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…
The Mini-Story that Builds Your Novel Each scene is a building block to your story. And, each scene is a mini-story with the same components as the main story. A central character An obstacle A setting An emotional arc A beginning, middle, and end But the scene has one more function: Move the story forward…
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…
Tips to overcome writer fear to get back to your story.
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…
A Scene is a Revelation A story is a sequence of small moments. The first moment is make or break for getting your reader involved. Writing advice for beginning novelists can be confusing, like to start with a hook or show the hero’s everyday world. It’s easy to go way off track by starting with…
