Self Doubts and a Whole lot of Research

My first draft, and synopsis is finished! Now it’s time for me to go back and make sure my plot and police proceedure lines up. I feel a bit overwhelmed with all the research that is in front of me. Maybe I should have researched everything first, but if I did I’d never finish the WIP. How do I know? I have several unfinished WIPs to prove it.

So after some self doubts and serious thinking about why in the world I decided to write a mystery, I found an awesome online source. The crimescenewriters yahoo group is a group of about 1000 members who throw out scenarios and proceedure questions. I’ve only been browsing for a couple of days, but one of the main contributors is a retired Senior Crime Scene Analyst with a wealth of knowlege. I’ve learned so much just from reading other people’s questions.

I’ve already learned that my original scenario might not fly as is, but all is not lost. In fact my oversight will actually make my story stronger. It’s times like these I really think God knows more about my story than I do. Now if I’d just remember to consult him about the plot before I start writing!