 Mystery: February 26, 2013 Issue [#5533] |
  Mystery
This week: John Dickson Carr's Recipe for Mystery Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week: "We're in a detective story, and we don't fool the reader by pretending we're not. Let's not invent elaborate excuses to drag in a discussion of detective stories. Let's candidly glory in the noblest pursuits possible to characters in a book."
~Dr. Gideon Fell in John Dickson Carr's "The Three Coffins"
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John Dickson Carr was known for his complicated "locked room" mysteries, but his recipe for a good mystery was fairly simple. Carr believed that the best detective novels should have the following ingredients: fair play, sound plot construction, and ingenuity. These qualities are important in the development of any story, but especially so for mysteries.
Fair play: Mystery readers love to play detective by trying to figure out the ending before it happens. I hate reading a story where the ending is so obvious that I figure it out on page 2, but it is even more annoying when I have no chance of solving the mystery because the author withholds crucial information. If the detective suddenly reveals that a major suspect has an identical twin who is the real killer, I am likely to throw the book across the room and never read another story by that author! In a good mystery story, the reader has all the clues needed to solve the mystery. That means all suspects are introduced fairly early, and no important information is pulled "out of the air" at the end of the story. This doesn't mean all suspects need the word "SUSPECT" stamped on their foreheads or that every significant object needs to be labeled "CLUE." They must be there, but they don't need to be obvious.
Sound plot construction: Plot construction the most important part of mystery writing. Even with the most realistic, well-developed characters in the world, your story will fail if the plot is weak or inconsistent. For me, constructing a sound plot means planning the entire story before I write one word. That doesn't mean that a "seat of the pants" writer cannot write a good mystery, or that your initial plot plan is written in stone. The important thing is to make sure your plot hangs together throughout the writing and rewriting process. For example, you may decide that a paragraph of setting description is unnecessary and remove it, forgetting that an important clue was buried in that paragraph. Since authors are often too close to the process to notice plot inconsistencies, an honest reviewing partner or editor is a mystery writer's best friend.
Ingenuity:Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines ingenuity as "the quality of being clever, original, or inventive." John Dickson Carr explained that "Athough this quality of ingenuity is not necessary to the detective story as such, you will never find a great masterpiece without it." Of course, every writer wants to create an original story line or memorable character, but it is easier said than done. One way to be original is to write what you know. You are the only writer in the world with your own knowledge and experience. You may not be a detective or forensic investigator, but you are an expert at your own profession or hobby. Hopefully you have never met a murderer, but you do know lots of people. Characters in stories are driven by the same needs as yourself and all the people you know. Put your unique knowledge of the world into a story or character and you just may have the next best seller!
Something to try: Write a mystery story with an amateur detective who shares your profession or hobby.
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Answers to last month's question: Do you ever write mysteries based on real life crimes?
Quick-Quill 
My first novel is about an unsolved murder in Oregon along the Columbia River. I had to make up an ending. Its the research and interviews that made this story most interesting. It really was a Mob hit but everyone is afraid to tell. The Perfect murder! Question: Is there such thing? If you don't get caught it is.
J. A. Buxton 
Sadly, the vicious items Jason Edgeworth used to murder women in my "Home of the" trilogy are taken from extensive reading of historical torture devices. Some examples were the Pear of Anguish and, of course, the Judas Cradle.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/J-A-Buxton/339955082702711?sk=wall
overthere 
I tried this once. Then I discovered that instead of writing a story, I simply kept researched the "real" story. The result was a recap of the "news" items that I had happened to find. This could work to start a story, but then I have to stop looking for crutches from incomplete stories on the web.
Question for next time: How much is your main character like you |
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