Four-Act Structure: The Mystery Writer’s Tool to Create and Solve the Story Puzzle
How to use the four-act structure to lead your reader through your mystery novel.
How to use the four-act structure to lead your reader through your mystery novel.
Use a four-part overview to write the first draft of your mystery.
Tips to keep the second half of the mystery’s middle from sagging. How to raise stakes and increase tension.
How I set up and use Plottr to combine historical research with planning the storyline for a mystery.
Create a midpoint reversal to add tension, raise the story stakes, and lead the story in a new direction toward the conclusion.
Tips to create the midpoint middle.
A story idea isn’t a novel yet. Steps to flesh out your idea into a solid novel plan.
The role of the inciting incident in your story structure and how to write one that works.
Four major stumbling blocks to writing a mystery novel.
A reversal at the midpoint points toward narrowing the focus in the second half of the middle.
How to develop Act 2 in the four-act structure to expand your story and get readers invested in the story.