In this episode, married co-authors Kevin Flynn & Rebecca Lavoie. Together, they have written four true crime books, most recently Dark Heart: A True Story of Sex, Manipulation, and Murder. They are also two of the eponymous crime writers behind the podcast Crime Writers On...
What's harder to write - the first sentence or the last?
Rebecca Lavoie: First
Kevin Flynn: That's the big argument we always have, is how to start the story. Literally... what the preface is going to be, what is that opening scene. That's really important... you want to entice people to keep reading, and you can't wait until the second chapter to really hook 'em.
RL: In the last two books we've written, we've actually written competing opening scenes and let our editor decide...
KF: It's great to have a marriage referee, that one time for that one thing. It's the only argument I always win...
RL: You always win it, every single time.
Do you work with your editor as you go along, or wait until the end?
KF: Usually wait until the end, but a couple of times we're like "we're really having this fight... the first draft isn't done, but could you settle this, so we can focus on what's going to be chapter two?"
RL: [Laughs]
KF: But we work together on the writing, and for the most part we give each other assignments... I generally write the outline and narrative arc, and Rebecca comes along and corrects the spelling, and tidies up, and makes the rest of it readable...
RL: I write scenes and dialouge, you write facts and figures. Basically, I describe it like it's one of those HGTV home improvement shows. I'm the Joanna and you're the Chip of this enterprise.
Listen for the full interview!
