How do you write a mystery?
by Bethany Maines
As I approach the end of my third Carrie Mae Mystery
manuscript (60,000 words and climbing!), I find myself more impressed now by a
basic Nancy Drew, than I was when I was ten.
My characters are better than when I started writing. My plotting is infinitely stronger. My grasp
of grammar, may actually have gotten worse, but I do use less adverbs (and I
actually know what they are), but it’s this business of “mystery” that still
perplexes me. Clues? There should be
some. But how many? How obvious should
be? Is that too obvious? Too subtle? How
many suspects are required? Is there a manual somewhere? I could really use a
manual.
manuscript (60,000 words and climbing!), I find myself more impressed now by a
basic Nancy Drew, than I was when I was ten.
My characters are better than when I started writing. My plotting is infinitely stronger. My grasp
of grammar, may actually have gotten worse, but I do use less adverbs (and I
actually know what they are), but it’s this business of “mystery” that still
perplexes me. Clues? There should be
some. But how many? How obvious should
be? Is that too obvious? Too subtle? How
many suspects are required? Is there a manual somewhere? I could really use a
manual.
Partially, I’ve been avoiding this trouble by not
writing standard mysteries. I call them
women’s action adventure because I think more mysteries could use a good car
chase. If you’ve seen Bullitt then you
know that’s a movie that is holding onto its classic status simply on the
strength of its car chase. (It’s
certainly not the strength of the jazz flute scene.) But in April my first regular mystery, A
Yearly Murder (working title), will be released and I find myself nervous that
all the mystery aficionados will judge me.
writing standard mysteries. I call them
women’s action adventure because I think more mysteries could use a good car
chase. If you’ve seen Bullitt then you
know that’s a movie that is holding onto its classic status simply on the
strength of its car chase. (It’s
certainly not the strength of the jazz flute scene.) But in April my first regular mystery, A
Yearly Murder (working title), will be released and I find myself nervous that
all the mystery aficionados will judge me.
What if I didn’t put in enough clues? What if the bad guy is too obvious? What if I didn’t kill of Reginald creatively
enough? Serial killers and mystery
writers – the only people who worry about being judged by their dead bodies.
And I would worry about the psychological implications of that if I weren’t too
busy worrying about whether or not I got my forensic research right.
enough? Serial killers and mystery
writers – the only people who worry about being judged by their dead bodies.
And I would worry about the psychological implications of that if I weren’t too
busy worrying about whether or not I got my forensic research right.
I hope that you’ll check out A Yearly Murder in April,
and let me know if I got the clue quotient right!
and let me know if I got the clue quotient right!
Bethany Maines is the
author of the Carrie Mae Mystery series and Tales from the City of Destiny. You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube
video or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.
author of the Carrie Mae Mystery series and Tales from the City of Destiny. You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube
video or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.
