  Mystery
This week: Breaking the Rules in Writing Mysteries Edited by: shaara
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This week, I am delighted to be your Guest Mystery Newsletter Editor. I'm a bit challenged by it, though. You see, I think mysteries are the hardest genre to write.
J. B. Fletcher, the main character of the ongoing series, Murder She Writes is an old favorite of mine. She advises students to begin at the end of the tale and work backward. That's quite different from my normal mode of operation. In general, I write stories like a fog walker, never able to see far into the distance.
Still, I believe that practicing a genre outside one's specialty broadens a writer's work. That's why I leapt at the opportunity of exploring this realm with you. (Besides, it really is true that my personal library holds far more mystery books than science fiction or fantasy. It is obvious that something keeps pulling me towards this genre -- something very mysterious.)
Could it be, we could combine genres? Um . . .
An alien from Zubanto has been brutally murdered, and the clues to the crime lie underneath the planet's ammonia atmosphere, sprinkled among a score of berthed spaceships and the single eye witness' description - an account of which came from the lips of a missing curly-tailed Crinonean slob hog.
Sherlock, the robotic detective after lubricating his rolling treads, repairing his left eye socket which keeps getting stuck, and repositioning the taste test analyzer mounted above his right sound amplifier prepares to initiate the search. With a genuine Brebbia Nera pipe (with its bent billiard which always makes for the finest clencher) held firmly in the corner of his mouth, a magnifying glass clamped securely between three of his fake-skin fingers, and on his face, the grim aspect of a hunting dog set to the scent, Sherlock rolls down the ramp of the police module. . .
What fun . . .
But don't worry, that's not what today's article is all about.
Today we're not visiting off-planet. We're investigating odd ball mysteries!
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Breaking the Rules in Writing Mystery Stories
In an article titled: "Top 10 Rules for Mystery Writing," http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/genrefiction/tp/mysteryrules.htm
the author, Ginny Wiehardt, states, "Even more than writing in other genres, mystery writing tends to follow standard rules."
I recommend reading her article. It's a great resource for those just starting out. However, I must confess that I often prefer to be a fictional rule breaker. That's what drove me, this week, in search of noteworthy decree smashers.
But before I begin, I have a question for you:
What do the writings of:
Edgar Allan Poe
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Isaac Asimov
AND
Agatha Christie
have in common?
Yes, you guessed it.
The last name in the list gives it away, doesn't it? (And the fact that this is the Mystery Newsletter.)
Each of these authors wrote mysteries
AND
each of them cast aside some of the rules.
Back in 1840, Edgar Alan Poe authored The Gold-Bug, a tale that uses a golden hued bug that actually DOES NOT exist. (He also used the study of cryptography, a novel idea for the time.)
Clues, whether they come from a secret message, a ghost's whispers, or the footprints left in the mud in front of a victim's living room window, are an important attribute of today's mystery tales, but they do not have to be as concrete and real as those carefully researched by the fictitious J.B. Fletcher. As Poe shows us, clues can be out and out lies.
Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote a rather unusual mystery called Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe (Twice-Told Tales --1837.) In that short story, a peddler is told that a very rich and influential Mr. Higginbotham has been murdered, strung up by thieves. As the peddler seeks to verify this tale (while heartily enjoying his new storyteller status) in the towns along the way, he discovers numerous discrepancies and wonders if the story is true, or is in fact, a PREDICTION.
Hawthorne showed us that a mystery tale does not have to depend on a traditional detective to fasten the clues together. He also breaks ground in demonstrating that a murderous deed doesn't even have to take place.The mere plotting of such a an act is sufficient. Lies, rumor, and hearsay can be the story's pivoting points.
Isaac Asimov enjoyed writing his tales of the Black Widowers, a seven-member group of men, who entertained themselves at their favorite restaurant by solving mysteries.
In the The Obvious Factor, Asimov throws the reader into a tail spin. The clues he flings right and left and the puzzles that tantalize and confuse us are all revealed to be false; in fact, the whole sequence is a lie.
Thus it is seen that the mystery genre uses rules, but they are not steadfast rules. Clues can be lies. Suspects can and will be false. Evidence turns belly up -- lacking clarity, certainty and reliability.
In Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Poirot's own assistant, is proven to be the villain of the tale. With such a plot twist, the mystery reader finds that he is always standing on quick sand. No one is above suspicion, not even the normally reliable narrator.
So memorize the mystery genre's rule book, if you wish, but be prepared. As every Californian can tell you, even the stability of the ground is tentative. Mysteries cavort, somersault, and sometimes even stand on their heads. They rise up mischievously and demand that everything and everyone be analyzed, questioned, and doubted.
As for the writers of mystery, perhaps, anything goes.
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Featured Items for the August 11th Mystery Newsletter:
This is a fun read. The action is believable and the storyline moves swiftly. I loved the ending. It felt just right.
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#979429 by Not Available. |
"Did you hear about the boat that broke up and sank last night during the storm? The coast guard has been searching all day for survivors."
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Another good read. This one is full of twists that almost give you whiplash. Nicely done.
|  | Burned (13+)
She was hot on the trail of the arsonsist, but was she getting too close....?
#678732 by Scott Joseph   |
Margaret snapped her lighter closed and took a drag on her cigarette as she watched the street below through the dirty rain streaked glass. The apartment behind her was empty and she had alternated standing and kneeling by the window for the past three hours.
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This is a quickie, a mini-mystery. It only takes a moment and gives a chuckle with the ending.
| | Malice Intended (ASR)
Who is the slapdash, foolish criminal behind a crime scene in a hotel?
#445131 by Joy  |
There was nowhere to go, not even my room. The maid had shooed me out. At first, I suspected that she found out I was a sloppy klutz, but she said it was the hotel's policy not to clean the rooms when the guests were inside. Strange policy, yet I obliged.
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Is this a mystery? I don't think so, but the suspense is really a cliff hanger, so I decided you all would love the story as much as I! Enjoy.
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#756242 by Not Available. |
What am I to do? It has me trapped in the corner and is headed toward me! Not even he can save me now. The creature has him in its grasp and drags him along wherever it goes. Without him, there's no escape for me. Even if I survive this attack, there will be others. I know too well that I can't take care of myself, anyway.
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I hope you will forgive me for including one of my own. I don't write many mysteries, but I do enjoy them.
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#717403 by Not Available. |
Reaching into my back pocket, I start to do a dusting, although I'm already figuring it's probably a waste of time; high school kids don't have prints on file.
George bumps me with his backpack, as he slings it around to the front. "I already did that," he tells me, pulling out one of those kits like you can buy at a magic shop.
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Comments & Feedback
Alas, although I have looked under the sofas, the kitty litter, and beneath the bed, I cannot find a single comment.
Probably that's because I'm only a guest.
Sigh.
I do hope I get some feedback on this newsletter. Hint, hint, hint!
If I don't I shall call Scotland Yard and insist that they locate all your comments.
PLEASE?
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PLEASE?
P.S.
I very much enjoyed being your guest Mystery Newsletter Editor today.
I hope you enjoyed my newsletter, as well.
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Mystery: August 11, 2010 Issue [#3897]
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