Okay, you've written a first draft, you've re-written and it's pretty darn good, but...
something is missing.
What can you do? When in doubt - throw in some weather! You've been happily plotting away - or writing your little fingers to the bone and find that you don't have quite enough drama or conflict.
You need just a little something else, but what? I've put hurricanes into two my books right at the darkest moment.
Talk about torturing your characters! The poor character is fighting for his life, or trying to get back to the old homestead to tell the schoolmarm that hired hand is up to no good and what happens! I tornado! A cyclone! A Tsunami! Well, maybe not that last one.
But think of the possibilities.
Now your poor hero or heroine has another unexpected fight on his hands.
If your reader was already biting her fingernails and staying up way too late because of the action in your novel, just think what will happen if you toss your characters into the middle of an earthquake.
Now the reader knows the killer is lurking around the jungle and our poor unsuspecting heroine is trapped in a hut by raging winds, rising water and flashing thunder.
I'm lucky, I guess.
I grew up in tornado country, the upper mid-west.
I partied and worked through hurricanes in Miami and experienced several earthquakes while living in California.
But even if you haven't the joy of sitting by the pool in Acapulco sipping rum when a big one hit, (NOT fun), you can watch a movie to get the full effects and eat popcorn at the same time.
There are certainly a lot of them out there, so visit the video store and check out some that have horrid weather.
Always remember, when all else fails, throw in some weather.
AM I DONE YET? You rewritten this darn thing seventeen times, it's as good as you can make it and you THINK you're ready to start querying agents.
But are you? I don't know about you, but I simply do not see errors in my work.
Not the misspellings, not the words left out, not the redundant words - none of it.
I can read a manuscript a dozen times and zipped right over those babies.
So, before you start trying to sell your manuscript, I'd suggest you find a beta reader.
It doesn't have to be someone who writes.
Matter of fact, it might be better if your beta reader only loves to read mysteries and doesn't want to write one.
Writers can't resist fiddling and you probably don't want interference at this point.
Give the manuscript to your friend and tell her to write on the pages with red or blue or pink ink - anything that shows up on the page.
Once I gave a manuscript to a friend to read and she carefully and lightly marked it up with faint pencil.
I never did find all her corrections.
So make sure you can see what your beta reader has marked.
Also ask your beta to put a post-it note on the page every time she puts it down, to go to bed, the bathroom, to bake cookies - whatever, and to write on the post-it why she stopped.
That will tell you real fast if it's a slow place in the text.
We all know if we're reading a good book, we won't stop for anything! If there are a lot of post-its, you might want to re-write those sections.
What about critique groups? If you enjoy sharing your work and have the time to critique others, it might be a good idea.
That way you'll have help with your manuscript all the way along and it will no doubt cut down on rewriting.
Just be careful of the group you join.
You want everyone to be at about the same place in his or her writing career and willing to help one another.
You do NOT want to get into a group with a know-it-all who's never published a word but will be happy to tell you everything that's wrong with your manuscript and enjoy ripping it to shreds.
Some folks like tearing down others.
So if you want to, try a critique group but if it's not working quit! Don't worry about hurting feeling - this is your career we're talking about.
Do what's right for you.
I've been in several critique groups but find I work best alone.
Once I'm finished, I hand my manuscript over to my beta reader and...
start writing the next book! So there you have it, a quick overview on how to write a mystery.
I you want or need more information there are many books on writing in general and mystery writing in particular.
I know because I have..
..
well, pretty much all of them.
If you don't want to buy books on writing, remember there's always the public library.
something is missing.
What can you do? When in doubt - throw in some weather! You've been happily plotting away - or writing your little fingers to the bone and find that you don't have quite enough drama or conflict.
You need just a little something else, but what? I've put hurricanes into two my books right at the darkest moment.
Talk about torturing your characters! The poor character is fighting for his life, or trying to get back to the old homestead to tell the schoolmarm that hired hand is up to no good and what happens! I tornado! A cyclone! A Tsunami! Well, maybe not that last one.
But think of the possibilities.
Now your poor hero or heroine has another unexpected fight on his hands.
If your reader was already biting her fingernails and staying up way too late because of the action in your novel, just think what will happen if you toss your characters into the middle of an earthquake.
Now the reader knows the killer is lurking around the jungle and our poor unsuspecting heroine is trapped in a hut by raging winds, rising water and flashing thunder.
I'm lucky, I guess.
I grew up in tornado country, the upper mid-west.
I partied and worked through hurricanes in Miami and experienced several earthquakes while living in California.
But even if you haven't the joy of sitting by the pool in Acapulco sipping rum when a big one hit, (NOT fun), you can watch a movie to get the full effects and eat popcorn at the same time.
There are certainly a lot of them out there, so visit the video store and check out some that have horrid weather.
Always remember, when all else fails, throw in some weather.
AM I DONE YET? You rewritten this darn thing seventeen times, it's as good as you can make it and you THINK you're ready to start querying agents.
But are you? I don't know about you, but I simply do not see errors in my work.
Not the misspellings, not the words left out, not the redundant words - none of it.
I can read a manuscript a dozen times and zipped right over those babies.
So, before you start trying to sell your manuscript, I'd suggest you find a beta reader.
It doesn't have to be someone who writes.
Matter of fact, it might be better if your beta reader only loves to read mysteries and doesn't want to write one.
Writers can't resist fiddling and you probably don't want interference at this point.
Give the manuscript to your friend and tell her to write on the pages with red or blue or pink ink - anything that shows up on the page.
Once I gave a manuscript to a friend to read and she carefully and lightly marked it up with faint pencil.
I never did find all her corrections.
So make sure you can see what your beta reader has marked.
Also ask your beta to put a post-it note on the page every time she puts it down, to go to bed, the bathroom, to bake cookies - whatever, and to write on the post-it why she stopped.
That will tell you real fast if it's a slow place in the text.
We all know if we're reading a good book, we won't stop for anything! If there are a lot of post-its, you might want to re-write those sections.
What about critique groups? If you enjoy sharing your work and have the time to critique others, it might be a good idea.
That way you'll have help with your manuscript all the way along and it will no doubt cut down on rewriting.
Just be careful of the group you join.
You want everyone to be at about the same place in his or her writing career and willing to help one another.
You do NOT want to get into a group with a know-it-all who's never published a word but will be happy to tell you everything that's wrong with your manuscript and enjoy ripping it to shreds.
Some folks like tearing down others.
So if you want to, try a critique group but if it's not working quit! Don't worry about hurting feeling - this is your career we're talking about.
Do what's right for you.
I've been in several critique groups but find I work best alone.
Once I'm finished, I hand my manuscript over to my beta reader and...
start writing the next book! So there you have it, a quick overview on how to write a mystery.
I you want or need more information there are many books on writing in general and mystery writing in particular.
I know because I have..
..
well, pretty much all of them.
If you don't want to buy books on writing, remember there's always the public library.