From: EADeverell.com
WHAT CREATES MYSTERY?
A few elements are vital to keeping a mystery story moving forward:
Use the crime you chose to write about in last class's writing activity. If you did not select a crime, select one from the blog post below. Write for 5 minutes all the details, characters, settings, actions that might go along with that crime. Burglary, for example, will have different characters, settings, or actions than a typical assault & battery. Simply put, the burglar is seldom the thug, although desperation and fear of getting caught can often change a person's personality.
How to Observe a Person (Things to Look For)--building a clue list. Using the information in this linked video, create a list of 4, 8, or 12 clues that might go along with the kind of crime you have selected.
Then let's read the article: "The Differences Between A Crime Novel, a Mystery Novel and a Thriller" by David Corbett for Writer's Digest.
After clearing that up, let's get back to writing. Again, choose one of the following scenarios and write. We will write for 10 minutes. Don't give up. If you give up, bother another student, talk or start a conversation, or just stop writing for more than a few seconds, you "die"--and will not be rewarded at the end of your writing time...! Your story pieces do not have to connect at this moment.
Finally, with the rest of our class, prepare more ideas for your original mystery. Complete the character motivation worksheet and then the solving a mystery worksheet. These worksheets are meant to give you ideas for your detective story. Taken together with the other assignments we have written in the past few classes, start stitching together a plot line for your mystery draft in your journal.
If you cannot write for some reason, use your class time to read (see homework!) Do not bother other students, please.
HOMEWORK: Read the following short stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: "The Man With the Twisted Lip", "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle", and "The Adventure of the Speckled Band." Take notes in your journal to keep the plots/characters of each story straight. Notice how Doyle uncovers clues and handles the structure of each of these stories. Have you noticed a pattern to his writing yet? Stories should be completed by next class (Monday).
WHAT CREATES MYSTERY?
A few elements are vital to keeping a mystery story moving forward:
- Questions – A single question can be enough to sow doubt in a reader’s mind, and create a mystery where previously there was none.
- Answers – The dance between questions and answers is what keeps readers engaged in a mystery. Every answer creates a new question until the final dénouement resolves the last loose ends… Or does it?
- Suspense – Between the questions and the answers there’s…SUSPENSE.
Use the crime you chose to write about in last class's writing activity. If you did not select a crime, select one from the blog post below. Write for 5 minutes all the details, characters, settings, actions that might go along with that crime. Burglary, for example, will have different characters, settings, or actions than a typical assault & battery. Simply put, the burglar is seldom the thug, although desperation and fear of getting caught can often change a person's personality.
How to Observe a Person (Things to Look For)--building a clue list. Using the information in this linked video, create a list of 4, 8, or 12 clues that might go along with the kind of crime you have selected.
Then let's read the article: "The Differences Between A Crime Novel, a Mystery Novel and a Thriller" by David Corbett for Writer's Digest.
After clearing that up, let's get back to writing. Again, choose one of the following scenarios and write. We will write for 10 minutes. Don't give up. If you give up, bother another student, talk or start a conversation, or just stop writing for more than a few seconds, you "die"--and will not be rewarded at the end of your writing time...! Your story pieces do not have to connect at this moment.
| 11 | A character trails another character. | Are they detected? |
| 12 | A character is found dead. | Who could have foreseen this? |
| 13 | A character is abducted, or discovered to have been abducted. | How does this help to deepen the mystery? |
| 14 | A character defends another character. | Do they know who’s guilty? |
| 15 | A character plants a false clue. | Who discovers the false clue? |
| 16 | A character tries to obstruct the investigator. | Who are they trying to protect? |
| 17 | Someone sets a trap to catch the perpetrator. | Do they have the right person? |
| 18 | Someone solves the mystery. | What do they do with this new information? |
| 19 | A character is discovered to have a secret identity. | Who are they really? |
| 20 | A secret passage is discovered. | Where does it lead? |
Finally, with the rest of our class, prepare more ideas for your original mystery. Complete the character motivation worksheet and then the solving a mystery worksheet. These worksheets are meant to give you ideas for your detective story. Taken together with the other assignments we have written in the past few classes, start stitching together a plot line for your mystery draft in your journal.
If you cannot write for some reason, use your class time to read (see homework!) Do not bother other students, please.
HOMEWORK: Read the following short stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: "The Man With the Twisted Lip", "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle", and "The Adventure of the Speckled Band." Take notes in your journal to keep the plots/characters of each story straight. Notice how Doyle uncovers clues and handles the structure of each of these stories. Have you noticed a pattern to his writing yet? Stories should be completed by next class (Monday).
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