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Printed from https://shop.writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/9613-Wake-Me-Up.html
Mystery: June 19, 2019 Issue [#9613]




 This week: Wake Me Up!
  Edited by: Sara♥Jean 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

Thank you so much for allowing me to grace your inbox again! I hope your summer is warming up and you are getting to spend some time in the sun!


Word from our sponsor

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Product Type: Kindle Store
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Letter from the editor

Wake Me Up!

Appropriate pacing in stories will keep your reader interested, awake, and wanting more. How do you do that in mystery?


Have you ever read a story that sounded great, but then when you got into it, you started getting very, very sleepy? (And not the good kind of sleepy.) So sleepy, that by a few chapters in, you'd completely lost where the story was going and had to either put the book down out of lack of interest, or back up a chapter or two in order to re-orient yourself because you're completely lost?

Typically, that's not what you want happening to your readers.


Even in a mystery, you want them to be able to follow along with the story. Surprising them is fine, but completely losing them... eh, not so much.

Here's how you can lose your readers, and what you want to avoid:

*Bullet* Giving too much information too quickly: Whether this be too many clues, or too much about your characters, or too many characters - your readers can only process so much information that they have to retain for the 'solving' of the story so quickly. Make sure you pace out this kind of information in a manner that can be easily retained, and interesting to the reader to discover.

*Bullet* Having too many characters: When there are too many characters running around, the readers tend to lose track of who did what and when. Sometimes it is necessary, but other times - fewer is better. If you don't need that side character that comes in for, literally, only three pages, cut them out and see if one of the existing characters can play that role for you.

*Bullet* Revealing information too slowly: Yes, there is a delicate balance. Just like you can lose readers by revealing information too quickly, you can put them asleep by revealing information too slowly and dragging things out far too long.

*Bullet* Being 'predictable' or 'cliche': Have you ever heard the one about the detective who has this really hot secretary that he's secretly in love with? Oh, and he's always solving the case in exactly one hour on network television? Yeah, so has everyone else, so find a different schtick! Not that you would have the same one, of course, because you're writing books, but you get the idea. Whatever you're doing, make sure it's fresh and new - and add a twist (but not too many of them, because you can lose your readers that way, too).



Editor's Picks

For this month's Editor's Picks, I thought I'd show you some character sketches that you can use to create your characters with. Might come in handy for fleshing them out before you get started - most of these are completed, but that gives you an excellent idea of what you can do. This doesn't mean you have to go into this much detail, but you can do some part to start fleshing out some of your characters somehow. You will also notice that some are more detailed than others - again, perfectly alright:

Creating Detailed Characters! Open in new Window. (ASR)
Creating a detailed character? Use this handy outline!
#190572 by Tehuti, Lord Of The Eight Author IconMail Icon


 Damien Detailed Character Profile Open in new Window. (13+)
Damien detailed character profile.
#170158 by Tehuti, Lord Of The Eight Author IconMail Icon


 Character: Captain Lewis Haven.  Open in new Window. (13+)
A character profile written for the clash contest.
#2087425 by Cerbios Author IconMail Icon


 Character Profiles Sheru Sulena Okami Open in new Window. (E)
The profile of Sheru Sulena Okami
#1641496 by ♥ Lady Lish Author IconMail Icon


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#2074144 by Not Available.


 Second Character Sketch Open in new Window. (13+)
This is a continuation of Item ID 1083852; the 2nd of 4 sketches for a fledging novel
#1084404 by Helen Author IconMail Icon


 
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Word from Writing.Com

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Ask & Answer

This is our question for this month - let me know, and I'll be sure to include you next month. I look forward to hearing from you:

A mystery has some unique elements that some other books may not be able to take advantage of. What are they?

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