Mystery Writing Tips

Questions about writing and selling your mystery novel? Email me.

Here are some tips from Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel: How to Knock 'Em Dead With Style (Writers Digest Books, ISBN 1582973768):

Tip # 1 - On making the crime matter to the sleuth

Whether the crime is big and threatens the future of humanity, or small and threatens a person's good reputation, it has to matter personally to the sleuth. (See Chapter 3: The Crime, Victim's Secrets)

Tip # 2: On coming up with ideas

I used to think that I couldn't write fiction because I wasn't good at making things up. Turns out you don't have to be, because intriguing ideas are all around you. Learn to tune in, and pay attention when your brain says: Oh, that's interesting. (See Chapter 1, The Premise)

Tip #3: On your sleuth's dark past

When your sleuth has a dark past, it raises the stakes. Each time out, the sleuth not only solves a crime, but also takes a personal journey and gets a chance to get it right this time. (Chapter 2, The Mystery Sleuth)

Tip #4: On secrets that fuel your plot

In a mystery novel, everyone has secrets, and it's the revelation of those secrets that propels the story forward. (See Chapter 3, The Crime, Victim's Secrets)

Tip #5: On basing your story on real people and events

A real person or an actual event can make an excellent jumping-off point for a mystery novel. But some real events are too bizarre for fiction. (See Chapter 1, The Premise)

Tip #6: On moving your character past cliche

Create a disconnect between your character's physical presence and true capabilities. Then mine the gap. Through plot and action, reveal who your character really is. (See Chapter 2, The Mystery Sleuth)

Tip #7: On fingering the guilty

"The butler did it" won't wash in a modern mystery. Minor characters who are part of the wallpaper for the first twenty-eight chapters can't be promoted to villain status at the end, just to surprise the reader. (See Chapter 4: The Villain)

Tip #8: On sidekicks

Mystery protagonists and their sidekicks are a study in contrasts. Sidekicks are the yin to the protagonists’ yang. (See Chapter 6, The Supporting Cast)

Tip #9: On the essential "adversary"

Every protagonist/mystery sleuth needs an adversary--a good-guy character who drives your sleuth nuts, pushes his buttons, torments him, puts obstacles in his path, and is generally a pain in the patoot. (See Chapter 6, The Supporting Cast)

Tip #10: On setting your story in the present

Set your story in the present and you can include current events. The downside is that current events can quickly make your story seem dated. (See Chapter 7, The Setting)

Tip #11: On picking a locale

Readers love local color, and the audience for most mystery series grows out from its geographic location. On the other hand, exotic locations entice readers who yearn for the unknown. What matters is that you know your setting, bring it alive on the page, and take advantage of the opportunities your setting presents. (See Chapter 7, The Setting)

Tip #12: On pain--your sleuth's

What unifies a mystery novel is the sleuth’s quest to find the killer. What keeps the reader hooked are all the roadblocks and setbacks the sleuth has to overcome. Drama works in direct proportion to how miserable you make your protagonist. (See Chapter 8, Staking Out the Plot)

Tip #13: On scenes and payoffs

Every scene in a mystery novel should have a payoff. Something happens or changes that propels the story forward. (See Chapter 8, Staking Out the Plot)

Tip #14: On picking a title

The title should tease with a hint of what lies between the covers. So, don’t call it Sex and Bondage unless it delivers both. False advertising won’t build a following of devoted readers. (See Chapter 8, Staking Out the Plot)

Tip #15: On introducing your protagonist

Description, dialogue, action—any of these can be used effectively to introduce your protagonist. Whatever method you choose, your goal is to create a sense of immediacy, to give the reader a sense of the character’s physical presence as well as personality. (See Chapter 9, Introducing the Protagonist)

Tip #16: On point of view

Series authors often choose first-person narrator because it helps create a bond between the reader and the protagonist, which is essential in a successful series. (See Chapter 14, Point of View)

Tip #17: On writing realistic, not real dialogue

Good dialogue is not realistic conversation. People digress, pause, use the wrong words, repeat themselves, fail to clearly express themselves, or go on and on, boring everyone around them. If you write dialogue that’s too realistic, your book will be a great sleeping aid but little else. (See Chapter 15, Writing Dialogue)

Tip #18: On summarizing dialogue

It’s better to summarize and fast-forward through the necessary but unexciting bits than risk bogging down your story with trivial talk. (See Chapter 15, Writing Dialogue)

Tip #19: On investigation

How your sleuth investigates should reflect his skills and personality quirks. (See Chapter 17, Writing Investigation (clues, red herrings, misdirection))

Tip #20: On putting a charge into interrogation

Interrogation becomes interesting when the relationship between the characters has some kind of electrical charge, some inner dynamic. (See Chapter 17, Writing Investigation (clues, red herrings, misdirection))

Tip #21: On playing fair

You can’t withhold from the reader information that a point-of-view character knows. (See Chapter 17, Writing Investigation (clues, red herrings, misdirection))

Tip #22: On writing suspense

By focusing on the right sensory detail and by slowing down time, you can heighten the sense of potential menace in everyday objects. (See Chapter 18, Writing Suspense)

Tip #23: On foreshadowing

Creating a suspense sequence that ends harmlessly is a good way to foreshadow something more sinister that happens later in your novel. (See Chapter 18, Writing Suspense)

Tip #24: On writing action

Action sequences are about action and reaction, action and response. A useful approach is to map out an action before you write it—choreograph it in your head and then list the main points. (See Chapter 19, Writing Action)

Tip #25: More on writing action

In an action sequence, less is more. Provide just enough detail to show the reader what’s going on using simple sentences and powerful verbs. Establish anything you need to in advance. Trust the reader to fill in what you judiciously leave out. (See Chapter 19, Writing Action)

Tip #26: On writing reflection

A mystery is about solving a puzzle. Puzzle solving requires thinking. So throughout your novel, and especially after suspense and action sequences, take time to pause, turn down the heat, and let your character (and the reader) think about what’s happened so far and put together the clues. (See Chapter 29, Writing Reflection)

Tip #27: On layering in the backstory

It’s a sure sign that a novel is written by a novice when a load of backstory is dumped into the opening chapter. (See Chapter 30, Layering in the Backstory)

Tip #28: On ending your novel

The last lines of your book should provide closure. One way of doing this is to show your protagonist looking back and looking forward, like the two-faced Janus from Roman mythology, putting the past to rest and moving on. (See Chapter 31, Writing the Coda)

Tip # 29: On finding the right agent for you

Finding the right agent is a little bit like finding a soul mate, though the match should be between your writing and the agent’s taste.

Tip #30: On sending out your work

Query first. Never send out your entire manuscript unless an agent or small press has specifically asked for it.