 Mystery: May 01, 2019 Issue [#9479] |
This week: Seven Tools to Write Mystery Stories Edited by: NaNoNette  
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| Dear writers and readers of mystery, I am NaNoNette and I will be your guest editor for this issue. |
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Seven Tools to Write Mystery Stories
1. Information.
Start your reader off feeling anxious for your characters and about your plot by giving them information that sets them on edge from the word go. Tell them there is a bomb in the room. Or let a character find out that the other character is a ghost.
2. Balance suspense with humor.
The famous master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock said, "Suspense doesn't have any value unless it's balanced with humor." He played with the extremes of comedy and horror in his movies. Comedy gives your character a chance to catch his/her breath and reflect on their suspenseful situation.
3. Start off with a bang and keep cranking up the tension.
In Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock starts the movie with a chase over the rooftops in San Francisco. Casino Royal (Daniel Craig's first James Bond movie) starts off with several minutes of extreme free running over and through a tropical beach side town.
The pace of the story can slow after the initial bang, but now the drama and the actual plot keep driving the tension forward.
4. Incorporate the background into the drama.
Use the location of your plot as a part of the story. Similar to Checkov's gun that has to get fired if it gets shown, have someone get attacked or have a significant event happen in a location if you mention it. If there is a harbor, something should happen on a boat. If there is a lighthouse, or other iconic building, it should factor into the story you're telling.
5. Avoid blatant cliches.
Maybe a murder in a dark alley is a bit too simplistic to count as incorporating the background into your story. By avoiding cliches, you keep readers on edge as they have to anticipate some type of turmoil coming their way at the least expected locations.
6. You got to move it, move it. Move it!
Start a mystery novel off with chapters in different locations and settings that will be important in later parts of the plot. Or set your story in a moving train or in a narrow staircase in which the characters keep climbing or going down as the story progresses. Changing up the locations suddenly keeps your readers alert and engaged.
7. Stereotypes.
As a general rule of thumb, avoid overusing stereotypes. For instance, it doesn't make sense to have all villains to be ugly and all victims to be beautiful. A handsome perpetrator is much more likely to be able to get close enough to an intended victim than one who already has a scarred face or wears a hockey mask.
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