|
|
|
|
1. Begin at the end - unless you know exactly where you're going, you won't get there.
|
|
2. Decide on what the crime will be. Murder? Theft? Terrorists? Once you know what the mystery will be, get to it quickly. You can't kill off the character and solve the mystery on the last page!
|
|
3. Choose an appropriate setting. If, say, the mystery is going to concern someone plotting to steal the Stanley Cup, the best setting is going to be where the Stanley Cup spends most of its time - the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
|
|
|
|
|
4. Know your characters. Before anything happens at all, know who the main characters will be. The No. 1 character is probably going to be the one who solves the crime. But another key character, remember, will be the victim.
|
|
5. Think about false clues. In mystery stories they are called "red herrings" and this is because herrings have a great smell to them and will put a hound off the trail pretty easily. False clues have to be good clues, though. They have to convince readers to follow their "noses" down one trail, even though, in the end that trail will lead nowhere.
|
|
6. Use conversation and action to keep the story moving. Readers want to move around in a mystery. You will need to describe where you are taking them, but since they are anxious to get to the end quickly, you can't waste time puttering around with description and meaningless talk. Make your words work for the story.
|
|
7. Use humor. Crime is deadly serious, of course, but solving mysteries should be fun. Humor brings your characters alive. If Nish didn't exist, the Screech Owls series would have to invent him.
|
|
8. Save the greatest revelation to near the end. In all mysteries, there is one huge, absolutely dead-on clue that will solve everything. It is possible, however, that not everyone will see this clue the first time. If it hadn't been for Data's good eye in Nightmare in Nagano, they never would have found out who committed the terrible crime.
|
|
9. In mystery novels, the police are always helpful, but never quite see the truth. This is unfair, of course, but mystery novels wouldn't be such fun if the crimes were always solved by the professionals. The great mystery writer Agatha Christie invented a wonderful character called Miss Marple, a very elderly woman who doesn't seem to know anything - until the moment when she magically solves the mystery.
|
|
10. Read the best books you can find. The best way to learn to write is to learn to read. The more mystery novels you read, the better you will understand how a mystery is built. Agatha Christie is still the best place to start, and move on from there.
|
|
|
|
