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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…
Not the Villain, The Obstacle Maker Enrich your mystery with an opponent who gives your detective problems. The opponent has a role quite different from the villain’s role. The villain in a mystery is the one who committed the murder. From Agatha Christie’s Chief Inspector Japp and Hercule Poirot to the neighbor Grannen in…
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…
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…
Photo by Jordan McQueen on Unsplash Backstory and Dreams – New Writer Pitfalls Backstory and Dreams are traps for beginning writers. When you’re just starting out, avoid them. Yes, I know Michael Connelly uses war dreams for Bosch. Use these two story elements with a light touch. Best to avoid them. If you use them at all, wait…
Photo by Eugeniu Esanu on Unsplash How To Not Get Lost In Your Mystery Writing a first mystery can be challenging as a new author. With all the information out there about writing a story, you may be tempted to get “everything” into your story. And, with your creative mind buzzing, it’s easy to have lots of ideas…
Tips to Make Supporting Characters Suspicious Supporting characters are rich tools for misdirecting your sleuth. Characters because of their secrets, lies, and coverups lead the sleuth down trails that are dead ends. How to Make Innocent Suspects Look Guilty When you observe people, you’ll notice actions and dialogue that you can use in your mystery. Keep…
When Friends Become Enemies and Enemies Become Friends Challenging your protagonist with obstacles adds intrigue and engagement for readers. Reversals, where what appears to be one thing turns into something else are great obstacles to throw at your protagonist. Just when the reader thinks they know, a reversal pivots the story. The protagonist experiences an…
Choose Your Challenge Writers come up with many ways to establish the characters in their stories, especially the main character: character interviews, worst fear, early childhood, habits good and bad, etc. What readers want is action.The easiest way to reconcile your wealth of knowledge about your character and engaging readers in the story is…
