Posts Tagged ‘mystery’
Friday, July 30th, 2010
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. .
Don’t forget to slip in the Sly Bits:
- As mentioned earlier, a good mystery must follow the Rule of Fair Play. This means the audience should receive the same information as the Protagonist, thus giving the reader a chance to solve the crime by the end of the story
(more…)
Tags: crime fiction, detective fiction, ebook, Electronic / Digital Publishing, fiction, genre fiction, mystery, mystery novel, mystery writing, self-promotion, self-publishing, writing how to, writing skills
Posted in Ebooks, Electronic / Digital Publishing, Self-Publishing, Writing | Comments Off
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
I recently had the pleasure to assist Michael Hanson, a former officer with England’s famed Metropolitan Police, publish his first fiction e-book.
The Black Widow is an intriguing police procedural mystery from a man who’s been in the trenches. To purchase ($2.99 US) or to find out more information, check it out at Smashwords.com. The Black Widow will soon be available from a number of other online booksellers.
The Black Widow by Michael Hanson
Michael kindly offers this note of appreciation for my electronic publishing services, my brief how-to primer, Self-Publish Your E-Book in Minutes, and for my e-publishing course:
When you are getting a little long in the tooth and want to publish a book, modern technology and publishing changes mean that skilled help is necessary.
The lecture on E-Book Publishing given by Nicola Furlong makes it easy for all ages, and her creativity and imagination give the necessary encouragement to take this step to publish your book. She was tremendous help with mine.
Her blog will keep you up to date in a rapidly changing world of fiction and nonfiction reading.
Why not let The Black Widow spin you her web?
Tags: crime fiction, detective fiction, Electronic / Digital Publishing, mystery, mystery novel, self-publishing, smashwords
Posted in Ebooks, Electronic / Digital Publishing, Publishing, Self-Publishing, Writing | Comments Off
Saturday, July 10th, 2010
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.
Cover for mystery writing primer, Youdunit Whodunit!
The information is gleaned from my little non-fiction e-book primer called
Youdunit Whodunit: How to Write Mysteries.
STORY STRUCTURE (PART 5 Continued)
LOOSE THE HOUNDS INTO THE MIDDLE:
Other mid-story development tidbits:
- Never introduce the guilty party late in the book; that’s betraying the rule of fair game
- Generate more complications resulting from the criminal’s efforts at concealment or escape; these often result in a really big problem: a second murder or crime
- Remember that the strongest stories are intertwined, so construct your main and sub-plots to resonate or reflect one another. Perhaps your main mystery is a missing child; then a strong sub-plot would be to have one of your character’s searching for their birth family.
- Make it personal: have someone the reader likes be affected by the first murder or crime: maybe as a suspect? Or is in love with the suspect? Or their life’s changed by the crime?
Remember how MURDER SHE WROTE’S Jessica Fletcher always had some relationship with the victim or the suspect? So much so that no one would ever really want to be close to her!
- Develop and show strong motives for at least three characters and you’re off and running
…MORE how-to write a mystery tips and techniques continued in the next post!
Find out more information or how to purchase this e-book, jam-packed with ways to immediately improve your writing, click Youdunit Whodunit (only $2.99US!).
Tags: crime fiction, detective fiction, ebook, Electronic / Digital Publishing, fiction, genre fiction, mystery, mystery novel, mystery writing, self-publishing, writing how to, writing skills
Posted in Ebooks, Publishing, Self-Publishing, Writing | Comments Off
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Come spend some time in my cottage garden along with my fellow crime writer, Anthony Bidulka.
Geordie enjoying blossoms
He’s got an unusually fun posting regime where he asks Canadian mystery writers to answer 10 silly questions.
I did and he very cleverly put it all together using pics from my cottage garden. The results are delightful!
Check it out today at Anthony Bidulka.
Thanks, Anthony.
Tags: anthony bidulka, cottage garden, crime fiction, crime writers of canada, detective fiction, mystery, mystery novel, mystery writing, self-promotion
Posted in Epubbing General, Marketing, Writing | Comments Off
Friday, June 25th, 2010
Podcast: Play in new window
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The Novel Experience®: the podcast dedicated to the craft and art of fiction writing.
The Novel Experience Podcast
Mystery author Nicola Furlong interviews writers, publishers, agents and booksellers to discover tips and techniques that will help authors improve their writing skills and get their fiction published.
Episode 1: Footprints in the Butter
My guest is my good friend and funny gal Denise Dietz, best-selling mystery and historical romance author.
Discover some key elements to mystery writing, learn a terrific tip to improve your fiction writing and find out what happened to Deni at The Dallas/Fort Worth Airport…it’s every author’s dream! (Duration: ~14 minutes)
The Novel Experience Podcast Episode 1
My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-36ee8632873275dbd640afbf42b05186}
Tags: author interview, crime fiction, detective fiction, fiction, genre fiction, literature, mystery, mystery novel, writing how to, writing skills, youdunit whodunit
Posted in Podcast, Publishing, Self-Publishing, Writing | Comments Off
Friday, June 25th, 2010
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.
Cover for mystery writing primer, Youdunit Whodunit!
STORY STRUCTURE (PART 4)
LOOSE THE HOUNDS INTO THE MIDDLE
Writing riveting fiction is pretty simple if you remember one critical tenet: make sure one damn thing happens after another. This adds and increases suspense.
By quickly beginning the investigation, you unleash your characters and shift your plot into motion. The crime raises crucial questions about the main characters’ motivations.
Answering these will lead you into the middle ground of your book:
- Who was killed? What terrible crime was committed?
- Why does the murderer murder or commit serious crime?
- Who was affected by this death / crime?
- Who wants to solve it and why?
If you found this of interest, you may wish to read the previous posts.
…MORE how to write a mystery tips and techniques continued in the next post!
Find out more information or how to purchase this e-book, jam-packed with ways to immediately improve your writing, click Youdunit Whodunit (only $2.99US!).
Tags: crime fiction, detective fiction, genre fiction, mystery, mystery novel, mystery writing, Publishing, writing how to
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Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
As part of my ongoing quest to improve my writing abilities and (let’s face it) my own marketing opps, I’m about to launch my first podcast devoted to the craft and art of writing fiction.
Old-fashioned Mic (Photo CM Seter)
It’s called The Novel Experience and I’ve just finished my inaugural interview with my good friend and multi-published mystery and historical romance author,
Denise Dietz.
So, hang in there while I edit and put it all together. Hope to go live in a coupla weeks!
Tags: author, crime fiction, detective fiction, fiction, genre fiction, mystery, mystery novel, mystery writing, podcasting, Publishing, self-promotion, writing how to
Posted in Marketing, Publishing, Writing | Comments Off
Friday, May 28th, 2010
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
(more…)
Tags: crime fiction, detective fiction, ebook, fiction, genre fiction, mystery, mystery novel, mystery writing, Publishing, writing how to
Posted in Ebooks, Publishing, Writing | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
Taught the last of six sessions in my how to write a mystery novel class at Camosun College in Victoria. A terrific six-pack of writers, all with very strong story ideas, characters and best of all, desire to write.
Based on the tips, tidbits and techniques from my mystery writing primer, Youdunit Whodunit!, we discussed dialogue in depth. Then we went over their logline attempts, with the goal of trying to jam into the germ of a kernel of a seed the essence of their story. (more…)
Tags: crime fiction, detective fiction, genre fiction, logline, mystery, mystery novel, mystery writing, writing how to
Posted in Ebooks, Writing | Comments Off
