the bare bones in my head, but not many of the steps along the way. I ended up writing it in a very compressed period of time. It was as if the momentum of the narrative swept me along and forced me to the next scene out of necessity. And that's more or less how it's been ever since then. It's not quite as frightening now but it's still pretty unnerving at times.
I think if you are committed to trying to become a better writer with each book, it does feel as if the slopes get steeper every time... But I love the challenge of trying to do it better or at the very least, differently.
'There's something about the rhythm of walking, especially by water, that clarifies my thinking'
bitthick asks:
Does it ever worry you that you spend significant chunks of time with murder in your head? Do you ever walk the dog or mooch along the supermarket aisle working out the gory details?
Guardian contributor No, because I just make stuff up. I don't plan it or perform it for real! I spend much more time thinking about the relationships between characters and their environments than I do about murder anyway.
And yes, I do walk around the world a lot thinking about many different aspects of my books. There's something about the rhythm of walking, especially by water, that clarifies my thinking. Often if I've got a knotty problem of plot or character, I'll take it for a walk and chew it over. I do mutter under my breath and conduct whole scenes of dialogue as I go. And more often than not, by the time I get home, whatever was causing the problem has been resolved.
preraphaelite asks:
How does it feel when you kill off sympathetic characters you have lovingly invented and nurtured in your books?
Also how can you inflict so much misery and pain on characters like Tony Hill and Carol Jordan without feeling really bereft yourself?
Guardian contributor There's a difference between the relationship a writer has with characters and the one experienced by readers. If we've done our job properly, the readers feel invested in the characters and care passionately about their outcomes. I know I do when I'm reading other people's books. And I think about them after I've finished reading, wondering how their lives will be afterwards.
Writers are much more pragmtic about it, in my experience. We know they're just made up and they're there to carry out their necessary parts in the narrative. They have to feel authentic, obviously. You can't just bolt on random attributes and actions. But I don't grieve for what happens to them.
TheBrianSewell asks:
How would you say your time as a Glaswegian nightclub bouncer influenced your work. Did it give you a particular insight into humanity?
Guardian contributor
Noahfence asks:
How do you feel when you finish a book, and is it easy to switch off.
Guardian contributor I feel relief because I've made it to the end; fear that I'll never be able to do it again; and exhaustion because I won't have slept properly for the past week!
I've always found it easy to switch off once I've finished that first draft. A good long walk by the sea generally does the trick.
ASHF asks:
Controversial question, maybe, Val - but I find the choice of new crime novels available now is far too great (particularly when you include ebook only releases). I find it very difficult to find the good stuff amidst all the dross. Therefore, are too many people writing crime novels who, perhaps, shouldn’t?
Guardian contributor On the other hand, there is more good crime fiction around than ever before. Theodore Sturgeon the great SF writer, posited the theory that 95% (I think) of any artistic endeavour was rubbish, but necessary rubbish to provoke the good stuff. I think maybe you need to find some reliable recommenders either among your friends or among the many websites and zines dedicated to the genre! The gold is there, you just have to find trustworthy fellow readers to point you at it.
dothy28 asks:
If I were given a chance to meet her personally and asked questions, it would be, “how does she managed her writing skills through that kind of genre about crimes? I admire her of her bravery and the thought of writing books and novels about crimes. It is crucial but she succeeded. And that’s the spirit of a writer.
Guardian contributor There's nothing like a murder to raise the stakes in a novel. One of the great challenges of crime fiction is to rise to the level of what we're writing about -- a matter of life and death.
'Nothing short of death will make me stop writing'
Mike Craven asks:
Are there any authors, dead or alive, who you think are so talented they make you consider stop writing?
Guardian contributor I rejoice in the talent of others! Nothing short of death will make me stop writing, I suspect.
Valerie Husband asks:
Please bring back Tony Hill what a complex character he is I have empathy for your imaginary Dr Hill you make him so real
Guardian contributor There will be a new Tony & Carol novel in September. The working title is Splinter the Silence and it takes them in a new direction...
SarahSnellPym asks:
Why crime? Did you actively seek out the genre or did it choose you? And how hard a nut to crack was the crime writing world?
Guardian contributor I got hooked on Agatha Christie at an early age and that drew me into devouring as much crime fiction as I could get my hands on. I had ambitions to be a writer from childhood and a gravitated towards crime because I understood how the genre worked but also how flexible it could be in dealing with all sorts of subjects and all kinds of characters.
I was lucky when I started -- I was in the right place at the right time with the right book. It would, I suspect, be a lot harder now!
PaulSimon asks:
You’ve given a huge amount of support to Raith Rovers FC. Do you ever sit in the bar after a game and chew over the action with their other famous fans Gordon Brown and Ian Rankin? I picture the three of you on a row of stools, in your scarves, whiskies in hand!
Guardian contributor LOL. We have all been in the board room together on occasion with a wee dram... And we all have our own strong opinions on all matters RRFC!
Jane Greening asks:
Are there other authors that you chat about your work with and take input?
Guardian contributor Not really. When writers get together, we tend to gossip about everything except the work! I don't show my work to anyone till I've finished the first draft, then it goes to my editor and my agent simultaneously.
And MuppetsAdvocate also asks:
Do you watch and enjoy modern TV crime series such as the Missing, the Fall, True Detective, Fargo etc.?
And could you imagine writing an original television detective series not based on any of your previous work or existing characters?
Guardian contributor I do watch and enjoy some TV crime series when I get the time!
I'm not a screenwriter; that's not where my skills lie. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't work with someone else on a series as long as they didn't want to come round my house all the time!
'I don't think of people who kill as monsters'
MuppetsAdvocate asks:
What I relish most in your wonderful crime writing is that you allow the reader to fully experience the emotions of your vibrant and credible characters and so enable us to share their suffering and triumphs.
Uniquely, you also grant this humanity to the killers who roam your books and terrorize the protagonists and reader alike.
Therefore, I would like to ask, how do you get into the mindset of your serial killers? And is it important to you to that the killers are also portrayed as human beings with a past, their own individual personality and clear personal motivations.
Guardian contributor Entering the mind of a killer is no different from any other character. It's an imaginative leap and to make it successfully, I have to think about them as a whole person with a history and a present, with dreams and sorrows. It's the only way I can make sense of any character. I don't think of people who kill as monsters; they're human beings who have made some terrible mistakes.
QuietVendetta asks:
Hey Val, perhaps a slightly boring question but who are you reading at the moment? Are there are current authors that you think are hitting the nail on the head?
Guardian contributor I'm rereading some of my favourite Terry Pratchett novels in the wake of his recent death. Reminding myself how very good he was. And next up is Stuart Neville's next book, Those We Left Behind
amandamaria asks:
I’d like to ask you about the writing process. Do you have a set time when you write, i.e. do you treat it as a ‘9-5 job’ or do you write when you’re inspired? Is it important for you to write a certain number of words a day and then edit or do you edit as you go along? I’m always interested in ‘how’ authors write.
Guardian contributor I write mostly from January to April. It's my job, so I write whenever I can during that period. I don't set myself specific targets, but broadly I tend to write about 1500 words in a session. On a good day, I'll get three or four sessions in. I always start the day by revising what I did the day before. Then every couple of weeks I read through a big chunk to make sure it's all flowing.
Oddly, I write very efficiently on trains...
clareyesno asks:
What was the weirdest thing you discovered writing your forensics book? How is the field evolving - are there things that scientists are attempting to do that we’d be amazed by?
And how do you keep a strong character arc going in a series of books - do you have the whole thing sketched out in your head right at the beginning?
Guardian contributor I think the area that astonished me most was the entomology. And I never expected that at all.
Forensics is constantly evolving and I find my jaw dropping on a regular basis.
I never start a series with any end in sight. It runs from book to book, picking up on what happened last. As long as I have interesting things to do with a character, I keep on writing them. I think the secret is not to do too many complicated things early on!
And we're off!
Val has joined us and is starting to take on your questions. First up this is from Kimi Cowie-McCash:
James Patterson has written several books with co-authors. Is this something you would consider? If yes, why and if no, why not?
Guardian contributor It's never appealed to me. Those who know me would attest that I am not a team player...
Post your questions for Val McDermid
Scottish crime writer Val McDermid is a leading light of “tartan noir”, though she spent many years living in England and one of her best known characters – the kick-boxing private investigator Kate Brannigan – is from Manchester.
Asked what she meant by tartan noir, the Fife-born, Edinburgh based writer has described it as a tradition started by William McIlvanney’s 1977 novel Laidlaw: “[It] encompasses a wide range of work, from apparent rural douceness to raw urban savagery. But it seems to me that all of us who write from that Scottish sensibility have common underpinnings that draw us together and distinguish us from our English, Welsh and Irish colleagues.”
She has used multi-book series to create not just crime novels but crime universes. Brannigan, hardbitten journalist Lindsay Gordon, and psychologist-detective combo of Tony Hill and Carol Jordan have all delved into twisted criminal impulses, while having their own emotions picked out in detailed relief.
There have been bold left turns though, with McDermid’s quirky pair of books last year: a retelling of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime, a non-fiction history of forensic science from 13th century China to the networked crimes of today (and with an accompanying Wellcome Collection exhibition). Relentlessly prolific, she has recently introduced a new detective, Karen Pirie, in her novel The Skeleton Road which is out in paperback this week.
She is joining us to answer your questions in a live webchat at 1pm on Wednesday 25 March. Post your questions in the comments below about anything in her life or career, and she’ll try and answer as many as possible.
Updated
Thanks to everyone who joined the conversation. It's been very stimulating. I always enjoy communicating with readers. It's invariably better than talking to myself. And now, back to the new book...