EPUBBING with NICOLA FURLONG

Intro: I’ve been teaching a writers’ workshop at our local Camosun college on how to write a mystery novel. My students are eating it up, telling me that they’re learning lots of practical and usable tips and techniques, so I thought I’d offer bits and pieces of the workshop in my new Friday Mystery Writing blog posts.

The information is gleaned from my little non-fiction e-book primer called Youdunit Whodunit: How to Write Mysteries.

STORY STRUCTURE (PART 3)

HIT ‘EM EARLY; HIT ‘EM HARD (continued from Part 2):

• Hook and shock your audience by rocketing straight to the main crime or another crime so something important is happening, has just happened or will just happen. Set up the central plot problem (e.g., kidnapping or murder) or a major plot problem (like a stolen artefact or a missing person). This forces your villain forward; there’s no turning back

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Intro: I’ve been teaching a writers’ workshop at our local Camosun college on how to write a mystery novel. My students are eating it up, telling me that they’re learning lots of practical and usable tips and techniques, so I thought I’d offer bits and pieces of the workshop in my new Friday Mystery Writing blog posts.

The information is gleaned from my little non-fiction e-book primer called Youdunit Whodunit: How to Write Mysteries.

STORY STRUCTURE (PART 2): HIT ‘EM EARLY; HIT ‘EM HARD

For every good story, there are three main acts: the Beginning, the Middle, and the Ending. You’ve seen C.S.I.; make it interesting!

So, to begin, follow these suggestions:

• Set the Tone (style and locale) up front

• Ignore Lewis Carol’s Cheshire Cat and begin AFTER the Beginning

• Provide very little introductory set up

Chew over this early paragraph from Raymond Chandler’s KILLER IN THE RAIN: (more…)