Meet a Jerk, Get to Work, How to Write Villains and the Occasional Hero

by Jaqueline Girdner, Ronald Hudson (Photographer)

How to find material for murder mysteries under your very nose. USA Today Bestselling mystery author Jaqueline Girdner offers some ideas on harvesting a bumper crop of potential fictional homicides.

"I've always heard you should write what you know. I just take it a little further; I kill what I know. Every experience I've ever had is possible fodder for murder. And I've had a lot of as a divorce lawyer, as a psychiatric aide in a mental hospital, and as a small-business owner. And of course, as a writer."

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference

9 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 23, 2011

About the author

aka Claire Daniels

Jaki Girdner lives, works, practices tai chi, and eats her vegetables in Marin County, California, along with her favourite computer peripheral, Famous Spouse Gregory Booi.

Series:
* Kate Jasper

Reviews

[Anna Erishkigal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this little short story for free on Amazon kindle. It's basically a reprint of an article from some writing journal or other about where the author finds inspiration for the villains she then knocks off in her stories and the heinous circumstances of their deaths, but it is information I haven't encountered before and it's opened my eyes for a whole new avenue for creating mayhem in my own novels. Thanks for the freebie!

[S. Spelbring · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the though processes behind the idea of this book. This is plot solver, or even story if you think about it hard enough.

The basic idea thrown out in this little ebook by author Jaqi Girdner, is that there are Murders and Murder Victims for your story plots in everyday life. I'll give an example. Say that someone cuts you off badly in heavy traffic. That someone's an butthead, and now your murder victim. That's it in a very basic way, but you can take it further. Bullys, generic jerks you know in your life, or even something that's happened to friends or family when someone exclaims "I could have killed him!".

The author obviously explains better how to take these situations and turn them into real life page turners, but it's still a really neat idea. I'm glad I read it.

[Leeza Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It's a short read but has some valuable information for writers that are trying to formulate their villains, or jerks, and victims. The interesting twist is that the jerks are the ones that get murdered due to the evil behavior they inflict on others and the victims are the ones who strike back against the jerks. She gives some good advice on how to create these characters from observing people around you. If you're a mystery/suspense/thriller writer in need of some inspiration on writing your jerks and victims then you should read this book.

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and sweet

It's one writers process on how she comes up with her characters and plot. It is not an in depth analysis of anything. Interesting look into the mind of a murder, oops. I mean writer.

[Karen Byrum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good info!

Not a full length book...but an article. Very interesting. Finding villains in everyday life, even strangers on the street. A quick and useful read for beginning writers as well as veterans.

[Chandrima Das · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trite and hacky. I found it quite useless.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated the tips on finding villains in your everyday life. Jaqueline Girdner introduced an interesting approach to finding murderers and their victims. The novel summed up to revenge killing. If you meet someone who is "unpleasant" or has wronged you or a friend in some way, they could easily be your inspiration for a bad guy. She offers some other insight to how she goes about plotting murders and finding murder weapons, I appreciate any published author's insight.
This was a free eBook, It could have been a blog entry or an article.. so I enjoyed free insight into writing mysteries. I was able to finish the book in a few minutes.

[Suzie Quint · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a full length book. More of an essay, but it was free on Amazon (and still is as I write this.) The author writes mysteries and that's the focus of this article. While it's not exhaustive on the subject by any means, it does stimulate thought about characters, methods, and settings and so is worth the price (free) and the little bit of time it takes to read. Thus the 4 stars (since I'm rating it for what it intends to be.)

[Graham Downs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I simply adored this little article!

I don't want to steal Ms Girdner's thunder, but it's basically about observation. It's about watching and listening to real people in real situations around you and drawing your inspiration from them, specifically to write murder mysteries, but really it's applicable to any genre.

The article really gets the creative juices flowing. I might just consider writing a murder mystery at some point!

[Jim Marsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet - this is more of a blog post than a novel, but still quite a few helpful insights into the writing process.

Some of the themes she covers:

What makes a good motivation/murderer?
What makes a good victim?
What makes a good location/weapon?
How can everyday experiences influence and inspire stories?

[Carolann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but not what I was looking for. I thought this was going to be more on the lines of creating a good villain, but it was more along the lines of how the author found inspiration in the people and things around her.

[Terry Cohoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fairly short instructional book on how to write mystery novels. I found it simple but definitely worthwhile to read. A quick read with great tips. This is the second time I've read and I was able to glean magic from it both times.

[Justin Pyfrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A killer advice

I'm not one for mystery novels but that doesn't mean it didn't teach me anything. Writers from all genres can take something from this piece and reengineer it for their desired genre. I'm surely am.

[Mark]

fun, but crazy short.

[Hildegart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the author's way of finding and creating villains. It is short, but it gives you a way to approach writing in a villain.

[eclecticire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has some good ideas to help a novice get started.

[SweetSweeede]

Entertaining and inspiring article.

[Amit · Rating 1 out of 5]

boring.. :(
its meant for the aspiring mystery novel authors