 Mystery: October 12, 2005 Issue [#652] |
  Mystery
This week: Edited by: schipperke
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This week's mystery newsletter brought to you by schipperke
Prompts? Prompts? I don't need no stinkin' prompts to write a mystery! |
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Have you ever wanted to enter a contest on Writing.com and not entered because you couldn’t think of an idea for a story? Do you need prompts to write your mysteries? Do you stare at your computer screen, your mind thinking about dinner instead of plot? Let me tell you what I do when I am at a loss for a novel inspiration...
Every story begins with an idea. The everyday world is full of prompts to get your mind working toward the next great mystery plot. I bet you could write a mystery just be observing common occurrences in your own home.
In the morning, the paperboy delivers a plethora of potential ideas to your front door. Open the paper, and begin to delve into the stories of the day. Take a headline, twist it a little, ask some questions, and you may have your own mystery prompt.
Here is an example: Headline reads: Congress Debates Potential Bird Flu Pandemic. With this headline, you could develop several ideas for a mystery story. Maybe your detective is a forensic detective, who finds out the government is secretly developing a bird flu strain to infect ‘unwanted’ people. Or maybe someone steals the formula for the cure for bird flu, and your heroine has to figure out who stole it and retrieve it to save the world!
The comics can provide a source of potential plots. Maybe there is a comic killer who puts clues into Calvin and Hobbs comic strips. Maybe he arranges his victims to mimic the Doonsbury strip.
If newspapers aren’t interesting to you, you could always power up your notebook computer and look at news online. News of the Bizzare, Strange News, and even regular news could keep you in plot ideas for a lifetime.
Coffee in the morning could spark an idea. What if a coffee cartel put the squeeze on the world and demanded a hundred dollars a pound for coffee? What would coffee addicts do to get their coffee?
Drink your coffee, read the newspaper and pop onto the 'net and you will never be at a loss for mystery story ideas.
When you think of something interesting, grab your notebook and jot down the headline or idea that caught your eye. When you start to stare at your computer screen in frustration, trying to think of an idea for a mystery story, grab your notebook and think, “What if...?”
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