 Mystery: March 06, 2024 Issue [#12448] |
This week: Secret messages Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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3. Letter from the Editor
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Quote for the week:
"Mystery spread its cloak across the sky.
We lost our way.
Shadows fell from trees.
They knew why."
~ From House of Four Doors by the Moody Blues |
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I've always loved mystery stories that involved secret messages. Secret messages have been used a lot in mystery stories and movies such as "DaVinci Code" and "National Treasure," but it might be fun to try to use them in new or unusual ways.
Before including a secret message in your story, it is a good idea to think about why a character is using a secret message. For example, if a murder victim manages to pick up a pen and write a few words before dying, why doesn't he just write the name of the killer instead of a cryptic message?
The most logical reason might be that the victim might be afraid the killer will just remove any message that seems to be too obvious. Maybe he doesn't trust the police and has written a message that will only make sense to a certain person he trusts.
The victim might not have intended the message to be cryptic at all. Maybe the victim doesn't know the name of the killer but knows something about them that he tries to convey through the message. The message might be confusing because in his last moments, the victim wasn't thinking clearly. Or maybe, the message wasn't written by the victim at all, but by the killer, trying to throw suspicion onto someone else.
In some cases the message itself is not cryptic, but is hidden in some way. It might be stuffed inside a random object such as a vase or a book. A secret message doesn't have to be written. it might be hidden in an audio recording or a picture.
A secret message doesn't have to be made up of words at all. In some cases, it might be something out of place or something about a crime scene that doesn't make sense.
In some stories, especially those for younger readers, a secret message does not have to involve murder or a serious crime. It might involve a treasure hunt or solving a puzzle. These messages might be more elaborate, because the character who set them up would have had more time. In these stories, the readers will want to solve the puzzle along with the characters. Try to make them age appropriate, not too easy but not completely over their heads either.
Something to try: Write a mystery story that involves a secret message. |
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Question for next time:
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