This week: Unwrapping Clues Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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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 |
| ASIN: 0910355479 |
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Amazon's Price: $ 13.99
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Greetings, we know a mystery is a puzzle; a series of clues that lead you to a solution. Some of you may remember hunting under the tree for Christmas presents - where was the special one - was there a special one? Your sleuth (professional, amateur, or anywhere in between), along with your readers, is out to solve the puzzle by finding the hidden clues you've strategically planted.
In a mystery poetic or prosaic, we plant clues for the sleuth and reader to uncover and solve. Instead of the straight question and answer of a crossword, however, we engage all their senses, challenge them both to find both obvious and subtle clues.
A clue, in plain sight, can be obvious or subtle, to find and analyze. Will it lead to the gift/solution, or is it there to mislead? We don't want to scatter a winding trail of cookie crumbs that lead nowhere, often in circles. Rather, the trail may misdirect, but through logical and intuitive deduction, found false and point to a new trail, which may again be false, or it may be the right one We set them on the trail, and give them sufficient information to cast doubt upon the clues they find, making them question and, incidentally, uncover further clues. We create uncertainty by inciting doubt, challenging our sleuth and reader to uncover which clues are true (once they find them) and which are false, misdirection.
False clues we plant misdirect the sleuth or reader, casting doubt and causing them to consider options which may be logical, but are discovered to be false, misleading, 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 take public transportation to the day job, so 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 solve the mystery, to find that special thing, the present under the tree?
Write On!!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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Check out these picks & pans - did you find the clues, or were they too obvious, or irrelevant  Let the writers know how you solved the puzzle then grab your pencil and plot your clues.
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#2207320 by Not Available. |
| | | Sauce for the Goose (E)
When Dolores schemes to get rid of her abusive partner, all does not go as planned...
#2204483 by Con  |
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| ASIN: B083RZ37SZ |
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Amazon's Price: Price N/A
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I 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.
Wishing you each a joyous time with loving family and dearest friends ~
Merry Christmas
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading |
| ASIN: 0997970618 |
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Amazon's Price: $ 14.99
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Mystery: December 25, 2019 Issue [#9932]
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