What Happens When You Lose the Plot—Literally
How my cozy accidentally turned into a thriller
When I was writing one of my early Pawsitively Organic Mysteries, I hadn’t done a great job with the roadmap of the book. Most of it was me “pantsing” it—flying by the seat of my pants.
Now, this wasn’t my first rodeo. I’d been writing these books for a few years now. I knew my characters, I knew the vibe of the town, I knew what a cozy was, for goodness sakes.
And yet.
In the middle of the book, I somehow extracted my characters from their small Connecticut town where they were trying to solve the mystery of the missing uncle and plopped them down in Boston Harbor, where they awaited a ship full of gangsters? A missing priceless artifact? I really wasn’t sure.
And I wasn’t sure what they were going to do when the ship came in, since they were ill-equipped to handle gangsters. You know, being normal people without law enforcement training and all.
So there they stayed for weeks on that harbor, probably starving and, at least in Stan’s case, in desperate need of a GrubHub delivery of really good coffee, until my deadline started pressing down on me and my anxiety shot through the roof.
To top it all off, I had somehow misread my due date on my contract (even though I’d determined it in the first place!) and thought I had an extra month to turn the book in. Top this off with an email from my very schedule-oriented editor reminding me of the due date because, surprise! He had gotten my pub date pushed up. Which meant this due date was definitely not a suggestion.
Of course, I panicked. I put the SOS out to my close writer friends, figuring I’d get sympathy, which I did. I also got an offer from one of them to help me unravel whatever knot I’d managed to tie myself into.
We’d spent about ten minutes on FaceTime doing this when she pointed out, like the wise sage that she is, that…drumroll, please…
I’d somehow started writing a THRILLER in the middle of my cozy mystery.
How does that even happen?
I love thrillers, true. And I did have a bit of a old timey, Boston gangster vibe going on. Which was all fine, except I needed to wrangle it back into the genre parameters. Because I know this much about my readers, and most cozy readers–if they somehow wander into a gunfight on a dock when they thought they were getting small-town subterfuge, they will probably put the book down and not pick it up again.
My job now was to get my people back to their town and get on with solving the mystery like, well, an amateur sleuth would, rather than a team of highly trained special agents coming up against some thieving conmen.
Thankfully, my friend is excellent at this sort of thing, and in a couple of hours we had the book replotted, the gang back in Frog Ledge, and the mystery being solved in a way that stayed true to the cozy genre.
And I got the book to my editor (mostly) on time.
Why am I telling you this story?
For a few reasons. First, it’s SO IMPORTANT to know in which subgenre you’re writing. And while I obviously did know this since I was in the middle of a series, somehow I lost sight of the key components of my genre—community is key in solving the mystery.
For someone starting out writing their first novel, or first mystery, these lines of genre delineation may seem murky and confusing. “Why can’t I just write what I want and see how it turns out?” you may wonder.
Here’s the thing. If you want to be able to confidently pitch your work to an agent or publisher, especially as a new author, you have to know how to sell it. And in the case of an agent, THEY have to know how to sell it to a publisher. Because the first question they’ll get is,
What shelf will this go on?
Now, it’s true that genre is getting a little more bendy (how’s that for an official term??). Books like the Finlay Donovan mysteries have paved the way for genre mashups that are only gaining in popularity. Right now, that’s still the exception. I hope it changes, because I think it keeps a lot of great books from getting out there. But it’s where we are.
And if getting a traditional deal is your goal, then it’s wise to understand exactly what you’re writing from the jump, so there are no surprises–or stressful rewrites–at the end of the book.
Genre is only one of the five decisions that, when you know it, saves you from mid-draft meltdowns. Here they are:
Genre defines the promise. Nail it early so pitches, comps and word counts line up.
Series ≠ stand-alone. Ongoing arcs demand different character blueprints than one-off stories.
Timeframe shapes clues. Choosing your book’s timeframe (contemporary, historical, futuristic) changes the way your characters get information.
Setting sells atmosphere. Real places boost authenticity; fictional towns give you total freedom. Mash them together and it’s a perfect world (literally!).
POV is your camera. Choose the character point-of-view that delivers maximum tension and reader intimacy.
Writing a mystery doesn’t have to feel like you’re stranded on a dock with no coffee in sight. With a solid foundation—and a clear understanding of your genre—you can stay on course, even when your characters try to hijack the story.
So if you're staring down a blinking cursor, wondering how to start, or if you're halfway through a draft that’s taken a detour to Boston Harbor, take heart. You're not alone—and you don’t have to figure it out alone, either.
Stay tuned—I’ll be diving deeper into each of these five decisions in the coming weeks to help you stay grounded, focused, and moving forward with confidence.
Until then, happy writing—and may all your characters stay off the dock.
Xo,
Liz
P.S. If you're just getting started, or if you’re knee-deep in a draft that’s veering off-course, these five key decisions can help you stay focused and finish strong.
Want to dive deeper into them—and finally write the mystery that’s been living in your head?
✨ Join the waitlist for the Mindful Mystery Writer’s Masterclass—my signature program for aspiring mystery writers who are ready to make progress, find their voice, and get that book written.
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