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Printed from https://shop.writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/8244-How-Did-We-Miss-That.html
Mystery: April 19, 2017 Issue [#8244]

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Mystery


 This week: How Did We Miss That?
  Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading Author IconMail Icon
                             More Newsletters By This Editor  Open in new Window.

Table of Contents

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

About This Newsletter

All that I see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
Edgar Alan Poe


         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. The Mystery is something unknown to the reader, "clued-in" by the writer in bits and pieces, engaging the reader in the puzzle.

If there were no mystery left to explore
life would get rather dull, wouldn't it
?
Sidney Buchman




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Letter from the editor

         Greetings, we know a mystery is a puzzle. Your sleuth (professional, amateur, or anywhere in between), along with your readers, embarks on a journey you devise to solve the puzzle by finding and deciphering the clues you plant.

         In a mystery poetic or prosaic, you plant clues for your sleuth and reader to uncover and solve. Instead of the straight question and answer of a crossword, however, you engage all their senses, challenge them both to find both the obvious and subtle clues.

         *GlassesB*Clues, in plain sight can be obvious or subtle, there for your sleuth and reader to uncover and analyze to uncover lies and truth along the way to solving your puzzle. You don’t want to give them a trail of breadcrumbs to merely pick up and follow, but for your sleuth and reader to first uncover, then resolve based on their assessment. You set them on the trail, and give them sufficient information to cast doubt upon the clues they find, making them question and, incidentally, thus uncover further clues. You create uncertainty by inciting doubt, challenging your sleuth and reader to uncover which clues are true (once they find them) and which are false, misdirection.

         *Glasses* False clues you plant misdirect the sleuth or reader, casting doubt and causing them to consider options which may be logical, but are uncovered as false or leading nowhere.

         Consider the following, by Scott Mortenson,

         You’re a bus driver. You leave the depot at 6:05 AM, and at your first stop you pick up three passengers. On your next stop you pick up five passengers. On your third stop four get off and nine get on. On your fourth stop, three get on and five passengers get off. On your fifth stop, eight get off and seven get on.

Got all that? Okay. What color are the bus driver’s eyes?


         In the example above, you have all the facts, all the clues. Did you answer the question correctly? Only you know, as I don’t know the color of your eyes. As you were adding and subtracting the numbers, you were following clues used to distract you, or red herrings. (I kind of like the image of some bus passengers as ‘herrings.’)

         The clues were in the open, but how many of the sleuths among us (and our characters) even saw them, much less noticed them. Are they pieces of the puzzle, or distractions to be discarded? You, the puzzle-maker, will decide and lead the sleuth and your readers to resolution of the puzzle.

Write On!!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading Author Icon



Editor's Picks

Check out these picks & pans - did you find the clues, or were they too obvious Let the writers know how you solved the puzzle then grab your pencil and plot your clues.

 Mysterious Shoe Parts Open in new Window. (E)
Mysterious shoe parts found at a Bird Sanctuary leading to an unlikely suspect.
#2118549 by HWinB.C. Author IconMail Icon


 The case of the traitorous friend Open in new Window. (E)
Irene Holmes, a freshman in college, doesn't get far without being thrown into a mystery.
#2118679 by Lily Rowe Author IconMail Icon


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#2118497 by Not Available.


 A Shot in the Dark. Open in new Window. (18+)
A "tour" in an open house goes horribly wrong.
#2116424 by Redlive122 Author IconMail Icon


 The Old Morton Factory Open in new Window. (E)
Our intrepid reporter solves a mystery.
#2116110 by Sailor M Author IconMail Icon


 The Package Open in new Window. (ASR)
A short story written from a writing prompt on here.
#2115743 by Mira Author IconMail Icon


 
STATIC
Lucky Numbers Open in new Window. (E)
A winning lottery ticket doesn't necessarily mean riches
#2115107 by flyfishercacher Author IconMail Icon


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#2115068 by Not Available.


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#1924381 by Not Available.


FORUM
The Grim Reaper Contest - Closed  Open in new Window. (13+)
This is a Horror Flash Fiction Contest. See you in October 2025!
#2046245 by Fictiøn Ðiva the Wørd Weava Author IconMail Icon


 
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Word from Writing.Com

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Ask & Answer

          hope you’ve enjoyed this journey and as you plant the clues of your mystery, out in the open for your sleuth, and readers to stumble across and find among them pieces of the puzzle to solve the mystery

         Until we next meet,

Write On!!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading Author Icon

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