Fantastic Four First Steps and Why YOUR Story Matters

 

Those who have read my previous posts may recall that I’m a long-time comic book nerd. As, in “begged for a Spider-Man comic before I could even read,” comic-book nerd. With that established, it should come as a surprise to no one that I attended a showing of Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps on opening weekend. 

Marvel’s First Family, Jack Kirby's art/influence

The story of four individuals, (Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm)  forever changed by exposure to cosmic energy during a spaceflight, The Fantastic Four comic-book (here on, FF) debuted in 1967. The book represented an optimistic belief that humanity could think its way out of any challenge, The book also identified a key component to civil/societal advancement: family. 

Love at first sight.

It’s a great message but it wasn’t what first drew my attention to the title. Nine-year-old me was blown away by FF #200 and Doctor Doom, (with a passing resemblance to Darth Vader) going toe-to-toe with Reed Richards, (stretchy guy in blue). I had seen the title before as well as the old Hanna-Barberra cartoon series. But issue #200 was the one that caught my eye. 

Exciting, with a scary villain. The action and resolution made sense. All rare things in comic book land. But there was something missing…

Her accomplishment, still has to praise husband ~sigh~

Invisible who?

Comic books have always been imperfect and FF was very much an imperfect title of its time. Nowhere was this more evident than Sue Storm’s Invisible Girl (more on that). 

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, gave Sue/IG short shrift. Much like other early Marvel heroines, The Wasp and Marvel Girl, The Invisible Girl was often written as the imperiled sidekick, or the imperiled weak-link, or imperiled romantic-interest.

Unfortunately, this (women as plot device) was par for the course at the time. And it remained that way for almost twenty years. When Sue stepped beyond the role of Reed Richards cheerleader or FF den mother, it was not through agency but through beauty. 

It was either Sue or dude in the toga

Sue did stop Galactus, (literally eats planets)...by turning Galactus’ love-struck herald, The Silver Surfer, against big G. When Namor, (the big-bad from Wakanda Forever) decides on war against the surface world, he first kidnaps Sue and then spends the next two decades trying to woo her. Dude really has odd ideas about courtship.

Sue, exercising her agency

But times change. Sales changes a lot more and much faster.

Disinclined to acquiesce to be imperilled 

The X-Men comic book predates the FF by about four years. Unlike Marvel’s First Family, the X-Men struggled, was even cancelled and ultimately resurrected to shaky results. Then a new writer took over. 

Chris Claremont had entirely different ideas about what comic books—and female characters—should be about. He punched up the female characters, gave them agency, (ideas, goals, fears, independent of men). As a result, in the course of about three years, The X-Men went from one of Marvel’s lowest-selling titles to the single most successful title in Marvel’s history.

And just in time, too

As cable television and video game consoles became more prevalent, (male) comic book readership declined. But female readership climbed. Women saved The X-Men and women saved comic books—especially as more women began to write comic books. 

Which brings us back to Sue Storm in the movie. Screen writer Kat Wood, (et al) wrote a fully realized woman. Here, Sue is introduced as a scientist. She negotiates a peace treaty with a subterranean nation. Even addresses the UN General Assembly. Yes, she loves her husband and her family but she is more than wife, sister, and mother. She is a thinker and a problem solver, a nurturing peacemaker, and a valiant fighter.

Like. A. BOSS.

Most importantly, Sue stands up to her husband as readily as she stands up to the villain. And by the time they get around to dealing with Galactus, Sue is good and over Reed and his sh—super intellect driven, near-pathological anxiety. 

Sue takes charge of the battle plan and the unimaginable risk. And like the strongest heroes, she offers her very life for those she loves. For all that she loves.

This is why your story matters: perspective, experience, and imagination, beyond what has gone before. The damsel who saves herself, (Aria Stark in George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series) the boss baddie who saves herself and the guy, (Inej in Leigh Bardugo’s GrishaVerse) and the woman of courage and integrity who stands on her own intellect, (Gaal in David Goyer and Josh Friedman’s Foundation)—we all want, NEED, those stories. 

When you infuse the story with your dreams, fears, and insight, you give one of those 6 or 7 stories evolved life. Best of all, you give someone who needs that story a chance of seeing themselves in strength and light. That is what the best stories do. 

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a lot of fun whether you’re a fan of the comic books or not. I can’t wait to see it again. 

Check it out.

I own none of the photos above. All are used for instructional/educational purposes, as covered by the Fair Use Doctrine.

From Where? Regional Bias and Character Establishment

 

In celebration of March Madness, Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon debuted a witty little rap recognizing 15 teams in the “Sweet 16.” You read that right, 15 teams in the “Sweet 16.” Even incorporated 15 team mascots. In the “Sweet 16.” If you doubt me, you can see it here.

Really, it's not that surprising. See, the 16th team is the University of Houston Cougars and this omission of recognition is not an isolated incident for my beloved city. 

The Houston Comets, (RIP) professional women’s basketball team, won the first WNBA championship. It’s like they didn’t even exist nationally. Perpetual underdogs, the Houston Rockets won back-to-back championships and it took (local) media outrage to compel Sports Illustrated to publish a championship edition—that was only sold in this market. The Houston Astros have won two World Series. Crickets

Sam Houston, the first hater. 

The fourth largest city in America, Houston is more diverse than Los Angeles and NYC, (Migration Policy Institute, 2023). We had the first out-lesbian mayor in the nation. But that’s not what we’re known for. Not our college communities, (we have five universities and over 40 colleges) or diverse employment opportunities, nor sports teams, either.  

See, for most outsiders, (means “me”) if you say “Michigan,” they/I think “Detroit.” Nevada is Las Vegas. New York is the five boroughs. Conversely, if you say “Dallas,” or “Austin,” or ~sigh~ “Houston,” most outsiders hear one thing: TEXAS. 

Only (ever) a selling point in Texas.

It might be the weather: hot with brief periods of freezing or drowning. It might be the time difference. You set your watch back 25 years when you come here. It might be our geography: far. We’re far from everywhere. Bands on world-wide tours, skip us. Regularly.

It may be our economy, largely built on beef and oil, injustice and exploitation. But mostly, it’s just Texas. We're really hard to love, especially by folks who entertain critical or self-reflective thought.

What’s this have to do with writing?

Regional biases can round out your protagonist/antagonist personality and character. There’s a long tradition of regional “attitudes” fleshing out a character. 

"Do I look like I'm from Reseda?"

Every dramatization of playwright, poet, and duelist, Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac—from Rostand’s play to every successive film—has depicted Cyrano as a gregarious, boisterous, and pugnacious Gascon. Gascons, (closer to the Basques than the Parisians) were the “'bamas” (bumpkins, hicks, yokels) of France. It really "butches up" the world’s most famous unrequited lover.

Yet, in the greatest of writing traditions, Rostand stole the idea of the head-strong, fearless, (and guileless) Gascon.

Yep, 'bama...

Alexandre Dumas first used the 'bama-hero for his do-right man, d’Artagnan, the world’s most famous musketeer. He is the mold for generations of heroes born of meager—but proud, ig’nant, strong, dumb, I can go on—beginnings who stand up to the sophisticated but ultimately corrupt villains. 

Maybe it's just about hats...

Raylan Givens, Elmore Leonard’s U.S. Marshal from the mountains of Kentucky is a contemporary example. If you’ve never been to the mountains and valleys (hollers) you still have an idea of the folk who live there from other books and movies. Same when Hannibal Lecter tells Clarice Starling (and I paraphrase, badly) “Good nutrition has given you some length of bone…And that accent that you’ve tried so hard to shed? That’s pure West Virginia.”

The mountain people of the eastern United States are known as recalcitrant nonconformists. They are the spiritual descendants of the afore-mentioned Basques and closer to the indomitable Spartans than the southern colonels and dixie princes. Most are descendents of the Scots-Irish dispossessed. These points of origin lend a gritty toughness as well as a baked-in backstory of desperation with minimal exposition.

But why should the good guys have all the fun? 

W.A.S.P.  (noun)  an acronym which stands for White Anglo Saxon Protestant. Considered the first enduring colonists of the north-eastern United States. Most commonly associated with New England.

Also, almost immediately a villain. Why? Oh, regional-specific terms like “old money,” and “triangle money,” and "prep-school." Kidding! Mostly...

Then there’s the middling-guys. Not good, not bad, just meh-guys. You want to paint a picture of them with just a few strokes? Give them a point-of-origin identity.

Shoes instead of hats

There is however, a thin line between cultural identities and stereotypes.

For several hundred years, the (penny-pinching) Scot and the (ignorant/lazy/dishonest) Irish were the ne’er-do-well butt of most English jokes. The same stereotypes were assigned to the Jews of Europe and the Russian Empire.

For several decades it was the (dumb) Polish in the north-eastern U.S. (as well as a certain Tennessee Williams' play) the cajuns in Louisiana, the Aggies (and Mexicans and Blacks and...) in Texas, and the Texans everywhere else. 

We’re the perpetual 'bamas and every year, in ways large and small, we perpetuate the stereotype. 

But please remember, in all instances, we’re dealing with living breathing people. If you find yourself slipping into invective or hurtful stereotypes, just remember the Cougars. 

A whole team of hard-playing, kids from all over the country entered into the NCAA’s March Madness in University of Houston Cougar jerseys. They made it all the way to the end. For their trouble, the national press only mentioned them in reference to the Florida Gators—who defeated them in the championship final. 

Shasta stating facts

I own none of the photos here. All are used for instructional/educational purposes as covered by the Fair Use Doctrine.

Drama Queen

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Recently I was teaching an all day seminar in writing for high schoolers at a local library. 

A few of the participants were serious about pursuing a fiction writing career. One of the young ladies asked me what kinds of writing classes she should take. 

To be frank, writing classes are okay for learning the techniques of good writing but there are classes outside of the English department that I think serve the writer well. 

• Psychology classes to learn about how humans tick. 
• History classes that teach research and might spur some great ideas for  novels set in the past. 
• Photography classes that help you to really look at the world around you and help you define what you want in that lens - what stories you can tell with a single shot, removing all of the extra information. 
• Travel! I told them. 
• Find semesters abroad. 
• Find American businesses that will let you intern in a foreign country. 
• Learn a new language so your language skills become deeper. 

"But right now in high school," I said, "become a thespian."

Janet Evanovich will tell you that she believes her smooth dialogue comes from her time doing improv. LINK.  Ms. Evanovich learned a lot from the stage, and as I write, I too credit much of my personal style/technique to what I learned in theater classes with Mrs. Baugher, especially studying Stanislovsky's Method. LINK.

Through theater I learned to ask:

• What is my motivation in this conversation?
• What body gestures make sense? 
• Where do I place my character in the defined space allotted vis a vis the others in the scene?
• Body language!
• Facial expressions - don't just say it, think it. Oh wait! That means I have to think through what I'm seeing instead of just thinking, "what's my next line?" Writing the thought process helps the reader grow with your character.
• What is the dynamic between my character and my fellow characters?
• What about the lighting/the mood as compared to other parts of the story line?
• How is this scene important to the overall composition?
• What do I need to convey here? How can I bring my audience with me as I move them through the story.
• What would my costuming look like? How would the way a character is dressed effect their movements, how they see themselves?
• What kinds of things would be in the room to help give information to the audience? What props would be on hand?
• How do you block a fight scene? How do you break a scene down in a physical or  emotional fight?
• How do you throw in a joke when things are dark to surprise the audience and make it stand out against a dark scene? How do you place a moment of poignancy in a light/funny scene for the same reason?
• When do you let a character riff - and when does that just muddle things?

Tons of wonderful things that you learn taking a theater class (available through parks and recreations in many communities) and participating in plays, that have a place in your fiction.

In the end, a writer should write what they know. The more they know--the wider and richer their experiences--the better their prose. This I truly believe. 

Happy writing!
Fiona

A Blind Date with Freddie Krueger and the Art of Thrill Writing with Chris Patchell

Welcome!

Grab a cup of something warm and let's settle in for a chat with my fellow Kindle Scout winning author, Chris Patchell.

Chris, please tell us about your background and how that brought you to writing novels.

Chris - 
I was a shy kid who didn't make friends easily. We lived way out in the country, so there were no kids nearby. I would escape into my own head for hours at a time, making up stories. Imagining I was somewhere else -- a flight attendant up in the blue sky flying to exotic places. I'd imagine shapes in the clouds. I'd act out scenes with my barbies. In the third grade, I was given my first creative writing assignment and discovered the magic of writing--of creating a new world, all of your own making.

It was awesome.

Better than friends.

I wrote on and off through high school and my early twenties and then quit. I got busy building a career in tech, and a family. 

I hit a point in my career where I was feeling burned out. My girls were little, and I remember thinking that there was no part of my life that was mine anymore. I needed a little piece of myself back. I thought about what I used to like to do, and I remembered that I used to love to write. But being type A, I didn't just sit down and open up a word processor. I researched some writing courses I could take. Found one through the University of Washington. Went to the information session. Loved what I heard and STILL, it took me a year to sign up.

My husband says to me, "did you ever sign up for that course?" Um... No...

"Why not?"

"I'd never have time to write. You know, with the job, the kids..."

He fixed me with this hard stare. "Stop making excuses. Just do it."

So I did. That was 10 years ago, and I've been writing ever since.

My analytical mind has served me well working in the tech industry. I set my first book in a tech company, and used some of my experience as a woman working in tech in building the book's main character, Jill. Little bits of tech make it into my plots.

I've managed a lot of projects from small mobile apps, to large scale, complex deployments. This experience--the ability to organize and deploy multiple projects simultaneously translates well into devising complex plots. I love weaving multiple story lines together into big bang endings.

I can remember a lot of detailed dependencies off the top of my head, which means when I make plot changes, I can go back and change all of the places in previous scenes where the info becomes relevant. It's handy.

I like the high-stakes and fast paced plot lines in suspense novels where characters struggle against external obstacles to get what they want. I also like creating their internal obstacles--the emotional baggage they carry with them that limit their actions. Fear. Anger. Rage.

The minute I started writing my first thriller, I was hooked.

I also like creating strong female characters. Jill Shannon, the anti-hero in my first book is a great example. She's smart, fierce, and a little ruthless. Not what you'd expect lurking underneath her pretty face.

Ha!

Fiona - 
What do you think makes a good thriller - what components do you try to include? What are you consciously aware of as you're putting your plot together?

Chris -
It has to be high stakes. Typically life and death, or loss of freedom. Both figure prominently into my plot lines. There also has to be a personal stake in the story. What motivates your hero to conquer the obstacles in the story and risk it all? Single mother, Marissa Rooney, will stop at nothing to find her missing daughter. Then there is the element of time (pacing). Everyone knows that the first 48 hours are critical in a missing person's case, but beyond that, what provides a ticking clock--the tension that moves your characters (and your readers) through the story? The kidnapped girl in In the Dark is a type 1 diabetic. She's got her insulin pen with her, but it's not ideal (she needs 2 types of insulin and only has one) and her supply is limited. When it runs out, she dies.

AMAZON LINK

It's a compelling ticking clock. It's selection wasn't random. My husband is a type 1 diabetic, so I know a little bit about what happens (high blood sugars, low blood sugars, etc.).

If your hero has a good reason to care, your readers will too.

Fiona - 
Let's talk about that pacing. I find books that are written with the gas pedal being pushed down the whole time wears me out. I appreciate a few scenes with introspection or a little more quiet so there are highs and lows. Is that something you include in your pacing or is it go go go?

Chris - 
Like you said, it can't be go go go all the time. It gets boring. It's like the never-ending car chase scene.

There are moments when your characters are alone and they're struggling with their inner demons. The action isn't high, but the emotional tension is. I also like to inject a little humor where I can into the story.

That was probably more true of my first book than my second.

You also need to let your hero win every once in a while to keep people invested. There was this t.v. show years ago, about an Irish family. Modern. The Black Donnelys. But everything went wrong for this family. It went from bad to worse. I watched 2 - 3 episodes then quit. It was too depressing. They took it off the air before the season finished.

Fiona- 

Another way that you can hold the reader's attention is with complex plotting. Beyond the pantser v plotter question, how do you develop the ideas for your plots and how do you refine so it's the Three Little Bears not too twisty not too straight?

Chris - 
Yes, I'm a big fan of complex plotting. I'm definitely a plotter. I start with the seed of a story. An idea. I spend some time nodding on the idea, growing it, to see if it's big enough to support a plot. Then I write a summary 3-Act Plot. This is maybe 5 - 10 pages long. Then I start breaking it into scenes--more of a formal outline. I usually start writing. Evolve the outline as I go. Major plot twists are built into the idea of the story. Part of how do you make it interesting or surprising. For instance, In the Dark has a big reveal in the prologue. Sometimes though, you delay a reveal to build tension, or a new idea comes to you during the writing phase that makes a reveal or twist better.

Good twists are part of my original story design. They're what makes the story interesting. So, while I do outline, I use my outline as a guideline and not a blueprint, so if my characters take me in different directions (deviate off the path), I go with it. If it works, I keep it, if it doesn't, I dump it and move on.

Each of my characters have their own story lines, even the secondary characters. While they play a role in the major plot, their stories weave into the whole making it richer.

Fiona - 
Go back to the original three parts. What does that breakdown look like?

Chris - 
The first act sketches out the main character. Who are they? Why are they here? The inciting incident that puts the characters on the path. My first act usually ends with the characters gaining momentum, they reach the point of no return on their journey, which propels them deeper into the story.

The second act is the bulk of the story. The obstacles they face, setbacks in the plot. Pushing against the obstacles to learn more about the case, battle with their own demons. You know. At the end of the second act, they acquire knowledge that moves them into the third act. In In the Dark, the investigator learns the identity of the kidnapper. The climax of the story. The showdown. Do they find the missing girl? Can they save her? Slay the demon? In a romance it's usually about whether the relationship survives the crisis and how.

The end of Act 3 is the resolution. I usually tie the ends of my acts with a big reveal or twist; a moment in the action that propels you into the next phase. You up the stakes.

Fiona - 
Do you apply special choices of words or sentence structures to encourage people to read in a section in a particular way? For example how would you change between the physical action high stakes pages v. the emotion angst introspection pages to change the rhythm?

Chris - 
Sentence structure is obvious. Shorter, choppier sentences for action scenes. Longer, more complex sentences for more introspective parts. Atmosphere plays a role too; setting the scene. Because I set stories in the Northwest, I use a lot of physical scene setting (barriers like mountains and mudslides, raining, flooding, typical things we experience in Northwest winters). Word choices are important--how you describe something reflects the mood of the character. Marissa Rooney has made a lot of mistakes with men. When she thinks about these mistakes, her inner critic calls her a loser. The voice of her inner critic is probably her mother's, and she struggles against her poor self-esteem the whole book. Only at the end does she accept her mistakes and move past them. Get stronger. Those emotional moments where she's waging her own inner battle use words that reflect what her inner critic (and by extension herself) believes.

The emotional stuff is harder for me to write.

Takes longer. I have to dig pretty deep to get it out.

Fiona -
For me sex is hardest to write -- I can write emotion all day long.

Chris - 
I hear ya!

When I'm writing a sex scene, I have to block out the idea that anyone else will ever read it. If I didn't, I would never be able to write one.

Fiona - 
Amen to that one -- especially the idea of one of my kids reading it! Ha!

Chris - 
I'm in denial about my kids reading my stuff. I started to write again about the time my oldest daughter was in kindergarten. That's when I instituted the rule, you never read mommy's stuff. Eventually though, they will. Luckily we're still years away from that.

Fiona - 

Let's talk about staying motivated.

Chris -
I think the hardest thing for me is finding ways to stay motivated during the edit cycle. It always feels endless to me. Ripping a scene apart. Rewriting it, until you get it right, or as close to right as you can while not over-obsessing to the point you can never let it go. So, one of the things that helps motivate me is getting feedback from my writing group, or other sources that I trust. When I'm struggling with a scene and I think it's a piece of crap, getting feedback helps identify what's working, what's not, and provides an opportunity to brainstorm how to fix what's there. Writing is solitary. Building a community of support will help motivate you when the going gets tough.

Tracking what you do also keeps you motivated. Tracking word count in the initial draft, watching your manuscript grow. And then keeping track of where you are in the edit cycle. While it may feel like slow going, just being able to see progress helps. Remembering that there is an end in sight. I know there's a point during the edit cycle where I want to burn the manuscript, or kill myself. Or both.

Having finished several books, I know that this is part of my process. I need to keep pushing to get past it. Eventually I will and the book will be finished and I can write something else.

The promise of writing something new is the carrot at the end of the string fore me.

Fiona - 

It's time! We want a good scar story, please.

Chris - 

My favorite scar story...

Well, I've got a three-inch scar at the base of my throat. One of my coworkers asked me how I got it and this is what I said...

I was working in Vancouver, BC, in an area of the city called Yaletown. It was late. Winter. Raining. I was meeting some of my friends downtown and stopped at a bank machine to pick up some funds. Vancouver is an interesting city--parts of it are upscale, pretty. Safe. But step one or two blocks out of the "zone" and it can get a little sketchy. So there I was at the bank machine, paying no attention to what was going on around me when a man approached from behind. I felt the cold chill of metal against my throat and..."

"Whoa," he says. "Is that what really happened?"

"Uh, no. But it makes a better story."

The real truth was that I had surgery to remove a cyst. Apparently the surgeon was either drunk, or used popsicle sticks. Maybe both. 

Afterwards, I had a drainage tube and a long row of staples closing the wound. I looked like I'd gone on a blind date with Freddie Krueger. I should have been horrified when I looked in the mirror. Instead, I burst out laughing. That was 20 years ago.

Fiona - 
Ha! You got me -- I totally thought you were a crime victim. Thanks so much for coming and hanging out!

Readers, you can stay in touch with Chris:
Website - http://www.chrispatchell.com
Facebook
Twitter - @chris_patchell


I hope this was helpful. As always, a big thank you ThrillWriters and readers for stopping by. Thank you, too, for your support. When you buy my books, you make it possible for me to continue to bring you helpful articles and keep ThrillWriting free and accessible to all.


Chat Conversation End

I Haven't Got a Clue: Clue Awareness for Crime Writers

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you have a character looking for clues?

It is important for your investigators to be calm and in the right frame of mind to be effective. So by adding distractions - personal or professional -- your investigator can make mistakes.

This article can pertain to a search because of a crime (for clues or perpetrator), a severe weather event, or a missing person. 

Your investigator is a human being. And humans, even the best of the best, can and do miss clues along the way.

Negatives to successfully finding clues might include:

• fear
• stress
• grouping (when searchers cluster together)
• some medications
• noise
• chatting
• speed
• ego***
• preconceived ideas - for example, you're looking for a missing toddler who wandered off; you discount the beer can and cigarette. The baby didn't use those, but maybe this is a crime scene not a missing person.
• alcohol
• nicotine
• caffeine

The larger the search area, the harder it is to contain, protect, and find pertinent data. GO HERE for a blog article to understand more about this and to understand means such as vacuuming that can be employed to find every possible piece of evidence.

• Knowing about the subject helps
• The investigator needs to open all of their senses, including their intuition.

But let's say you're in a larger area - a state park for example. Weather, bugs, animals can all work to degrade evidence. AND it is extremely hard to find.

I recently was on a training weekend where I followed a clue trail. This trail was bound by markers and we walked at normal pace, using searching techniques to try to find the hidden clues. I found the two bottles, the stuffed dog, the golf balls, and wrapping papers. I missed the brown glove laying in the brown soil under the brown log. I missed the pile of bullets at the end of the log in the leaves. I missed the weathered map caught in the tree branches. 

I hit 65% of the possible clues from the beginning of the trail to the end. And that's when we knew exactly where the person of interest had travelled.  That meant 35% of the clues I passed over. As a matter of fact, everyone missed the bullets and casings. 15 trained searchers following the same trail, looking for clues, and not one of us found the bullets (Or the rubber ducky who was sitting in the yellow leaves). 

Clues are going to go unfound. Every time someone goes into that area, details change. Bring a trailing or tracking dog in and that's going to have it's own set of changes. 

Another task we were sent on was to clear large areas for clues when we didn't know if someone had gone in that direction or not. We bagged, tagged, and GPS identified locations on a whole lot of trash. Some of the garbage in our sweep we could identify as weathered to a time period prior to the timeframe we were working with. But still, if you're sweeping large areas, it's a mixture of luck and experience that's going to find something of importance. I found two golf balls and a pair of glasses. Turns out the glasses weren't part of the clues that were laid -- sorry to the guy who lost his glasses, I hope he got home okay.

How you go about a sweep:
You have a search team of say 4 people. You place a paper on the ground and person A goes as far right as they can until they are just catching that paper in their left peripheral vision.  Then the middle person B puts the paper in their right peripheral vision and a second paper in their left peripheral then person C  puts that paper in their peripheral. So hopefully as the eyes are sweeping, the whole area is seen. (x = paper). 

Person D is the Field Team Leader and is watching navigation and communications.

A        x          B         x        C

                 D

Person C is tying a piece of marking tape every few feet on the right. At the end of the tsked search area, they reconfigure so that they return to base searching the next space over. 

^ and v = direction of travel.

^                        ^                   ^

^                        ^                   ^

A        x            B         x        C           x

      D                                                                                                    D

                                                           

                                                           x               C        x          B         x        A

                                                                             V                   V                   V                                                                                                                                                      V                   V                   V

  

Teams of 6-9 are the norm. The team can be bigger and work this way. However, more than nine, and it's a problem.

USE THE RIGHT TERM

What are your investigators looking for?

• signs - indications that someone has passed that way.
• tracks (a track is a sign that is identifiable to a specific person/animal)
• clue - is an indication of a subjects passage through an area. These might include:
• physical items - personal items, campfire, foot prints
• occurrence - like noticing that the animals are spooked. Birds suddenly taking flight.
• information - such as interviewing. "Sure, I saw Billy-John on the trail today. He were about say two miles east as the crow flies. You ain't gonna find him round here no more. He was hot footin' it up the mountain."

What happens if a clue is found?

The person who finds something calls a halt to the search team. The team leader examens the item, and will call it in to command and command will inform the team what to do. 

• Bag it, flag it (put marking ribbons in the area. 3 ribbons is the signal), and get GPS coordinates.
• Leave it in place. If it is to be left in place then the searcher must do their best to protect the clue from further degradation. For example if it's a footprint, a cage of sticks might be set in the ground to stop others from walking over it. A plastic bag might be placed over the top of the cage to preserve against wind, rain, dew. . .

Speaking of tracks - they are often the most numerous clues. The average human leaves more than two thousand steps in a mile. That's a lot of clues (direction of travel etc.) to be found. The best place to look for tracks are in track traps. A track trap is any area that can hold an obvious track if someone steps in it. (So those on the search for clues need to NOT step in these areas.)

• ant hills
• mud 
• stream bank
• snow
• crop fields

I hope this was helpful. As always, a big thank you ThrillWriters and readers for stopping by. Thank you, too, for your support. When you buy my books, you make it possible for me to continue to bring you helpful articles and keep ThrillWriting free and accessible to all.