  Mystery
This week: Beginnings, Middles & Ends Edited by: Jeff  
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"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."
- Carl Sagan
Random Mystery Trivia of the Week: The television show Castle is about fictional bestselling mystery novelist Richard Castle teaming up with the NYPD to solve crimes (and find inspiration for his books). As a promotion for the show, Hyperion has published the "Richard Castle" novels that he's written during the series. Both books so far (Heat Wave and Naked Heat) have achieved Top 10 New York Times Bestseller status. |
| ASIN: B01MQP5740 |
Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 4.99
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BEGINNINGS, MIDDLES & ENDS
Not too long ago, a writer friend of mine pitched me an idea he had for a mystery/thriller story. He typically writes action/adventure stories, but thought the setup he had come up with was interesting enough for him to maybe consider crossing over and writing a mystery story. When he was done telling me the beginning setup for the story, he waited anxiously for me to respond. And I did, by asking, "So how does it end? What false leads and twists are you going to throw us along the way to the ending. To which his reply was, "I dunno. I'll figure all that stuff out later. I just want to know if you think the idea is a good mystery concept."
Truth be told, it wasn't a bad idea. I was intrigued... but at the same time, not terribly excited. It just felt like it was missing something... and after a lot of thought, I finally realized that it was missing two very important things: the middle, and the end.
The problem with mystery is that it's such a popular genre, chances are your setup (or something substantially similar to your setup) has been done before. There are countless stories of someone waking up with amnesia, or getting a mysterious letter/package in the mail. Or discovering that a presumed-dead spouse/sibling/friend is actually still alive. There are so many mystery stories out there - and in comparison, such a limited number of crimes and relationship dynamics - that it's only natural for a basic setup or concept to be reused again and again (and again). So when you're pitching someone your story idea (or evaluating it for yourself), just presenting the setup is likely to be met with the same reaction I had to my friend's idea. Even if it's interesting, the response will probably be, "I feel like I've seen/read that before."
Mystery stories live and die by their middles and ends. The setup has to be interesting, of course, but what truly differentiates a good mystery from a bad mystery is the ending, and the complicated journey to get to that ending. If you're planning on writing a mystery story, you need to know your twists and your ending, because the originality of those elements will be what sets your work apart from the other works that share a similar beginning. If your ending is predictable and your middle is cliche, even the best setup idea will fall flat. Conversely, even if your setup idea is generic and has been done a million times before, an engaging middle and an unexpected and satisfying ending can make the work succeed.
When you're fleshing out your mystery stories, make sure you know the middles and the ends of those stories. Know what makes your idea stand out from the other stories that use a similar setup, and know what it is about your own narrative and characters that offers something new to a reader. The better you know the narrative arc of your mystery, the more compelling it will be... because a good mystery isn't just about the setup; it's also about the ending and how you execute it. 
Until next time,
- Jeff
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This week, I would encourage you to check out the following mystery items:
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#1726413 by Not Available. |
Mr. Quillsworth is what you might call a thrift store junkie. He had often thought there was something magical about a thrift store. Old and unwanted junk, forgotten treasures, books and clothes, all discarded by one to become another's treasured position.
Time is strange, any physicist will tell you that. And malleable. I don't know how long I lay in the dark but it felt like both and an eternity and an instant. In the distance I could hear distant shouts, screams and a persistent pounding that never seemed to end until it did. And that smell, that smell never left, always my bedside companion..
He sat in front of the wall and looked at it closely. There it was. It was always there - that same dark spot which... disturbed him... during the day (and night) --- as if somebody was there, peeping through it, observing him. Sometimes he thought it was a spider or a fly because it... moved slightly - but it wasn't. Other times, he swore he saw an eye, watching him. It was a spot with a little hole inside it. Did that spot have a life of its own? But how could this be? I'm nuts, that's it! I'm nuts, it's boredom. How could a spot on a wall make you feel uneasy? A spot is a spot - not a hole.
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#1719421 by Not Available. |
in the thin wood / where nearby cotton once stood / back from the main road a-ways / sits a little cracker house from the days / it has no driveway, sidewalk nor lane / as if no one wants to go there again
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#1725426 by Not Available. |
It is a humid night. The kind of night where the stench of the city seeps from the still warm ground through the cool night air, wafting up to the highest penthouses. Beads of sweat roll from the armpit of a nervous middle aged hooker as she tries to make her pimp's quota for the night. The gentle flicker of lighters heating spoons of heroin in the city parks. The kind of night were people get calls to meet at undisclosed locations. The kind of night when dirty secret work is done. Work that is carried out by people...like myself.
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| ASIN: 0995498113 |
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Amazon's Price: $ 19.95
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In response to my last newsletter on mysteries and Halloween:
Budroe  writes: "You are doing a marvelous job illuminating this most arduous, yet most satisfying (to me) genre. Thank you for highlighting my work, and spreading the word and paying forward through this Newsletter."
Thank you very much! I'm glad you're continuing to enjoy the newsletter. 
BIG BAD WOLF is Merry  writes: "One mystery is how to avoid certain situations."
Absolutely. Excellent point! |
| ASIN: B00KN0JEYA |
Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 4.99
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Mystery: November 23, 2010 Issue [#4092]
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