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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/9903-Online-Writing-Tools.html
Mystery: December 04, 2019 Issue [#9903]




 This week: Online Writing Tools
  Edited by: Sara♥Jean
                             More Newsletters By This Editor  

Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

Thanks for letting me invade your inbox!

~ S*Heart*J


Word from our sponsor

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Letter from the editor

Online Writing Tools

Mysteries sometimes lose their flavor halfway through as they focus on the mystery. Here's some ways to avoid that.


Setting Worksheet: http://www.the-writers-craft.com/support-files/setting.pdf
This is a wonderful way to set up your setting - to make it a living, real sort of world that your characters are existing in, rather than a flat world that is, quite literally, a part of your background.

Planning a Story Worksheet: http://www.coreygreen.com/documents/storyplanningworksheet.pdf
This worksheet is incredibly basic. I would not suggest it for a longer story, but it is a wonderful suggestion for a short story that will help you put down some basic ideas for a main character, some basic plot ideas, and your main conflict.

Scene Outline Worksheet: https://www.creative-writing-now.com/support-files/scene_outline_from_creative_w...
This worksheet is great for every single scene. It reminds us that we shouldn't just have fluff scenes in our longer stories or novels. Every single scene should move the character toward the goal, or draw them further away from it. If you're not an outliner, this may be a good alternative. You could even create your scenes, and reorder them using this method, once they are all written out.

Character Worksheet: http://jodyhedlund.blogspot.com/p/character-worksheet.html
I absolutely love this one! There are things in this that aren't considered on any of the others I've seen before, and so I just find it to be an excellent resource/tool when you are doing character development - especially for writing. It even has you list synonyms to begin with, so you don't have to look for them later.


Sometimes, Mystery writers tend to focus a lot on the mystery, and some of these other little details can be overlooked or forgotten. Using these tools can help build more of the story surrounding, while also helping you be sure that every piece of the mystery falls right perfectly into place.


Editor's Picks

Let's leave some reviews!

 Invalid Item 
This item number is not valid.
#2206831 by Not Available.


 Invalid Item 
This item number is not valid.
#2206418 by Not Available.


 The Mystery of Lake Street  (ASR)
There are five houses that follow a subtle pattern. The murder house breaks the pattern.
#2103520 by Creative Writer


 Diorama Hints  (18+)
Diorama photos have been sent to them. Each one has a hint about what is going to happen.
#2205970 by PureSciFiPlus


STATIC
Nothing to Lose   (13+)
An odd woman offers Gloriana a murky alternative.
#2009577 by Nixie Martell cheerleader

 
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Ask & Answer

Feedback from "Mystery Newsletter (November 6, 2019)

Chrys O'Shea said, "Hi, I read your newsletter several times. It is, I thought, very intriguing, and I very interested in trying it for the NaNo Novel that I am writing. At the risk of sounding stupid, I am confused on bullets #2 and #3. Could you explain in just a bit more detail? Thank you,
Kristina"

Of course! What it means is, you'll pick a maximum number of points. Say you have... five characteristics: charisma, strength, wisdom, dexterity, and intelligence. For the second pointer, you want to pick a value that is the highest any of these could have - say... 20 is the maximum point value for each characteristic.

Now, you don't want to have 100 points to spread out between the characteristics, because then everything would be 20, and your character would be good at everything. So, for bullet point 3, you want to pick a finite number of points that will force you to pick strengths and weaknesses. So, let's say you have... 70 maximum points to spread out between those five characteristics, with 20 being the highest in any one characteristic.

So, for example, you could pick - for a smart character, maybe they aren't so strong...
charisma: 11
strength: 12
wisdom: 15
dexterity: 14
intelligence: 18

The character above is stronger in wisdom and intelligence than anything else. And, well, they aren't very charismatic, so probably not very sociable, either. So, it forces you to find strengths and weaknesses in your characters. (You could give yourself more points to work with, of course, this is just an example.)

I hope this helps?

~S*Heart*J

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