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Stay In The Flow To maximize your writing time, follow two guidelines for writing your mystery. Go into the story. Stay in the flow.When you go into the story, you visualize the scene – who is there, what they say and do, and the surroundings. Your work is to translate what you visualize into words.A focus on writing keeps you in the flow. Any distractions that stop the flow slow you down.Each writer writes at their own pace. You can write faster whate […]
Research Before You Write The Story The first round of research is background material for your story. You may look for settings, hidden alleys, a great beach. Murder weapons or poison. The psychology of being a mistress. How to clean a Glock. Pharmaceutical drug research lab procedures. Base your research requirements on your story premise….
Character Dimensionality Mystery is all about puzzle. Deeper characters provide more puzzling challenges to your sleuth. Your sleuth is challenged by the obstacles the other characters throw his way. One of the best ways to create a puzzle for your sleuth is to give each character a secret and a lie. Or more than one….
Derek Pacifico conducting Homicide School for Writers Real Cop Details in Your Fictional World Unless you have worked in law enforcement, writing realistic cops for your mystery involves getting to know law, law enforcement procedures, and a realistic picture of how cops think, act, and work. Reading and online research will give you a general…
Bring your mystery setting alive with details. How to use them without overloading your reader.
Scene Checklists Scenes are the building blocks of your story. Each scene moves the story forward. As you build your story alternate between action and reaction. When you go through the first edits of your story make certain that all scene components are in each scene. You’ll take your reader by the hand to lead…
Your Villain Right and Wrong The true pleasure of mystery readers is trying to discover who the killer is before your detective does. It’s the big puzzle and the draw of the genre. The challenge for you as a mystery writer is to create a villain who is understandable, relatable, and yet hidden until the…
The Audiobook Opportunity for Authors Authors and readers love audiobooks. Many authors are considering publishing audio editions of their book to add to their backlist.Creating an audiobook has many benefits for independent authors. The audiobook industry is huge. It’s a billion dollar industry and growing. Be part of the action. Book lovers consume audiobooks. Book…
Photo by Arthur Edelman on Unsplash How to Bring Action to Your Mystery Mystery tropes like – the corpse, evidence hunt, sweating the perp, summation – comprise elements of the mystery novel readers expect. Action scenes will help build tension and, a well-written action scene pulls your reader into the story.Don’t overlook action scenes to…
Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash Challenge Your Sleuth With Mysterious Suspects Suspects are the lifeblood of your mystery. Without them your mystery sleuth would have no challenges and solve the mystery in an instant. While evidence, clues, and red herrings help your reader keep guessing, the suspects provide personal interaction with your sleuth. That interaction…
