Elements of Mystery II

Last week I listed some of the essential elements of a mystery story and asked what you thought was missing. I got quite a bit of feedback and, luckily, all the suggestions do appear in my upcoming novel, PYRAMID DECEPTION. Here are the elements I didn’t discuss last time.

It’s not really a mystery without clues embedded in the story. It’s best to mix them up between material, behavioral and informational clues. Physical clues can be hidden in the setting or the crime scene. Clues can be detected from interactions with the suspects. The best clues are both subtle and clever. But don’t make the mistake of dropping too many clues. If they’re really clues that makes the solution too easy. If there are a lot of false clues readers will resent the artless misdirection.

Readers appreciate the weapon or means of killing, so a physical description of the “how” (how the victim was killed or how the missing item was stolen) is essential. This offers a great opportunity to embed clues so don’t skimp on the description.

I list tension as an essential element because stories without it are boring. There needs to be dissent between the characters, especially between the suspects and your detective. It’s just not realistic for the suspects to happily comply with the sleuth. Detection is more fun to watch if each clue is hard won.

And there must be misdirection, or at least serious distractions. This is where a writer gets into the art of mystery writing. False clues should be woven in with real clues, or tied to a sub plot. They can’t be used gratuitously. Readers will consider that a waste of their time.

Finally, every mystery must have a logical resolution. For your mystery to be satisfying, you must play fair with your readers. They must see all the clues necessary to solve the puzzle, even if they are cleverly hidden. You must not simply pull the solution out of the ether. The readers must have been able to both follow the path and feel that they could have – and SHOULD have – predicted the ending.

For many mystery writers these elements arise automatically as they create their stories. But don’t trust to luck. If you are a plotter, like me, you should make sure all ten of the essential elements are in your story before you begin to actually write. On the other hand, if you are the kind of writer who flies by the seat of his pants you will need to stay aware as you proceed, and not miss the opportunities to include these elements.

NOW… are there other essential elements you feel a mystery needs? Let me know.     

Essential Elements of Mystery Fiction

Saturday I was lucky enough to participate in the Virginia Writer’s Club annual symposium.  A big part of the fun was teaming up with fellow mystery author Rosie Shomaker to deliver a workshop called “Writing Mysteries: the Why, What and How of it.”

After giving our class a clear definition of the mystery story, and spending some time explaining why writers should choose to create mysteries, we enumerated what we think are the ten essential elements of a mystery story with some do’s and don’ts. I thought you might like to know them too.

First, of course, you must have a mystery. There must be a secret, something missing or an unsolved crime. And of course there has to be a victim. Most important here is to explain the damage and the stakes. In other words, who was harmed, killed or put in danger? And the stakes need to be high, otherwise readers won’t care.

Next you need an investigator. Please don’t use some random, passer-by as your sleuth. He or she needs to have a vested interest in solving the crime.

You’re going to need some suspects. The guilty party should be among them, and you need to introduce this person early. When you bring the real villain in late the detective’s examination of earlier suspects feels like a waste of the reader’s time. And, while we need a selection to choose from, you shouldn’t have too many suspects. Agatha Christie’s “little Indians” aside, ten is too many.

The setting is a necessary element of a good mystery. Be specific about where your mystery is happening and make that setting three-dimensional, that is, describe it with all your senses. Mysteries take us where we want to go, or sometimes they just show you the places you already know.  My detective, Hannibal Jones, lives and works in Washington.  He shares the city with James Patterson’s Alex Cross and George Pelecanos’ Derek Strange.  Of course Laura Lippman’s Tess Monahan rules Baltimore, Robert B. Parker's Spencer owns Boston, and Paula Woods redefines L.A. urban noir with Charlotte Justice. Janet Evanovich takes a rather satirical look at New Jersey. And Alexander McCall Smith’s books about the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency are set in Botswana.

And of course your mystery must have actual detection. Your sleuth has to examine, investigate, and interview those suspects to build their motive, means and opportunity. The detective must ferret out both physical and relational facts and connections. Don’t let your protagonist luck into the information he or she needs. Likewise, don’t have your sleuth endlessly listening to gossip or hearsay. The information gained from interviews should be validated and compared in order to learn who’s lying.

But we said ten essential elements, didn’t we? I’ll talk about the others next week.

Don't Judge Me for Judging

After assembling my own anthology for publication (Young Adventurers, due for release in December) I thought I was fully ready to help judge a short story contest that would result in an anthology for fellow publisher.  Well… maybe.

Nancy Sakaduski of Cat & Mouse Press invited me to be one of the six judges for this year’s Rehoboth Beach Reads Short Story Contest. I was honored, but still didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. Nancy is tapped into a pretty vital writing community in Delaware, which resulted in more than 130 submissions! When I got my first batch of 40 stories to review I figured I’d blow through them pretty quickly. I just needed to pick my top five choices with no reviews, comments, or explanation required. We were judging the stories based on their creativity, quality of writing, their suitability as a beach read, and how well they fit the beach theme. Eliminations should be easy, right? You know a story’s too weak  by the end of the first page.

The problem is, almost none of them was weak. This was a pretty darn good bunch of stories. I wanted five great reads to float to the surface, but it was more like twenty. I had to get really picky to choose the 5.

But then we all needed to read the entire group of semi-finalists. Six judges,  five stories each.  That means thirty counting my five, but surely there’d be a lot of overlap that would reduce that number, right? Well, not so much. We had 28 semi-finalists to consider. And shoot, almost all of these were really good! Plus there was the apples vs oranges issue: is this really well written romance better or worse than that well written humorous story? Or the thriller? But hard choices had to be made. We each shared our top three choices (although I couldn’t resist mentioning two that were an eyelash away from the top three.)

Finally, we judges met to hash out which of these fine efforts would be declared first, second and third place winners. There was lively discussion but no conflict really. These people were definitely my respected peers and we all made passionate arguments for our favorites. Ultimately we all loved the top stories to some degree so settling on final winners was not that hard. And we each got to give a Judge’s Award to a favorite that didn’t make it into the top three.

It was exhausting but SO rewarding, and I now know several authors I want to pursue for a Intrigue Publishing. If you are an accomplished writer you should look for an opportunity to judge. It’s a wonderful experience.

It's All About the Dialog III

Last month I wrote a bit about dialog, but it was all just mechanics. But remember that good dialog is so important to your fiction because dialog is the best place to reveal your character’s inner self.  It is also the place where you can most easily destroy your character, and your book.  I know you’ve been told that every writer should have his own individual voice.  If you want your characters to become real people, they too should each have an individual voice, and that voice should grow organically out of who that person is.

You must think of every character you create as a real person, as real as you or me.  How you speak is the result where you come from, your age, your ethnic background, your gender, whether you’re a leader or follower, and whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert.  So you need to know all of that and more about every character before he opens his mouth. Your speech is also affected by what groups you have belonged to.  For example, ex-cons and retired soldiers have distinctive speech patterns that are very different.

One final tip on making your dialog fresh and believable.  When you have a conversation written and you think it’s the way it is supposed to be, the final test is done by ear.  Read your dialog aloud.  Say exactly what you wrote, and if you find yourself tempted to change it in the reading, consider changing what is on the page.  If you stumble over an unintentional tongue twister, change that too because people don’t usually say things that are hard for them to say during conversations.  And pay attention to the word choices.  Consider this sentence from a book I was asked to critique: 

“Your sourpuss persona is rubbing off on everyone, including Whimsy.  She’s seven years old and by now you should have adjusted to being a parent—-she deserves more from you.  It’s Christmas, for pity’s sake!”   

Now, if you had written that and then read it aloud, I hope you would ask yourself - would the person who used a phrase like “sourpuss persona” also use a phrase like, “for pity’s sake?” 

The test by ear is the final test of whether you’ve written strong, believable dialog.  I hope these few tips will help you put better words into your characters’ mouths.

What Genre Do I Write in?

Today's guest author, B. Swangin Webster, is the mother of five grown children and the "Nina" of seven grandchildren. She continues to write because if she didn't, she believes she would stop breathing. "Live life with passion" is her motto and this is something that she does every day. She has written two successful novels that strike close to reality, yet people still ask what genre her work falls into. Today she explains.

What is the genre I write in?

Well with a name like B. Swangin Webster you may assume, erotica. WRONG!

I write Contemporary Dramas. It can also be called Urban Drama.

Next question…oh, like street lit? WRONG!

Contemporary/Urban dramas are nothing like street lit. There are no drug dealers in my novels (well one time there was but he was just passing through) and there are no women stripping for money or marrying a man for money.

Street lit is hard core literature that has taken the literary world by storm. Most street lit novels will have titles that include the word, (pardon my language) Bitch and Nigga. Most likely they will have covers with stacks of money on the cover or a scantily clad woman or man.

My novels have none of that. Yes, it may contain the word Bitch but not in EVERY conversation.

Contemporary dramas are stories that can be lived right now. They could be your neighbor’s drama and most of them are LIFETIME movies. You know; the ones that have the stalker, the mistress or the missing child. 

What I write is taken from today’s headlines and fictionalized to put you in the middle of the situation and have you going through all of your emotions. If you don’t use at least 4 (or 5) emotions (well some say there are 6 emotions; but that’s another blog) while reading my novel, than I haven’t done my job.

So take a look at one of my novels and see what I write. Don’t assume that you won’t read an urban or contemporary drama because most movies that aren’t mystery, suspense or action are in fact contemporary dramas.

Give me a try and see if you enjoy it. Please feel free to contact me after you do; I’d love to hear from you. Just write to bswanginwebster@gmail.com - and make sure to LIKE my fan page on Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorbswanginwebster

A Priest & A Rabbi Walk Into a Bar...

Today's guest blogger, Kimberly “Kimba” J. Dalferes, is a native Floridian who pretends to be a Virginian. Her accomplishments have included successfully threading a sewing bobbin, landing a 35 pound Alaskan king salmon, and scoring a ceramic sangria pitcher at an estate sale for $1. She also sometimes writes books. In fact, she allowed us to give you a sneak peek at her next book - The Magic Fishing Panties - right here! Her humor column–Dock Tale Hour–is featured in Laker Magazine. Today, Kimba tells us how to write humor her way.

I know it when I see it.

Justice Potter Stewart, famously defining pornography

Good humor writing is a lot like Justice Stewart’s porno. One gal’s laugh-fest is another woman’s offensive screed. I know a good joke when I hear one and I know a funny essay when I read it. However, sometimes it’s difficult to describe how to write good humor. But, here goes.

Key elements of good humor writing are not that dissimilar from good writing in general: show, don’t tell. “The clown slipped on the banana peel” is telling. More akin to showing would be: “JoJo, the sad-faced clown, never saw the yellow castoff strip of peel lying limp in the middle of the already wet pavement. In his haste to join his brethren in their tiny red clown car, JoJo perilously ignored a key principle of the clown playbook: slippery when wet.”

A well-written humorous story often evolves through three distinct phases: the hook; the set-up; and the punchline.

The Hook.

This statement–the hook– sets up the situation so the writer can now craft an engaging story. An effective hook has the reader pondering: Why are the priest and the rabbi together? What causes them to walk into a bar? What will happen to them in the bar?

The Set-up. The set-up often centers on an awkward situation, a ridiculous reaction, or a profound insight. In our example of our friends the priest and the rabbi, perhaps they are debating the use of Viagra, or why Viagra is blue, or how many Viagra pills it would take to screw in a light bulb. The set-up describes the bar, the conversation, and the back story leading up to the punchline.

The Punchline. Every humorous story needs a punchline. This is the final element of the narrative intended to make the reader laugh, snort, or giggle. The build-up to the punchline can bring the reader along so that the story ending is obvious, yet satisfying. Or, a punchline can be unexpected, catching the reader off-guard and gleefully surprised.

 One last suggestion: consider the “rule of three.” Like Goldilocks and the Three Bears or the Three Little Pigs, most stories seem to flow better, and are perceived as being funnier, when there are three discernible components. Taking this to heart, our hook should probably be changed to: A priest, a rabbi, and Hillary Clinton walk into a bar. 

Gee, that is funnier.

  

Look for her new book, Magic Fishing Panties, to be released in August 2015 by Booktrope Publishing.  She is often found hanging out on her blog The Middle-Aged Cheap Seats. You can also visit her at www.kimdalferes.com

The People in Our Heads

Today’ guest blogger, Betsy Ashton, is the author of two Mad Max books, Mad Max Unintended Consequences and the 2015 release, Uncharted Territory. In her spare time, she is the president of The Virginia Writers Club. She stopped in to share a bit about her relationship with her protagonist.

Thanks, Austin, for inviting me to yammer on about how Mad Max and I came to an agreement on how she should be portrayed. Let me begin by saying my Mad Max has nothing to do with the Mel Gibson character in the Thunderdome series, or in any other Road Warrior series. She is a fifty-something grandmother, smart, sexy, snarky and oh so wealthy. She also has two of the most adorable grandchildren who held her solve crimes. Oh dear, I’m getting ahead of myself.

When I began writing what became Mad Max Unintended Consequences, Maxine “Mad Max” Davies was a minor character. The original story line focused on the dissolution of a marriage, the idea prompted by real life, where a wife descended into alcohol, drugs and infidelity, leaving a family in mourning. Even I was bored with it. Max kept creeping in, asserting herself into the story instead of remaining in the background as the mother of the alcoholic, drug-addicted wife of the two adorable grandchildren. Through alternating chapters wherein the couple told their stories in first person singular, a technique I absolutely loved but which didn’t work, the story played out. It was so much fun to write, so painful to read.

One night about three in the morning, I heard a very clear voice shouting at me:  “It’s my story. Dammit, tell it my way.” Why, yes ma’am. And so, Mad Max was born.

I took the advice of a dear writer friend who read the first fifty pages of the original and said, “Let Max be Max.” I did. As soon as I focused on Max, I felt a story come to life. Admittedly, I wasn’t excited about the amount of rewriting this shift in point of view entailed. Like from sentence one to “the end.” Six drafts later, Max was a fully fleshed out character with multiple secondary characters, including her adorable grandchildren who helped her solve a crime.

I found an agent who loved Max as much as I do. She suggested short synopses for two more books in the series, which she then sold to Koehler Books, a small press in Virginia Beach. The thrill of writing a series was almost as intense as discovering Max in the first place. She taught me to listen to the voices in my head. I do, even to the newest one, a female serial killer who may or may not be a psychopath.

Betsy is a dedicated author and a staunch author advocate as well. You can learn more about her and her writing at www.betsy-ashton.com