 Mystery: February 08, 2006 Issue [#866] |
  Mystery
This week: Edited by: schipperke
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Here is a good book on writing mysteries you may want to cuddle up with.
schipperke is this week's Mystery editor. |
| ASIN: B004PICKDS |
Product Type: Toys & Games
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Amazon's Price: Price N/A
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I am as curious as a cat, so I was eager to read Behind the Mystery with interviews of famous mystery writers by Stuart Kaminsky with photographs of the writers in their homes taken by Laurie Roberts.
Mr. Kaminsky and Ms. Roberts interviewed and photographed writers such as Mickey Spillane, Joseph Wambaugh, Ann Rule and Sara Paretsky. The book was a pleasure to read and my curiosity was sated. After making a mental note to check out the books of some of the authors I wasn’t as familiar with, I thought I would share with you some of the thoughts and advice from theses stellar mystery writers.
Elmore Leonard, who wrote 3:10 To Yuma, Be Cool and Maximum Bob, has Ten Rules for Writing. All of them are equally germane to mystery writing, horror writing or any other genre.
He suggests a writer shouldn’t open a book with the weather, to avoid prologues, don’t use any other verb other than ‘said’ to carry dialogue, and keep your exclamation points under control. He hates the words ‘suddenly’ and favors avoiding detailed descriptions of characters, places and things (unless you are an expert at description, like Margaret Atwood). The best rules are to leave out the part that readers skip and if it sounds like writing, he rewrites.
Makes sense. Before you start your second draft, read the story out loud. Which parts sound like you are writing? Which sections could be cut away from the story without damaging the plot or the flow? What sounds forced? When you read your story, do you skip descriptions or backstory to get to the meat of the mystery? If you do, than your readers will too. Do some surgery on your story.
I noticed most of the writers interviewed do not outline; instead they enjoy letting the first draft of a story go where it wants to. They like to start with characters, and fit the plot around them. They also dislike writing for television, and most do not like the movie adaptations of their work. Every one asked claimed writer’s block to be an excuse for not having the discipline to sit down and write.
I hope you can borrow this interesting book from the library, or buy it for yourself. As a mystery writer, or any kind of writer, you can learn from the masters. And in this book, you can enjoy beautiful black and white photographs of the writers and their homes.
Check out Sue Grafton’s house!
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| ASIN: B01MQP5740 |
Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 4.99
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essence of thought   :Hello,
Mystery stories can really create an interaction between the writer and the reader. As you have said it is disappointing that when we are able to guess directly what the end is going to be, and that's what we find in many fictions and films of today.
I like to be able to almost have it figured out by the end and be surprised!
writetight: Thanks for plugging "Murphy's Law" in your last newsletter, Schipperke .
Dan
I am always on the look for quality writing! Your port makes it easy to obtain it.
Vivian  : Thank you for highlighting the poem that gives a brief glimpse at the continuing mystery in our lives, our missing grandchildren. I have a few mysteries written, some posted in my my port, but my pride and joy is being prepared to submit to a publisher, the novel created from my novella "The Midnight Hours."
We should all be on the outlook for your newest creation!
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| ASIN: B083RZJVJ8 |
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Amazon's Price: Price N/A
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