  Mystery
This week: Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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All that I see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
Edgar Alan Poe
Experience has shown, and a true philosophy will always show,
that a vast, perhaps the larger portion of
the truth arises from the seemingly irrelevant.
Edgar Allan Poe
A good story cannot be devised; it has to be distilled.
Raymond Chandler
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Greetings. A mystery is a puzzle, the puzzle master (writer) weaves a maze of clues for the protagonist (and reader) to uncover and solve to attain a necessary vital solution. Each turn of the maze (page) reveals another clue, true or false, to test the sleuth and reader, create urgency and immediacy, a need to keep going and solve the puzzle.
What you have here is suspense. It gives reason for the sleuth (and reader) to turn the corner (page) because he needs to uncover what's around the corner. And, having uncovered a clue, determine, along the way, whether it leads to further clues or is but a false clue.
I think this uncertainty is what makes a mystery a page-turner. You don't know, nor does your protagonist, for sure, whether he's on the right track. He's not perfect, and there is at least one adversary, sentient or elemental, to thwart his efforts to find the logical conclusion to the puzzle, the reward at the end of the maze. So how do you, the writer, maintain the sense of immediacy and urgency without wearing out the protagonist and reader. How to keep both just a bit off balance as they get deeper into the maze of your puzzle. Consider the following ~
 Bait the hook to engage your sleuth. A crime with some obvious and less obvious clues provides a reason for your sleuth to begin the quest. The sleuth's immediate impressions and observations engage the reader and offer insight into the sleuth's motive for beginning the quest.
Challenge your readers with the unexpected. Astonish them, even. Perhaps your sleuth arrives at the victim's home as a brown truck is pulling out of the drive. He picks up the small wrapped box outside the front door and, as he slits it open with care, realizes, "UPS doesn't deliver on Sundays," and at his first glance at the contents, his breath catches in his throat and he flings the box to the ground. Your reader is compelled to see why! And your sleuth's reaction can now give depth to his motivation or prove the clue (the box, the truck perhaps), either true or false.
Pace the unexpected, as you would a marathon, where you pick up the pace, run fast, and then grab a breath with your sip of water on the sidelines. The breath is where the sleuth can pause to survey his surroundings, ponder the nature of the mystery, or consider why he's taking on the quest. He realizes its importance and continues on the needed quest to solve the puzzle, in the face of adversaries. I think that's effective pacing, allowing the reader to catch a short breath between bursts of intensity.
Fix a time for your story or poem. Consider a short time period to solve the puzzle, which instantly increases the intensity. If the clues are not solved within a set time, another crime is inevitable. Either allow the next crime as a further clue, or solve the first by besting worthwhile adversaries, overcoming danger external or internal.
Keep the sleuth and your readers curious. Withhold opinion or extensive description; instead allude to the significance of an item or place as related to the sleuth's, or adversary's, place in the story, or perhaps in the past. For example, why was the person apologizing for holding a gun when the only fluid emanating from the corpse was mucous on his lips, and an earring dangling from one rigored finger?
Make the antagonist, sentient or inanimate, as clear to your reader as your protagonist. If it's a human, make the reader see inside his head; if it's an obstacle of another kind, make your reader experience it along with the protagonist. Make your reader need to best the antagonist because it's important to do so, else something awful will happen (another murder, or crime worse than the first perchance). Make your villain come alive, give him or it a necessity of being. When the protagonist uncovers the final clue and solves it, the others having been resolved in the heartbeat pacing, you have an "AHA" moment and your reader can breathe again, having bested a worthy adversary. So you wouldn't introduce a surprise culprit or suddenly elevate a minor character to the role. I think that's cheating the reader, giving them a mystery 'runner' from the crowd of bystanders to cross the finish line ahead of the battling marathoners. Give your reader a shot at crossing the finish line after a series of little 'aha's' along the way in step with your protagonist, or maybe just a half step ahead, for the discerning reader
Avoid coincidences. There are no coincidences in life, so why in your mystery. Resolve the clues found along the way, each adding suspense and tension between breaths. When the sleuth and reader solve the puzzle, they can take a deep breath knowing they've bested a worthy adversary.
Consider the reason you read mysteries, for the challenge perhaps, of running the race with the sleuth, with the chance that you will see the clue that solves the puzzle one step ahead of or alongside the sleuth. Give that intensity to your readers and they will return for more.
Keep Writing!
Kate
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Members of our Community share some puzzling mysteries in prose and verse for your sleuthing, and reviewing pleasure.
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And there are still a few days left to find and solve some 'clues' to reap some cool 'rewards'
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And, an open challenge for the Muse Creative ~ why not a tale of suspense and mystery?
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Thank you for this respite in your virtual home. I'd like to share, before I move on to the next clue, and the next, a comment from one of our members in response to last month's 'clues' both real and 'fishy.'.
From: esprit 
Kate, this is a wonderful letter of how to plant clues and red herrings along the way. Good one!
Thank you for writing. I appreciate your constant encouragement for the sleuths and puzzlemasters among us. Write On!
I'm curious, now, what makes you keep reading a mystery; what makes you turn that page or rush to the next stanza. Is it characters, plot, scenery, clues, something else? Share your comments if you like, and who you see as a writer who facilitates that drive for you. Your comments or a featured link may show up next month, when we will explore a blended mystery.
Until we next meet,
Keep Writing!
Kate |
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Mystery: July 29, 2009 Issue [#3189]
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