Dialogue Adds Character to Your Characters
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Dialogue Adds Character to Your Characters

Who Is Talking? How your characters speak reveals their personality. Especially in mysteries, characters reveal their character, even when they try to hide it.  The challenge for writers is to make the language each character uses, appropriate to that character and distinct from other characters in the story.  That way, readers understand who is talking.Dialogue is a verbal action. When a character speaks, they are actively moving the story forward. When the language, rhythm, a […]

Mystery Character Secrets and Lies
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Mystery Character Secrets and Lies

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….

Get Inside Your Character’s Body
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Get Inside Your Character’s Body

Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash Body Details to Improve Your Story Most writers don’t think of anatomy and physiology when they are creating a story, but you can enhance reader engagement with body part details. If you find your characters all nodding in agreement or sighing in resignation, try expanding your view of the…

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Discovery Dialogue in Your Mystery

Discovery and Your Sleuth Once a crime is discovered and your sleuth takes on finding the killer, his next step is to unearth possible suspects. As he visits close friends, work colleagues, the coffee shop owner where the victim went each morning, your sleuth begins to create a picture of the victim’s world. The picture your sleuth…

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Suspects: The Spice of Life in Your Mystery

Photo by SHUJA ZED on Unsplash Create Awesome Suspects to Delight Your Readers Mystery readers love to be tantalized. The clues, red herrings, and evidence you plant in your story lead them to guessing while your sleuth tries to reason out the possibilities. Your suspects weave the rich tapestry that keeps readers guessing. I recently…