Do you have tips for writing Mystery

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I just recently discovered that I love reading mystery books, so I thought I could try to write a mystery novel. So I was just wondering if anyone had any sudgestions to how to start, plan, and creat one.

Thanks,
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Plan it first!

Mystery novels are all about clues, so you should know what you're leading up to before you begin.

Also, I think the best mysteries are the one where the conclusion is foreshadowed, but not in an obvious way. So when you reach the end, there's a moment of "Of course! Why didn't I see that coming?" Make your clues little things that most people would pass over on their first read of your story, but notice on their second.

Hope I helped. :)
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I agree with Jenna. The way you set up your clues is very important, so it's a good idea to have a pretty good plan of how your story is going to go. There should be enough clues, but they should be subtle--things that a typical reader would not piece together. Good climaxes/endings have the clues coming together in a way that is suprising, but not completely out of the blue. (I think someone who is good at this is actually JK Rowling, especially in the first 3 HP books).

Good luck!




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Jenna said all. :D

Good luck!
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Thanks. Now that I think about it, I'm probably start writing mystery after I got the hang of writing just a fiction novel.




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I'm probably start writing mystery after I got the hang of writing just a fiction novel.


It's always a good idea to start SOMEWHERE, right? Even if you start both fiction and mystery at the same time.

After doing some quick google searching, I found a few good sites you might want to look at:

How-to: Writing a Mystery

Top 10 rules for mystery Writing

Crime and Mystery

These are just a few, if you type "Writing mystery" into any search engine, you'll find so much more. Good luck!
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