How To Write Your Mystery’s First Chapter
The first chapter of your mystery is your reader’s first impression. You don’t get a second chance. Learn the five first-chapter elements to hook your reader into reading the rest of your mystery.
What Your Mystery Villain Needs
How to strengthen the role of your mystery’s hidden villain.
Storyworld vs. Story
Tips to get your reader into the story and keep turning pages.
How to Make Your Suspects Believable to Keep Readers Guessing
Tips to create three-dimensional, believable suspects to confound your mystery sleuth and keep readers guessing until the end.
Clues, Conflict, Tension, and Twists
Discover how clues, conflict, tension, and twists work together to build anticipation and keep readers turning pages.
Mystery Stakes: Ways to Put Pressure On Your Sleuth
Five ways to brainstorm stakes for your mystery novel.
What to Do When You Hit The Writer’s Reality Gap
Tips to keep writing when you lose perspective on your story.
Metaphors in Mystery
How metaphors work in storytelling, and how they add impact to your story.
Enrich Your Novel with The Five Senses
Every scene needs sensory details. Sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste are opportunities to get your reader to care about your characters.
The One Backstory Every Mystery Writer Needs to Know
The relationship between the villain and the victim is the context of your mystery’s puzzle. It’s the primary backstory to create your story.