Top 10 Rules for Mystery Writing

I found this article on the web...great for those writing the same genre as I...

Even more than writing in other genres, mystery writing tends to follow standard rules. This is because readers of mysteries seek a particular experience: they want the intellectual challenge of solving the crime before the detective does, and the pleasure of knowing that everything will come together in the end. Of course, the best way of testing the mystery writing rules that follow is to read widely in the genre. See how others use them or how and when they get away with breaking them.

1. In mystery writing, plot is everything.

Because readers are playing a kind of game when they read a detective novel, plot has to come first, above everything else. Make sure each plot point is plausible, and keep the action moving. Don't get bogged down in back story or go off on tangents.

2. Introduce both the detective and the culprit early on.

As the main character, your detective must obviously appear early in the book. As for the culprit, your reader will feel cheated if the antagonist, or villain, enters too late in the book to be a viable suspect in their minds.

3. Introduce the crime within the first three chapters of your mystery novel.

The crime and the ensuing questions are what hook your reader. As with any fiction, you want to do that as soon as possible.

4. The crime should be sufficiently violent -- preferably a murder.

For many readers, only murder really justifies the effort of reading a 300-page book while suitably testing your detective's powers. However, also note that some types of violence are still taboo including rape, child molestation, and cruelty to animals.

5. The crime should be believable.

While the details of the murder -- how, where, and why it's done, as well as how the crime is discovered -- are your main opportunities to introduce variety, make sure the crime is plausible. Your reader will feel cheated if the crime is not something that could really happen.

6. The detective should solve the case using only rational and scientific methods.

Consider this part of the oath written by G.K. Chesterton for the British Detection Club: "Do you promise that your detectives shall well and truly detect the crimes presented to them using those wits which it may please you to bestow on them and not placing reliance on nor making use of Divine Revelation, Feminine Intuition, Mumbo Jumbo, Jiggery-Pokery, Coincidence, or Act of God?"

7. The culprit must be capable of committing the crime.

Your reader must believe your villain's motivation and the villain must be capable of the crime, both physically and emotionally.

8. In mystery writing, don't try to fool your reader.

Again, it takes the fun out. Don't use improbable disguises, twins, accidental solutions, or supernatural solutions. The detective should not commit the crime. All clues should be revealed to the reader as the detective finds them.

9. Do your research.

"Readers have to feel you know what you're talking about," says author Margaret Murphy. She has a good relationship with the police in her area, and has spent time with the police forensic team. Get all essential details right. Mystery readers will have read a lot of books like yours; regard them as a pretty savvy bunch.

10. Wait as long as possible to reveal the culprit.

They're reading to find out, or figure out, whodunit. If you answer this too early in the book, the reader will have no reason to continue reading.

Writing is putting words on the paper until the
voices in your head shut up.

Frank Fradella

Keep it Simple Stupid!

Some great ways to pump-up your sentences.


C - Cut clichés

L - Leave out the adjectives and adverbs

E - Evoke the senses

A - Active voice not passive

R - Reveal don't report

Scene it!!

I think one of the most important points I learned when I began to write was to write in scenes.

In all my books, I write in scenes. Sometimes my scenes are 1000 words, sometimes they are 5-6000 words.

What is a scene?

Anyone who has scene a movie or television show knows what a scene is. A person walks into a room and dialog and action take place in that one room, that is a scene. Next, someone enters another room or exits the house, that is another scene. A book can have hundreds of scenes.

How can you write a scene?

When you begin, orient the reader, tell the reader what is different from the previous scene...ex) the time of day, the day of the week, the season changed, the room or setting changed...set up the scene...

If they have moved from a house to a car, or from a ski hill to the lodge...or from the murder scene to the lab or police station or witness resident...the reader must know there was a scene change.

In my books, I arrive at the crime scene, I write about 1000 words a day so I will, in my notes, write down that I am at "the crime scene" and I have a 1000 words to describe the crime scene or what the body looked like...whatever you want...

If I am stuck for words, I will get up from my computer and pretend that I am actually in that scene (like my book has been made into a movie and I am an actor in my own scene, I am the characters) I look around, I imagine what I would be seeing. What do I want my readers to be seeing? What clues do I want them to have? What false clues do I want my readers to have? I am the director (preferably Hitchcock because he is one of the best at making scenes...watch his movies, you could learn a lot about being a good writer by understanding why he was a good director.) What do I focus my camera on...the answer to these questions is what I write about...

Code One...

All my books involve serial killers and codes...in the last book and in this one...

This is the first of my codes...if you would like to take a crack at these codes before my story comes out...please do....if you have any questions, please leave a comment and I will try to answer your questions without giving too much away...

enjoy!

(click on picture to enlarge...)

Two days away...

I am two days away from the start of my next novel...I upped my start date because I couldn't wait any longer...

It is like when you are on a set of a movie and you are just moments away from shooting it and all the actors are there, standing their waiting...talking fast and getting excited...well the characters in my head are like those actors, I have my plot ready and now my characters will not shut up...they are so eager to have their story told, it is like they are getting figgity in my head...

So, I start early...I already have written down the first line, the first line is never hard for me and I often change it in the editing process but I feel when you have the first line down, it becomes easier to carry forward with your work...

I start with a murder...I always do...funner to read that way...