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 Mystery: December 28, 2016 Issue [#8049] |
  Mystery This week: Quick! Who Done It? Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading   More Newsletters By This Editor   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 
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Just as there are all kinds of puzzles, i.e., crossword, sudoku, wordfind, etc.), there are sub-categories of mysteries. What makes a short story mystery work is the closeness and immediacy of the puzzle to its logical solution. The story itself has to be focused and compact, with little extraneous information and scenic background. Everything that doesn't move the story forward, focus on the solution either by aiding the solution or attempting to thwart it, has to go. Weave a story about a hostile or threatening situation; have the protagonist (and/or antagonist) suffer in the process of finding and solving clues, then have him/her solve the puzzle, leaving no loose ends. Consider this puzzle - you assemble a bike for a 5-year old's birthday and sweeping the cardboard casing, find a couple of screws on the ground. You wouldn't consider the bike rideable; so also your short story mystery - leave no loose pieces for your readers.
Move the mystery along with dialogue to weave a sense of time and place and immediacy. Argument, commentary (I'd avoid a long monologue), and conversational observation serves to give depth to not only the characters but the story itself.
Focus on one or two sentient characters, a protagonist and antagonist, with perhaps a few bit parts for helpers to guide clues or maybe a red herring (but don't get too 'fishy', lest the mystery be lost in a net of side-stories). These characters will converse and interact and help or thwart each other's efforts to solve the puzzle.
Add a bit of humor to the story; another way to bring your reader into the mystery, make it more real, create an 'otherworld' to which he/she can relate. Some quirk of behavior either physical or emotional makes the characters more human, ones to which your reader can relate, and perhaps vie with to work the puzzle.
Try mapping out your mystery, beginning with 'what if.' Then add a handful of characters, give them a problem (puzzle) to solve and an obstacle that makes it harder to solve the problem, and a way to solve the puzzle (clues). And, again, remember to tie up the loose ends that your sleuth (and reader) arrive at the most believable and logical solution to the puzzle.
Start fast the short mystery to pull your reader in and involve him/her in the puzzle. Offer but a few obstacles to solving the clues, and keep the story to a relatively short timespan for believability. 
Say more with less over a short period of time; keeping the clues, characters, and obstacles in proportion to the length of the story. Slide from one scene to another with dialogue or action, eliminating most transitions or expository scenic descriptions. Some short mysteries are resolved in a single vivid scene with a cool twist in the middle or the end (in a 'flash').
Focus the reader's attention with a single point of view or perhaps two parallel views to move the story forward and hold with a linear flow, avoiding obvious backstory. Some dialogue can answer a question and perhaps pose a clue to background of the puzzle or a character.
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