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Mystery: September 23, 2020 Issue [#10377]




 This week: Piece by piece
  Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

Quote for the week: "A puzzle with a solution is a game. A puzzle without a solution is a work of art.”
― Marty Rubin


Word from our sponsor

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Letter from the editor

Solving a mystery is often compared to putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Each clue is a puzzle piece, and when the investigators have all the pieces together, they can see the whole picture.

Writing a mystery (or any story) can also be like solving a puzzle. You start with an idea, the first piece. Maybe the idea is an enigmatic character that seems to be the perfect subject for a mystery story. Maybe it is a mysterious event or chain of events. It might be a situation based on a real life happening. You build the story, piece by piece, upon this plan. Your story might actually be a mystery to you as it develops and might change several times along the way.

Sometimes you might have your entire jigsaw puzzle (plot plan) built before you ever start to write. In this situation, you have to cut up the whole picture and present the pieces to the readers in a way that makes it possible for them to solve the puzzle, but not too easily. Even when your story is well planned beforehand, you might find that you need to reshape some pieces as you write.

Occasionally, you might have a piece that you really want to include in your story, but it just does not fit. When this happens, you can reshape the story to include the piece, reshape the piece to fit the story, or leave the piece out and save it for another story. Only you know what is best for your story, but in these cases, advice from trusted reviewing partners can be really valuable.

Something to try: If you have a mystery story that isn't working, try breaking it down to individual clues, scenes, plot elements, or characters and determining which ones may not fit.


Editor's Picks

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The Heist Open in new Window. (E)
Elise is called to the scene of a jewelry store but nothing's quite as simple as it seems.
#2217247 by Charity Marie - <3 Author IconMail Icon


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The Rubber Ducky Red Herring Open in new Window. (13+)
Proud 2nd in 2019 Bard's Hall Cop Shop Mystery Contest! Rare Fiction a la Whata Style.
#2200685 by Whata SpoonStealer Author IconMail Icon


The Existence Open in new Window. (ASR)
She held her breath for a while, waiting in the night’s stillness.
#1853541 by ChrisDaltro-Chasing Moonbeams Author IconMail Icon


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The Confused Coffee Caper Open in new Window. (E)
Story for a contest about a coffee shortage. How does it get solved?
#2228509 by Princess Megan Snow Rose Author IconMail Icon


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Railway to nowhere? Open in new Window. (ASR)
Old books spark a search with unexpected results [Holiday Short Story Contest, 3/'20]
#2217420 by Merry_Mikey Author IconMail Icon

 
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Word from Writing.Com

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Ask & Answer

Question for next time: What subjects would you like to see in future mystery newsletters?

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