Do you want to know how to write a mystery?
Well, if you read a lot of mysteries, you already know a good deal about how to write a mystery.
If you want to write a mystery you need to immerse yourself in reading them.
Don’t read just the best seller list read widely and diversely.
Find new authors and see how they did it.
They have been published; therefore, they must have caught an editor or publisher’s eye and are, therefore, a clue to how you can write one.
To write the mystery you must read as a sleuth untangling the mystery writer’s method or Modus Operandi.
Modus Operandi when connected to the mystery means how the criminal did the crime, his/her style and method of execution. [The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (And how to avoid them) by Jack Bickham]
By reading good published mysteries you will avoid many of the pitfalls that beginning writers (and sometimes seasoned authors) make when writing a mystery.
What do you need to know to write a mystery?
There really is no mystery about writing the mystery.
There are, indeed, some things that must appear in a story being told to qualify it as a mystery: A crime, a secret, a detective, suspense and an orderly resolution.
Certain other requirements indicative of the genre are: clues, red herrings, and tying up the loose ends of the myriad of questions that need answering by the end of the story worth telling.
Other things that will require your attention as you write your mystery include the police procedures in the area where you are setting your mystery as precincts within a city can vary as much as those between counties or states.
Forensics or ballistics may be handled differently as aspects of a crime by each different police department.
Researching to authenticate your story place and or time and procedures are paramount to writing a story your readers will feel justified investing their time in.
Don’t short change your reader.
Fans are hard to come by and you can’t afford one who will tell their list on facebook that your writing is flawed and inaccurate.
It isn’t necessary to write with a tome of details as Michener might, but you might take a hint from Romance writer Jude Devereaux in the way she makes a setting come alive for her readers.
That is another reason to read widely.
You learn so much from other author’s methods of presenting their stories.
If you are serious about writing the mystery there are numerous books on all aspects of police procedure, laws, and even syndicated crime and the Mafia.
Each have their own rules that govern those inside the system.
“Mysteries follow strict guide lines. They introduce the action quickly,” says Barbara Norville in Writing the Modern Mystery.
If you begin with a murder, the body being discovered, your reader will want to know whodunit? Whydunit? Howdunit?
Immediate, dramatic conflict, which is an essential ingredient of any story is just as necessary in the mystery and a great place to begin your story.
Why write a mystery?
Think of writing the mystery as examining the dark side of human nature.
It might be the means to explain the perplexing questions of crime, guilt and innocence, violence and justice.
By killing, the evil killer rips a jagged hole in the fabric of society.
And, your tale begins as someone calls for help.
Your protagonist/hero/sleuth answers that call.
Helping people make sense of insensible acts is the mystery’s job.
As a writer you become the sleuth and find the answers we all seek.
About Billie A. Williams
You’ll find many mystery novels by Billie A Williams at amazon.com.
Note: This post may contain some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a penny more)! Read my full disclosure and privacy policies...
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