 Mystery: February 22, 2023 Issue [#11826] |
This week: Is It Mystery, Thriller, or Suspense? Edited by: Carol St.Ann  
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“Secrets and the lies told yo keep them are incredibly destructive in real life, but they are the stuff mystery fiction is made of.”— Connie Berry
“Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” --- E.L. Doctorow
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Mystery, Thriller, or Suspense? A combination or all three?
My current WIP is a romance thriller mystery suspense. But if I try to market it like that, it'll end up in the slush pile before it even hits the slush pile. there's only one thing to do, and it's not "rewrite it"!
How do I classify it when it's ready for submission to an agent or publisher?
The two most common mystery designations these days are mystery/thriller and mystery/suspense. When it's time to classify the genre, I'm going with Mystery/Thriller. This was a serious decision and it took some hard investigating on my part. For starters, let's do a quick breakdown on my list.
Romance is your basic formulaic: two people meet, they fall for one another, some incident occurs to break them apart, they get back together. The end.
The Thriller starts with the protagonist in deadly danger from the outset, and it carries through up until ... The end.
Mystery typically has the protagonist in search of answers to some kind of happening. (The number one choice here is murder but it can be anything.) Usually the protagonist is not in any real danger until the sleuth is close to uncovering the answer(s), and it's nominal, at best. All the while, the reader is aware of everything the sleuth uncovers.
Suspense avails the reader of things unknown to the protagonist and other characters. The protagonist may be only slightly aware of what's happening, while the readers, who know what's about to happen, can do no more than bite their nails and hope all will be well.
As I stated earlier, my current WIP is all four. In the opening, when I introduce my couple to one another we have the beginning of a romance, the thriller is introduced through the revelation that my male lead, main POV character, is in grave danger, but he's not taking it seriously. The mystery is afoot because we don't know who is out to get him or why and how far they intend to go. And about half way through when the reader learns the why and wherefore and who is behind it all, they will also learn the danger is not merely to the main character, but everyone he loves or cares about, and not even the inspectors have been able to figure things out.
Okay, so I've got a great story in my head and it's finding its way to the page. I know it will sell but I don't know how to market it. This is where genre comes in. I will want my agent to give it a read. Ideally my opening will reveal what it is, but I need to choose the right genre description or s/he will think I don't know what I'm doing and slush it. I need to get this right, and I know I have two words at most to do so. If I choose more than two, it'll be a clear indication I don't understand categories and that's never going to end well.
What about three? Can I use three words? I'd advise strongly against this. So let's break it down.
I know I don't want to use romance, because while it does have a necessary and pertinent love story, it's not the backbone. So that's out. I'm now left with thriller, mystery, and suspense.
Since the mystery is revealed long before the conclusion, I may be able to cross that out as well, because it deviates from the formula of a true mystery which would never be revealed (solved in the reader's mind) this early. And yet, the story cannot take place without it. Can't eliminate this; it's integral.
So now I have one genre I cannot live without and two from which one must be eliminated. Ah, but which?
When one cannot come up with a reasonable answer to such a conundrum, one must go to an expert. So I did. A publisher friend who specializes in mystery and thriller, advised me the standard answer to "What is the difference between 'suspense' and 'thriller'?" is a hundred thousand dollars. (Thriller)
Huge points for thriller, here. And the more I think about it, thriller is the way to go because when all is said and done, any suspense novel should be thrilling, so that's covered.
So I'm going with Mystery/Thriller. And I'm happy with that.
Now Before I go, I want to challenge you all to make full use of the three genre listings you are afforded here on WDC whether it's a poem a short story or a full blown novel. It's a given that, just like in a book store where we gravitate toward our sought out genre, we will do that here - where there are so many things to read. So, think carefully, and make your first choice the one that is the backbone of your item. (And, no, "CONTEST" ISN'T IT - unless it's actually a contest. Don't use this for a "contest entry." Sorry.)
All right, so now you have my story (on several levels). 
I'd like to know yours. Have you ever been defeated by categorizing your written piece? Did you solve the dilemma or give up? Please share.
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Thank you for reading!
One Last Thing!
Remember to nominate great mysteries!
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If you’ve got a mystery in your head:
Try out your mystery chops here:
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Flesh out your mystery story here:
or here (coming soon):
Workshop it here with dedicated, in-depth reviews:
Enjoy these great reads and decide if you agree with their genre choices.
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