 Mystery: September 18, 2024 Issue [#12750] |
This week: The people in your story Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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3. Letter from the Editor
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Quote for the week:
"Mystery spread its cloak across the sky.
We lost our way.
Shadows fell from trees.
They knew why."
~ From "House of Four Doors" by the Moody Blues |
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Any story is only as strong as its characters. Weakly developed characters will not draw the reader in to the story and keep them reading. In a mystery, it is especially important that characters be well developed, because they are part of the puzzle your detectives (either police or amateur investigators) are trying to solve.
When police investigate a murder or other serious crime, they look at means, motive, and opportunity. Writers should look at these things for their characters too. Who would have been capable of committing the crime? Did it require special knowledge or abilities that all the characters might not have? Who would have had a reason to commit the crime? Did someone hate the murder victim enough to kill them? If the crime is a robbery, who wanted the item enough to steal it? Which characters had alibis for the time of the crime and which did not?
Remember that the means, motive, or opportunity might not be known to the characters at the beginning of the story, but will be revealed as the story progresses. However, the writer needs to keep them in mind while writing the story. Make sure you know the abilities of each character, their relationships and conflicts, and where they were at all times, even if some aspects are kept hidden from the readers at times. If some characters are not who they seem to be, try to leave subtle hints so the reader has a chance to solve the puzzle along with the detectives.
If characters are supposed to have special knowledge, make sure they don't make mistakes that a person with that knowledge would not make. In one book I read recently, a character who was a doctor said that a murder victim's "jugular artery" had been severed. The jugular is a vein, not an artery, and a doctor would know that. The only time a character should make a mistake like that is if it is a subtle hint to the readers that they are not who they claim to be. In a case like that, it should be more subtle than a doctor not knowing the major veins and arteries in the body.
Sometimes the characters are well developed, but they are so annoying that they make the reader want to throw the book across the room instead of reading any further. Beware of self righteous protagonists and completely hateful villains. Remember that most real people are not completely bad or completely good. A villain or antagonist should have some good qualities, even if they are small. Likewise, a hero should have some flaws, but don't make the flaws so annoying that the readers will start cheering for the villain.
Something to try: For a story you have already written or are planning to write, develop a complete backstory for each major character. All the items in the backstory do not have to be specifically mentioned in the story unless they are important. The purpose is for you to understand your characters better and possibly see any weaknesses in the story that are due to lack of character development. |
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| Question for next time: What subjects would you like to see discussed in future mystery newsletters? |
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