There is no mystery as to why the 乌鸦传媒淢urdoch Mysteries乌鸦传媒� television series grows its fan base every year.

Set in Toronto at the dawn of the 20th century, each one-hour drama explores the intriguing world of William Murdoch, a methodical and dashing detective who pioneers innovative forensic techniques to solve some of the city乌鸦传媒檚 most gruesome murders.

Inspiration for each episode is born in a room where six scriptwriters toss ideas about, latching onto the ones that have the most general appeal.

One of the show乌鸦传媒檚 successful scriptwriters is Salmon Arm Secondary 1976 grad Paul Aitken, who will be returning to the community in May as a presenter to the Word on the Lake Writers乌鸦传媒橣estival.

乌鸦传媒淲e call it the hive; different brains operating in the same space and talking freely generate ideas in other people,乌鸦传媒� says Aitken, noting he rarely goes into a new season with episode plans. 乌鸦传媒淵ou get way more ideas from other people and way more solutions become apparent.乌鸦传媒�

Aitken says the hive gets episodes off to a good start, an integral part of the process as 18 episodes are written and filmed in six months.

Stoked with ideas from the collective 乌鸦传媒渂rain,乌鸦传媒� scriptwriters break off to independently to write the scripts for their assigned episodes, very occasionally collaborating with another writer.

Research is key, a good measure of which is accomplished by searching the Web, often via Google and Wikepedia 乌鸦传媒� except for political information, which is often skewed by contributors乌鸦传媒� own agendas and false information, Aitken says.

乌鸦传媒淲e don乌鸦传媒檛 have the resources to hire a lot of staff so we do our own research; it乌鸦传媒檚 a fantastic way to waste time if you are disinclined to write,乌鸦传媒� he laughs. 乌鸦传媒淵ou learn a lot of stuff you didn乌鸦传媒檛 know and it乌鸦传媒檚 a pleasurable activity in and of itself. Getting into embedded links is a great way to spend a chunk of your day.乌鸦传媒�

Writing less costly but more challenging 乌鸦传媒渂ottle乌鸦传媒� episodes, which are shot in one location and have other constraints are very appealing to Aitken.

These are a little more dense because the story is all that乌鸦传媒檚 being sold 乌鸦传媒� no big scenes, no action scenes, no big sets, he says of the more complex characterization process that goes into writing a bottle episode.

The process, although more difficult, is much more satisfying when the manuscript is complete and ready for a return to the meeting room.

乌鸦传媒淲e meet together to go over the scripts and we乌鸦传媒檙e really mean with each other as we correct the manuscripts,乌鸦传媒� Aitken says. 乌鸦传媒淧roduction (department) decides on what乌鸦传媒檚 filmable and what乌鸦传媒檚 not, how many people can be hired and film locations.乌鸦传媒�

Each episode has its own production limits, which vary on how difficult the plot is to break (figure out the plotting) and the type and complexity of the world in which the episode takes place.

Production for the new season of 乌鸦传媒淢urdoch Mysteries乌鸦传媒� starts in the third week of May, so members of 乌鸦传媒渢he hive乌鸦传媒� are now breaking stories for eight different episodes.

Aitken乌鸦传媒檚 road to the series began when a friend with an in, got him an introduction and a great opportunity, he says of life after university.

After graduating from SASS, Aitken attended University of Victoria, where he followed a curriculum that included 乌鸦传媒渆verything and nothing.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淚t was, he says, a good way to spend his youth. Following university, Aitken moved to Toronto in 1986 to try his hand at writing for television.

He and his friend with the in were successful in pitching a script for 乌鸦传媒淭he Campbells乌鸦传媒�, a Scottish-Canadian television drama series, produced by Scottish Television and CTV from 1986 to 1990.

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 good money. I乌鸦传媒檝e developed a craft of writing for TV so I enjoy that,乌鸦传媒� he says of his ensuing successful career. 乌鸦传媒淲hen you do anything long enough, there乌鸦传媒檚 pleasure in exercising a skill that you乌鸦传媒檝e learned. It乌鸦传媒檚 also one of the few jobs where you necessarily have to do something different every time.乌鸦传媒�

As Murdoch Mysteries enters its 11th season, 150 episodes have aired to an increasingly larger fan base.

乌鸦传媒淚 would say every person likes something different about the show; most are fans who love the history, so we all dig into the history,乌鸦传媒� says Aitken, who has been writing for 乌鸦传媒淢urdoch Mysteries乌鸦传媒� since 2007 and written somewhere between 32 and 35 episodes.

In between writing for 乌鸦传媒淭he Campbells乌鸦传媒� and securing a long tenure with 乌鸦传媒淢urdoch Mysteries,乌鸦传媒� Aitken says he bounced around from show to show, something scriptwriters do when they are not involved in a longtime project.

The show has hosted a few celebrities over the years, including Stephen Harper.

乌鸦传媒淗e has been a fan, at least while he was prime minister, and his daughter wanted him to be on the show,乌鸦传媒� says Aitken. 乌鸦传媒淗e pulled some strings so, yes, we wrote a part for him in 2004 and he appeared on screen.乌鸦传媒�

Aitken says the network is always looking for marketing value and having celebrities appear on the show tends to bring in larger audiences.

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 always a good quid pro quo to have people we know make appearances,乌鸦传媒� he says noting former 乌鸦传媒淒ragon乌鸦传媒� Arlene Dickinson of 乌鸦传媒淒ragon乌鸦传媒檚 Den乌鸦传媒� fame, appeared on the show in a 2012 episode called 乌鸦传媒淚nvention Convention乌鸦传媒� as a possible investor,

An international component comes from the inclusion of actors from England, whose appearance on the program help UKTV sell the program.

乌鸦传媒淎mazingly, the show does very well; every year it has been on, more people come to watch the show than leave the show,乌鸦传媒� he says, pointing out most television programs have short lives and that even the ones that qualify as hits don乌鸦传媒檛 usually make it past nine seasons. 乌鸦传媒淕oing into the second season, we thought we had picked all the low-hanging fruit and were asking ourselves where would we get new ideas.乌鸦传媒�

By the third year, everyone was feeling more comfortable and Aitken says he can乌鸦传媒檛 see any reason not to keep churning out great stories for the show乌鸦传媒檚 fans.

The only scriptwriter to have been with the show since its debut is Aitken. While others have left to start their own shows, or in the case of one very talented writer and 乌鸦传媒渞eally good guy乌鸦传媒� died, the hive is a relatively stable place.

乌鸦传媒淕enerally people get on a show like this, they tend to stay. It乌鸦传媒檚 a very pleasurable way to spend your day 乌鸦传媒� in the company of people who are funny, bright and interesting, in a job where you make people laugh and come up with ideas,乌鸦传媒� he says. 乌鸦传媒淪ometimes I get weary of the show and the stress it places, because when the machine is humming, we have to meet the need of that machine and it乌鸦传媒檚 a constant stress.乌鸦传媒�

In his presentation to the Word on the Lake Writers乌鸦传媒� Festival, Aitken乌鸦传媒檚 goal is to actually create a writers乌鸦传媒� room in which participants create an episode.

乌鸦传媒淚 have never tried to break a mystery in a couple of hours; I don乌鸦传媒檛 know how that will work,乌鸦传媒� he laughs.

Aitken also plans to explain why certain decisions are made in the production of 乌鸦传媒淢urdoch Mysteries乌鸦传媒� 乌鸦传媒� the kinds of things that have to be accomplished in a mystery that wouldn乌鸦传媒檛 be done in another show.

乌鸦传媒淭here are demands that are not in other shows, there are certain constraints in the form,乌鸦传媒� he says. 乌鸦传媒淲e take more liberties than others and I will talk about what the process is for breaking a mystery and how we do it in the 乌鸦传媒淢urdoch Mysteries.乌鸦传媒�

Word on the Lake Writers乌鸦传媒� Festival runs May 19 to 21 at the Prestige Harbourfront Resort and Okanagan College.

Sessions will include both skill development workshops and open forums with authors based on questions and answers in an intimate setting.

A Friday night 乌鸦传媒渃af茅 lit乌鸦传媒� will feature presenters reading from their published works and a gala banquet is always a popular part of the Saturday night program.

For more information or to register, go to wordonthelakewritersfestival.com.