 Mystery: September 21, 2016 Issue [#7875] |
  Mystery
This week: Stagnation: Part 1 Edited by: Jeff  
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"The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense
of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery."
-- Anaïs Nin
Mystery Trivia of the Week: In addition to his successful Mitch Rapp series of political thrillers, author Vince Flynn was also a story consultant for the fifth season of the television series 24. He passed away in 2013 at the age of 47 after a three-year battle with prostate cancer.
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STAGNATION: PART 1
So this is going to be a bit of a strange mystery newsletter for me, because I'm going to be the one asking for advice rather than giving it for a change. That might sound a little strange; after all, I've been a regular Mystery NL editor for more than six years at this point. None of us are beyond learning something new, though, and so I thought I'd turn the tables and see if you have any advice for me this week. Then I'll look at the responses and we can discuss and expand upon the conversation in next month's issue. Sound good?
Okay, so here's my problem: I really love the mystery/thriller/suspense genre, but I often experience the sensation of having stories get a little stale after a while. I know that may sound crazy with so many different types of crimes and dangers and various personalities to commit or suffer from them, but I go through phases (in both my reading and writing) where I feel like I'm pursuing a plot that's no different from what I've seen and read a thousand times before in other books, television shows, etc. It probably doesn't help that my wife is a huge procedural TV junkie and we've literally watched nearly every single episode of every incarnation of Blue Bloods, Bones, Castle, Cold Case, Criminal Minds, CSI, Law & Order, Major Crimes, The Mentalist, NCIS, Numbers, Psych, Rizzoli & Isles, Southland, and an even longer list of similar shows that had shorter runs. 
I have two questions:
1. For writers, how do you keep coming up with fresh and exciting mystery plots?
2. For readers, what keeps you excited by and engaged in a mystery plot?
I know some people live for the tropes of a genre. Romance fans, for example, never seem to tire of the relationship development process and a happily ever after ending. Horror fans never seem to tire of the genuinely creepy moments that make them jump or send chills up their spines. And there are definitely some mystery fans who never seem to tire of the procedural elements of solving a crime. If you're the kind of person that just never tires of the tropes of the mystery genre, what keeps you coming back book after book, show after show, story after story?
If you're interested in being a part of the discussion, please submit a comment to the newsletter using the form at the bottom of this email  . I'll read your comments and post some of them in next month's newsletter so we can continue the conversation about how to avoid stagnation in the mystery genre! 
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"Blogocentric Formulations"
"New & Noteworthy Things"
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I encourage you to check out the following mystery items:
EXCERPT: Larry spent most of his hours behind a sheet of paper. Painting meant everything to him, but still, despite the time spent, he could never think himself a true artist. To himself, he was a poser, a looser unable to accept that there was no greatness in him. There was no beauty in his work - there was no truth.
EXCERPT: Gates had been in hotel business ever since he could remember and handling unruly guests was what made him the manager. He straightened his coat and picked up the master key.
As the elevator cage neared the sixteenth floor Gates could hear the beats of the drums. Not being a musical man he didn’t recognize the genre, but he had to make sure that it didn’t play for long. It was already near to midnight. The elevator door opened and Gates came out of the cage. The sixteenth floor seemed to vibrate under his feet.
EXCERPT: Jen didn’t know what to do with the telephone call. Her dog had been involved with digging up some important and unnerving things, like a gun in their backyard.
EXCERPT: It was enormous. Old... It seemed like it was built more than one hundred years ago. Deserted... She didn’t know why, but there was something in the air which made her feel uncomfortable. Either the moths scattered on the walls, or was it the lack of light? Deja vu – she realized, trying hard to push that thought away, given the fact she always hated to feel that way. Quite certain, but lost at the same time. “It’s hard to explain.” – she would answer if you asked.
EXCERPT: It's been years since people of this world have seen trees or even rain, slowly we became accustomed to the changing environment. As to how the earth came to be like this, I will never know, it was a mystery. An apocalyptic plague that spread worldwide and changed every way of life. The earth changed, and so did the living inhabitants. Slowly, people found a way to survive on the barren wastelands and cities piled with dust and old food cans or wrappers. Buildings are knit and close together, but few, among the vast landscape of towering sand dunes. Over the years the air became thicker and harder to breath, fewer trees meant the harder the atmosphere. Many wore masks and goggles in order to keep from being stung by the sand laced wind and breeze.
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