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Printed from https://writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/6219
Mystery: March 19, 2014 Issue [#6219]

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Mystery


 This week: Interview With the Pre-teen
  Edited by: NaNoNette Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

Hello Mystery writers and readers. Following up on a suggestion by Quick-Quill Author Icon, I interviewed my 12-year old to find out what pre-teens like in mystery fiction.


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Letter from the editor


Interview With the Pre-teen


How hidden can those clues really be to be a satisfying read?


In my quest to understand younger readers better, I used one of my home resources: my 12-year-old middle son. He is an avid reader and is the type who will secretly stay up to read late or fill some downtime with a book rather than watching TV. Although he's reading a lot, as you can see from his answers below, getting information doesn't yield much, but I hope that those among you without access to pre-teens but you want to write for that age slice finds it a little enlightening.

Q: Which books have you read recently?

A: Lord of the Rings, Percy Jackson, and Harry Potter.

Q: Were any of those mysteries?

A: Percy Jackson has some mysteries in it that get explained in the end.

Q: Do you enjoy riddles in stories and collecting clues?

A: A little.

Q: Do you like obvious clues, possibly repeated, or clues that are a bit more hidden and only mentioned once?

A: I like obvious clues that get repeated.

Q: How do you feel as a reader when the writer mentions clues in the end as the reason for the ending, but you don't remember seeing the clue in the story?

A: Frustrated.



Editor's Picks

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Reflection of the Night Open in new Window. (13+)
Very Short Story About Tolerance Written for W/C Contest 2003
#637654 by ♥noVember tHiNg♥ Author IconMail Icon

 
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BOOK
Journey's End Open in new Window. (18+)
A new position, a new life, and a mysterious disappearing employer.
#1964509 by Odessa Molinari Author IconMail Icon

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#1954025 by Not Available.

 
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Jumper Open in new Window. (18+)
Policeman and a Jumper
#1975892 by Quick-Quill Author IconMail Icon

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#1971577 by Not Available.

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#1946702 by Not Available.

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Crack Kraken's Code Contest [Round Over] Open in new Window. (13+)
Follow the clues and decipher the message to win prizes!
#746016 by Davy Kraken Author IconMail Icon

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Twisted Tales Contest Open in new Window. (13+)
A monthly contest for stories with a twist. Get 500 GPs for entering! Nov round open!
#1269187 by Arakun the twisted raccoon Author IconMail Icon

 
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Ask & Answer

I got the following comment for my last Mystery Newsletter "Leave Enough Clues" Open in new Window.:

Donnamae Author Icon wrote: I have long held that the skill of critical thinking is underrated, thus under-taught. I think it becomes a potentially dangerous problem, for two examples, in the areas of public health and politics. People could actually help their children develop this skill. My grandmother did it for me in the fifties and sixties, as we watched television together. She would "pooh-pooh" the claims in the advertising, explaining that a drawing of a rubber wedge in the heel of a sneaker does not prove that the shoe could make you "run faster and jump higher."

Well said. Critical thinking has become near extinct in middle-schoolers and high-schoolers due to standartized testing, it's scary. Interestingly, all it would take to remedy that would be to read more fairy tales. Not the Disney versions, the Grimm's collections or other local collections and then talk about them with kids. Those stories always have a message that transcends time and culture because the tales revolve around human nature and its aberrations. I think I will bring out the Grimm's tales this week.


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