Your Sleuth in First Person Point of View
Pros and cons of writing a mystery detective in first person point of view.
Is Limited Third Person the Right POV Choice for Your Mystery?
Pros and cons of writing a mystery in the third person point of view.
Sidekick – The Sleuth’s Mirror
Photo by Gaumont – © 2000 A Sidekick Amplifies Your Sleuth and the Story The sidekick is a traditional literary archetype that will enhance your mystery novel. The sidekick can be a working partner or a friend. The sidekick’s role in the story will vary depending on how you choose to amplify your sleuth with…
Book Cover Design – Working with a Graphic Artist
Collaboration is the Fast Way to Book Cover Design Success Every author wants an eye-catching cover for their book that draws potential readers to their book. Your book cover is the first step in the buying journey for many readers. Unless you as an author are also a graphic designer, Investing in a skilled graphic…
The Sleuth Triumphant – Confront the Killer at the End of Your Mystery
In the first act of the mystery, you laid out all your detective’s skills one by one as new situations arose. In the middle, you frustrated all those skills by exposing your sleuth’s weaknesses. Now at the end, you can bring back those skills and strengths as your detective confronts the killer. Your detective has…
Toward The Final Act – On The Killer’s Scent
The Detective Finds Clues in the Killer’s World Let the complications roll! Your detective screws up, asks for help from the wrong people, stumbles over his weaknesses. If it’s bad, bring it on. In the final section of Act II (Four-Act Structure) your detective dives deeper into the killer’s world as the ultimate exploration of…
Avoid A Sagging Middle: The Detective Finds the Killer’s World
Avoid the Sagging Middle in Your Mystery Mystery writers have an advantage over many other genres when it comes to keeping the middle from sagging. Up to the middle the detective has delved into the evidence and suspects in the victim’s worldThe essence of keeping a reader turning pages is heightened tension. Rather than episodic…
Headed Toward Trouble: Getting to Act II of Your Mystery
From Murder to Trouble in Your Mystery In the first five chapters you introduce your detective, connect your detective with the murder, and start your detective off with a plan to find the murderer.Your main goal in those beginning chapters is to bring the reader into your story world, get them empathizing with your detective—even…
First Steps in Your Mystery Story
Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash Where The Story Starts Today’s readers want a good story. Your beginning sets up your reader for the rest of the story. Lose them at the beginning and you won’t get them back. Your goal at the beginning, is to get the readers involved in the story.Beginning writers can struggle…
Unpack Your Story’s Supporting Characters
Individual Characters and the Story In a mystery, supporting characters provide conflict for the detective. Their role in the story is to confound, confuse, lie and make trouble for your protagonist. They enhance the story context and color how your story is revealed. The Character Bible A character bible is the place where you…