 Mystery: June 11, 2014 Issue [#6369] |
  Mystery
This week: Kids Love a Puzzle Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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All that I see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
Edgar Alan Poe
Mystery is at the heart of creativity.
That, and surprise.
Julia Cameron
Welcome to this week's Writing.Com Mystery Newsletter, where we weekly explore the ingredients of a mystery in prose or verse, fitting together the pieces of a puzzle, filling in the blanks we create for our readers, and exploring the ways we can give them (and ourselves) a good read. 
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Greetings, fellow puzzlers
Remember when school let out for the summertime - and we could look forward to three months of freedom from studying stuff. Before we were i-padded, i-podded, tableted - when life was an adventure we lived. Back then, after we had outgrown summer story hour at the library, we were given our own library cards, and the freedom to choose our books and sign them out ourselves to read when we wanted, most likely on a thundery rainy summer indoor day..
Did you, like me, choose mysteries to read, where we could put ourselves in the story and try to solve the puzzle before the 'good guys'. And now we want to write those stories, the mysteries that keep kids interested in reading a book or a story with believable characters, questions to answer in a fun plot and clues - something different than - padding-podding-tableting 'just junk' (which is a common answer when a kid is asked what they're doing on their pad-pod-tablet) 
If so, then perhaps you have the active vision to pen the Children's Mystery 
We know a mystery by nature is a question in search of an answer. And when we uncover the answer to a question, effectively solving a mystery, by our own devices, following clues, the momentary satisfaction is the best!! And who among us is more curious, inquisitive, and often able to see through falsehood, than a child. And, by expressing curiosity, questioning, then using their eyes, ears, senses, to find the answer, they grow more self-assured, more confident.
A well-crafted Children's Mystery (story or poem) is one that capitalizes on this natural curiosity by offering a young reader the opportunity to engage that curiosity to solve a problem or answer a question on his or her own. By following (and solving) clues, a child builds not only reading comprehension skills, but also self-confidence and, occasionally, a lifelong affinity (if not love) for reading.
Children's Mysteries are more akin to short stories than novels in length, holding to the attention span and retention level of the child. Small kids just discovering the wonder of reading often won't go back to read segments of a story (or even listen to them being read), so most stories for children 8 years and younger are under 1,500 words. Middle grade readers will want to be able to read through a story in a relatively short time period, so most stories geared to the reading span of 9-12 year olds are about 10,000 words or less.
Keeping that in mind, therefore, to hold interest and, by extension, perhaps generate a desire to explore over time the myriad mysteries and fantasies and realities in books. 
In a Children's Mystery Story or Poem
 The plot must be strong and fast-paced, and the clues more linear - a plot-driven story, where the child reading can react directly to the clues and events. So we don't see back-story, character development, or a lot of red herrings as distractions from solving the puzzle.
Effectively plotted clues lead the protagonist (and the reading child) to a satisfying conclusion, where the child can say A-HA, or "cool, I got it!" A sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, and joy in solving the puzzle; a challenge met and success attained!
Child protagonists and antagonists drive the story. Although adults are often present as secondary characters to set the stage or add realism (who makes the kid go to bed at sunset), it's the child who solves the puzzle.
A strong child protagonist, perhaps with an admirable or identifiable quality that may help somehow solve the clues (i.e., , a photographic memory, fastest sprinter in his/her class, best bubblegum bubble blower), will be the reader's engaging guide from clue to clue until the young reader solves the mystery. And these types of mysteries stand the test of time, as witness the "Nancy Drew" of my childhood reading several decades ago and "Hardy Boys" still selling on bookstore shelves and checking-out in the library.
As a writer, I think that writing a mystery story or poem for children is a splendid creative exercise, re-engaging a sense of wonder and curiosity in what we've learn to take for granted or just accept. Seeing for even a brief time from a kid's eye view ~ feel the the bicycle pedal gaining momentum toward the top of a hill, racing toward..., run in galoshes splashing through a puddle to catch..., etch a hopscotch grid etched with a loose stone from the.... Open the mind to see and think outside the box.
Now, use those or similar tactile images to pose a question, then write up some clues that evolve into a satisfying, believable story that a kid will agree makes sense. Who knows, kids might like it and tell their friends and soon they will be looking for more of the same from your pen.
Write On 
Kate
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Thank you for inviting me into your virtual home. I hope you've enjoyed this issue of the Mystery Newsletter and I invite you now to take a look at some of our Community's authors, each thinking outside the box to pen mystery stories and poetry to delight and entice a child's imagination. Give them a read, a comment or review, and enjoy each journey from a kid's eye view
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Now for your stories, a couple places that offer some great prompts for writing your own mystery for children.
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Lastly, though we are now past the age of elementary and middle school, who says we can't once again check out those books from the library, physical or Kindle/Nook and get in some thundery rainy summer day reading
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Now that you're inspired, inspire further the children in your life and elsewhere to want to solve your mystery, and engage the puzzle with some good reading this summer
Until we next meet,
Happy Summertime Writing
And Reading
Write On
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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