 Mystery: December 19, 2007 Issue [#2127] |
  Mystery
This week: Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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If there were no mystery left to explore life would get rather dull, wouldn't it?
Sidney Buchman
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Mystery Newsletter. A mystery by nature is a question in search of an answer - a puzzle! And when we uncover the answer to the question, effectively solving the puzzle moments before the writer gives us the solution, follow clues tactile and cerebral, the momentary satisfaction is sublime! 
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Planting Clues
Planting clues, like planting a garden, requires forethought and preparation. Also, as in a garden, each clue can serve two distinct functions, sometimes even both, if well planted.
Clues serve to guide readers to the solution, and/or to misdirect them for a time. Misleading clues don’t cheat readers, they simply incite them to follow an alternate path for a while, until the writer is ready to direct their attention to the real clues.
There are three main types of clues a writer can plant, and tend, to enlighten or misdirect.
1. Physical Clues. The tangible, observable ‘things’ to both the detective/sleuth in the story and the reader. Each will notice the fingerprint, the boot print outside the window, the red hair tie on the man’s dresser, the open screen door slapping in the rainstorm. Each will react to the clue and either use it or discard it as a means to solving the mystery. Think – Sherlock Holmes.
2. Verbal Clues. Obtained from dialogue between characters, verbal clues are planted by what is or is not said; perhaps also inflections, accents. Planted well, deciphering verbal clues can challenge the reader as it does the ‘sleuth.’ Think – Miss Marple.
3. Thematic Clues. Setting the scene so the reader senses or observes a feeling, the nuance or emotional impact. For example, a dark and stormy night evokes a sense of the ominous, while sparrows picking at the breadcrumbs behind the bakery evokes a smile until, perhaps, the sleuth/reader is directed to the baker lying prone next to the empty bread bag –oh, did I misdirect here?
So all three of these types of clues can either aid in solving the mystery or misdirect the sleuth/reader. The writer’s challenge is to plant them so the reader doesn’t use them to solve the mystery much before the sleuth, but anticipates turning the pages as the story evolves and the clue becomes more or less relevant.
Forethought in planting clues can add depth to the plot; make the reader want to linger in the writer’s garden of words to see what will grow – yes, make him/her want to keep reading! Consider the following methods for any or all three of the above types of clues.
1. Ambiguity. See the wet footprints on the bathroom floor with the week-old cadaver lying in the half-full tub. They could belong to an intruder, or to the cadaver (before or after arriving in the extant condition). The details here can lead or mislead either/or both the sleuth and the reader.
2. Implicate several people. Consider how many characters in the story may have had access to the knife/gun/weapon, or access to the location even, and how many may have had reason to commit the crime.
3. Misread clue – by the sleuth Perhaps the detective/sleuth sees the red barrette on the makeup table in the dressing room next to the bludgeoned lead actor, not considering that the wig set next to it required the actor secure his own hair, starts looking for a female perpetrator. The reader may or may not grasp it first and scan the scene for additional well-placed clues.
4. Unfold over time.The carved handle clasped in the dead man’s hand fits the gap in the broken hilt of the antique saber his roommate had been photographed wearing at a costume party the night the man met his untimely demise.
Remember, though, if the clue distracts so much that the story no longer moves forward, it’s a weed to be pulled so the healthy plants (plot) can develop and grow to attain their potential (resolution to the satisfaction of the readers). Plant them well, and misdirect the reader (and perhaps the sleuth), but resolve the clues and allow the sleuth (along with the astute reader) to solve the mystery in a believable manner.
Think about it. Aren’t your favorite mysteries to read the ones where, at the page-turning end, you say Wow, how’d I miss that? or I knew it had to be him/her/it!
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I hope you enjoy unravelling the clues in the following selections by some of our members, prosaic and poetic, all for some delightful intrigue over the holidays ^_^
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Join in here to try your hand at solving the clues to solve this puzzle?
How about this challenge ~ perhaps an ambiguous clue, or something so obvious it's indubitably missed, will work here?
And you have until the end of February for this challenge by a host who doesn't pull punches with reviews
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
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Thank you for welcoming me into your home and I hope you’ve enjoyed this issue of the Mystery Newsletter. I wish for all a Joyous Holiday Season and a Happy New Year in company of loving family, dearest friends, and/or stalwart muse.
Until we next meet,
Keep Writing!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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