HELP! (motivation/reason needed for killer to contact detective)

Keep writing and come back to it?

Post it in SYW?

Cheers,
Rob

Ask what is the motive for the killer to contact the detective. Taunting? Explanation of his past actions? Forgiveness? A threat?

Yep, I'd agree with Rob. Just keep writing and come back to it later. You never know, in a few weeks, or days, you may stumble upon the perfect way to write it without even realising. But without really seeing it and knowing why the killer is contacting the detective, it is difficult to know how to help. If you posted a sample in the SYW, you may get some great opinions and feedback on it from the guys and gals over there.

What I would do because I'm a queen of the Backspace, write out different versions as they come to, wait 2-3 days read it over, edit-delete-fit pieces together as you see fit...
~Could she be indicating she knows who next victim is? Or maybe that there is a victim they don't know about yet?
Christine

You should move this to SYW, but I'll tell you right now, except a lot of red and blue in the crits.

kerri, this needs to go in the Share Your Work forum (the password is vista). I'd suggest editing your post here, taking out the story and then adding a link pointing to it in the SYW forum. Also, to make it easier, double space the paragraphs.

kerrivitale said:

it's a good thing nobody can see me right now...
embarassed
how do i add a link? i've never done that before
even more embarassed

Click to expand...

The easiest way is, once you have posted it in the SYW forum, copy and paste that page address into your post in this thread.

In that case, just copy it and go to the Share Your Work forum.
Let the mods clean up the mess

You need to edit your link - and have a mod move your post in SYW. Your link goes to a blank "new topic" box, and when I tracked down your excerpt, it's in the "start here" area. No one's going to see it there. You need to post it in the genre subforum (is it YA, mystery, etc.)

> want the killer to contact the detectives who almost caught her the first time

She thinks left something of importance at a crime scene and would like to cross-check. It's something innocuous for the detectives, some kind of ring. But it's the butcher's lucky charm, soothing her often violent urges; she feels helpless without it.

Just a thought.

-cb

She finds out a copy cat murder has been commited and she's pissed at someone else taking the glory?

Find out what clues the detective has in order to derail the investigation.

Curiosity.

What does the killer want to achieve by contacting the detective? And the killer better have a mighty good reason to risk getting caught!

What sort of person is your killer? Smug? Desperate?

And, really, do they have to contact the detective? In my mind, only the biggests of jerks who's the most smug would contact the detective, and only to gloat and taunt. I'd have trouble with that in a story. I'd feel like the writer just wanted to put their two favorite character creations together for a little chat...

Just to be a picky person, this woman sounds like you are setting her up as a serial killer. There has never been a female serial killer. Ever. Yes, you can point to Eileen Wournus but to most experts she does not fit the profile of a serial killer. the term "serial killer" is thrown around a lot without people understanding the true parameters of serial killers.

If a person murders ten people, that does not make them a serial killer automatically.

There have been women who have killed all their husbands, possibly some of their children, but they are not serial killers. They are mass murderers, repeat killers, but not serial killers. So, as a reader, if i were to look at a book that purports to have a female serial killer, i would be extremely sceptical. I realize it's fiction, but that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. I don't know if she is a serial killer, or if you are setting her up as one, so that's just my opinion, for what it's worth.

Hey Nev,

What is the difference between a serial killer and a mass murderer? I was thinking that it would have to be that a serial killer has a pattern and one specific motive? Am I right?

Yes, a serial killer has a pattern and does things for psychological and sexual gain. The pattern is exact, must be repeated, and is always the same. He will take trophies. he will visit the site of the killing or the burial site again and again in order to relive the thrill. He often contacts the authorities in some way and taunts them. I think sometimes he contacts them in a really obscure way that makes sense to him but that the authorities miss because they don't understand his patterns and reasoning.

A repeat killer just kills people because they are in the way of what he or she wants. Their motives vary, the method can vary, although they usually find something that works for them the best, but not always. There is no sexual gain from it and they have no pattern. The victims can be robbery victims, or drive by shooting victims, or other gang-related victims. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

For women who kill their husbands, usually it's monetary gain. get a guy, get his money or a life insurance policy then off him. Repeat as necessary. Or in some cases, instead of killing the husband, the wife just disappears. She goes somewhere else, re-establishes a life, marries someone and repeats the pattern.

Women who kill their children, in the cases I have read about, all have done it because the child was perceived to be in the way of something the mother wants, usually it involves a boyfriend. Except of course for Munchhausen by Proxy, but that is a specific mental illness. And I don't think that women who have Munchausen kill their children often but keep them sick for a very long time. I don't know that much about it.

Thanks, so is part of the motive in a serial killer always sexual? Or would it be an and/or ?

Yes always sexual.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_river_killer

Two of the most notorious serial killers in the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pickton

The worst Canadian one. And I still believe his brother knew all about it and did nothing.

anyway, lets not derail this thread. lol

nevada said:

anyway, lets not derail this thread. lol

Click to expand...

eeps

Have you sold the first book?

Just wondering because I'm concerned that your killer gets away at the end which is a major breaking of a genre convention. I don't think the ending will make you a lot of friends amongst editors and agents.