  Mystery
This week: Who, what, when, where, why, how? Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week:
" I am just a child who has never grown up. I still keep asking these 'how' and 'why' questions. Occasionally, I find an answer."
~Stephen Hawking
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A good newspaper article tries to address these one word questions: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
These are the same questions detectives ask themselves when investigating a crime. They are also very important in planning the plot of a mystery story. Here is how each of them might fit in:
Who?
In most mysteries, determining "who" is guilty is the main focus, but other "who" questions are important as well. Who was the victim, who are his enemies and friends, who had the strength or ability to commit the crime? Also, who are your readers? Are they adults, teens, or young children?
What?
"What happened?" is the first question you might ask yourself when planning a mystery story. Was it a murder, robbery, kidnapping, or just a really puzzling incident?
Where?
The location of the crime might seem obvious, but things are not always what they seem. If the crime is a murder, the victim might have been killed somewhere else and the body moved afterwards. If the crime is a kidnapping or robbery, maybe the perpetrator has been caught, but investigators need to discover the location of the victim or stolen goods.
When?
Determining when a crime was committed is important when you are trying to establish alibis for your characters. If a character was several hundred miles away at the time a crime was committed, he will be ruled out as a suspect. Of course, that does not mean he is not guilty! He could have bribed or threatened someone to make them say he was somewhere he was not, or could have altered the details in some other way to make it seem that the crime was committed earlier or later than it was.
Why?
In some stories, you might not reveal why a crime was committed until the end, but investigators need to figure out different reasons why a crime might have been committed in order to determine who did it. If your characters assume a crime was committed for a certain reason, they might not consider possibilities that will lead them to the true solution. Crimes are often committed for either money or love, but there might be a more complicated reason.
How?
How is often obvious (for example, a gunshot wound, a stabbing, a broken window through which a robber escaped) but in other cases it is more puzzling. In a classic locked room mystery, how a villain entered a locked room or secured vault is usually the most important question
Something to try: Use the reporter's questions to plan a mystery story.
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Two friends discuss the last word E. A. Poe was reported to have said. 2017 Quill nominee.
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Mystery: May 09, 2018 Issue [#8889]
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