This week: One Little Thing Edited by: Carol St.Ann  
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| Hello. My name is Carol St.Ann. I joined WDC in September of 2006, and I write for this newsletter once a month. This year, 2026, I plan to focus on crafting the out-of-the-box, oddball story. |
Last month I wrote about the unsolvable crime, and this month I want to add a new ingredient to that mix that makes it ultimately solvable -- but not easily. I'm talking about the infamous "one little thing".
Let's get to it.
A week or so ago, I had an experience at my local writers' group and immediately knew I wanted to share it here. It involved a wonderful story whose author chose not to sign or take ownership of when putting it forward for feedback. Okay. This happens now and then; no problem. We regulars nodded in expert agreement it was likely a newcomer, probably a little shy. Nobody showed much concern over who it might be, er, except me. For some reason, this time I found it oddly unnerving.
The story was wonderful. Beautifully written. Captivating. Great rhythm. Solid beats. Everything you want in a story. Still I could not get past wondering who wrote it. I read it over and over. I looked at the cadence. I looked at the style. I looked at everything. Did it remind me of anybody? No, it was authentically different than anything I had read by any of our writers. Nothing about it indicated to me that I knew this writer.
And yet, it bothered me.
I read it more times than was reasonable and tried to convince myself that whatever my issue was, it was clearly just in my head. I mean, there was no logical reason of importance for me to angst over who the author was. No reason I could put my finger on for why this whole thing was driving me crazy. But the feeling that I knew this writer gnawed at me and would not let go.
It wasn't until days later, I was at my dinner table, sharing a meal with a friend, when out of the blue, it struck me. That one quirky thing. I don't even know why it suddenly jumped out at me when it did. This writer had an odd little habit that I had seen before. And lo and behold, it appeared in that story. And I knew in that instant who the mystery writer was. I reached out to him, and he confirmed (with no small degree of surprise). He's still unable to fathom how I figured it out, and I ain't telling. *That mystery is for him to solve.
It was that one little thing incident that inspired this newsletter.
Why not make one little, normally unnoticed, thing be the object of solution to a mystery, but let the reader discover it? It could be a tic, an object, a person, a piece of clothing, a sentence. One and only one of these things would be the ultimate reveal. But it has to be placed in such a way that it might take several times reading the story, or long unwinding conversations at book club meetings before somebody spots the one little thing that's just wrong, somehow out of place, or time, or out of character, or way too much in character.
On top of that, you'd need to craft and present it in such a way that your readers will not only forgive you, but they'll thank you for the experience. What an amazing writing challenge!
As always, the bottom line is it all comes down to craft.
Who's game?
See you next month.
Carol St.Ann
Remember to nominate great Mysteries
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| What odd ball mystery do you dream of writing? |
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Mystery: February 18, 2026 Issue [#13601]
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