 Mystery: October 21, 2009 Issue [#3348] |
  Mystery
This week: Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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All that I see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
Edgar Alan Poe
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A mystery is an answer in search of a question; knowing what’s been done and the journey to discovering the how and why of it. It deals with something unknown to the reader, which the writer reveals in bits and pieces by use of clues, drawing the reader into the puzzle. Welcome to this week's edition of the WDC Mystery Newletter, where we will explore some of the means by which we plot the journey to discovery for ourselves and our readers.
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”Where are you, you old gimp?” Winnie called, feeling her way in the sudden darkness. Strobes of light cut through the thick storm fed air. Ominous shadows appeared and as quickly disappeared. Though she had lived there for more than half a century, the thunderstorm created an unfamiliar landscape of her kitchen. Winnie knew her companion had better night vision, but he also had better hearing. Thunderstorms caused him to hide in the most isolated reaches of the house. He was likely to react without thinking to the sudden fury of the storm and trip her up.
”Oh, there you are, you old rapscallion,” she exclaimed, responding to the fleet shadow framed in a thunderbolt of light.
Turning, Winnie realized her mistake. She raised her cane to ward off the onrushing blow; her aged reflexes a moment too late.
* * *
”What does your average burglar look like?” Lieutenant Catch queried the gathered block watch committee members. “Look at the person seated to your left,” he instructed the group, watching as they turned their heads, several even stopping their murmured discourse about the prior night’s storm. “Now, look to your right.” This caught the attention of the rest of the ten gathered to discuss the recent mid-day burglaries in their suburban community, and what they could do to assure that their neighbors were safe.
* * *
Now, what of Winnie? Did she survive the attack? Was she attending the meeting? I think not, else Lieutenant Catch would likely have opened much differently. Where was her companion? Was her companion her assailant? There are several things we can surmise about Winnie: that she’s an older person (50 years in same house, and use of a cane); that she has a companion she cares for or has affection for; that she was in the process of being assaulted in her kitchen during a thunderstorm that took out power in her home. But did she make it? Did her assailant get away? With what? What of her companion? Other questions you might think of with respect to the why, what, how of the opening to the story. All questions that hopefully will make you keep reading to learn the answers – the making of a Cliffhanger.
The story then begins the following day, as a group is gathered in response to burglaries (was that a burglar in Winnie’s house, but wasn’t mid-day). Raising questions while posing possible answers, the story begins in earnest, a puzzle (or two) with clues to find and solve. A juicy mystery .
A cliffhanger is a dilemma or event that makes your reader want to come back for more. The tension should rise to a crescendo. Then, the tension falls back and we can begin piecing together the clues that were proffered in order to solve the puzzle. You see the questions I raised in the above opening and you, fellow sleuths, likely have more. Cliffhangers are used frequently in adventure stories, romance, horror and fairy tales, however, I think they serve well in a mystery to grab your reader’s attention and draw them into your puzzle; give them some clues and perhaps a reason to want to solve them, drawing them into the otherworld you’ve created.
No matter what the focus is of your cliffhanger, in a short story or novel, in order to grab your reader and make him/her turn the page or more:
 Vary tension-filled scenes with non-tension filled ones. We opened with a raging storm, rising tension, to a crescendo event. The next scene opened with a more laconic flow, introducing another focal character and posing a puzzle that may or may not relate to the opening, but will lead to a clue or resolution of one already placed.
To enhance tension, use short, clipped sentences. Likewise, stretch and slow time and events with longer sentences to emphasize anxious, fearful moments.
Consider using a subplot (or subplots) to draw out the tension of a cliffhanger. Winnie’s story above may be embedded in the larger story of burglaries, but note one difference already, it’s not in broad daylight, so already there may be something different brewing here, but how related? That’s what you want your readers to want to keep reading to discover. But do resolve all the questions raised in the cliffhanger over the course of solving the mystery. Don’t leave Winnie in the kitchen while others blithely go about their days. If it’s germane to the main puzzle, start giving your readers the means to solve the clues within a chapter or two to hold their interest; if it’s a subplot, somehow it needs to still relate to the puzzle, and do tie up the loose ends before the puzzle ends.
Ending a story with a cliffhanger, leaving a major question unresolved, may work for a TV series or daytime soap, but for a mystery story, I think it cheats the reader by not allowing them to validate their resolution of the puzzle. To continue a storyline or series, consider resolving the puzzle, i.e., solving the crime, tying up the loose ends, while developing relationships between characters, or the depth of the protagonist (or antagonist, that he or she may return another day to solve another crime or mystery
There are several ways of building the conflict and tension in a cliffhanger. Imagine running up a hill or from an adversary in hot pursuit then arriving at a dead end cliff. Do you jump; turn and fight; and if you jump, a soft landing, or??? Those are the possible results you leave your readers raptly turning the page to discover. The conflict and tension can be external or internal - the run up the figurative hill could be thwarted or incited by outside or inner elements.
Outside conflicts could be with or from nature, the environment, physical barriers or weaknesses; temperature, social strictures, financial problems; anything external to the character that he or she has to overcome or avoid.
Conflicts can also be between characters who are at odds, in competition, rivals.
Conflicts can also be internal to the character; having to deal with inner fears, weaknesses, character flaws.
The challenge in weaving a cliffhanger into a mystery is to find the right place to stop the scene or chapter in order to make your readers need to turn the page. Then give them a moment to breathe, absorb the clues you’ve given them and journey to the discovery of the mystery and resolution of the clues to solve the puzzle of the mystery. Just as you have to stop and catch your breath after a good workout or any challenge well met, your readers (and you) need to collect themselves and start weaving the clues together before the next encounter
Read on and see how some members of our Community have plotted your journey to solving the mysteries they’ve woven for your reading and sleuthing pleasure.
Keep Writing!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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Read on, to the brink of discovery; then weaving a puzzle to solve in prose and verse; sometimes even by jumping off the edge of the cliff
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My first magical realism story... It's a cliffhanger right now. Sorry. It will continue...
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How about this challenge to the Muse Creative, daily inciting perhaps a cliffhanger in short order to resolve
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Thank you for sharing this exploration with me. I'd like to offer a comment from one of our members with respect to examples I and some others have used to introduce or highlight our newsletter topics of exploration. Do you find them helpful, entertaining, or a distraction/ I use sometimes clips from my WIP's, other times op ed pieces written as examples, and occasionally clips from the work of Community members (with permission and credit, of course). If you find them helpful, let us know, and perhaps share an story or poem of yours you would like to see featured. We would certainly enjoy the rread, even if it doesn't tie in with the current theme or exploration
Submitted To: Mystery
By Brooke 
Excellent Kate!
No better way to show the mechanics of a good mystery than to throw your readers right into the action then ask them questions. Love it! What an enjoyable newsletter.
Thanks, Brooke, for writing, and sharing your encouragement. I see my newsletters as explorations of the types of mysteries, the threads that weave the puzzles, and how I can plant clues and weave a story or poem. Examples I think can sometimes highlight or offer examples of what works (or doesn't work) to plot the clues and solve the mystery that bullet points or expository statements then affirm. Thanks again for sharing your work and the challenges you offer for the muse creative. Keep Writing!
Until we next meet, one and all, I wish you joyous sleuthing this
Happy Halloween
Kate - Writing & Reading
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