Youdunit Whodunit! How to Write Mysteries

By Nicola Furlong
$4.99 Rating: Not yet rated.
Published: Sep. 09, 2009
Words: 9554 (approximate)
Language: English

Ebook short description

Improve your writing today with Youdunit Whodunit!, a short and practical how-to guide to crafting mystery stories. Created by multi-published mystery author, Nicola Furlong, this e-book offers simple tricks and techniques, supported by concrete examples, which you can apply immediately to novels, short stories, etc. "...she knows what she's talking about." Maureen Jennings, Murdoch Mysteries.

Extended description

DESCRIPTION:

Improve your writing today with YOUDUNIT WHODUNIT!, a short and practical how-to guide to CRAFTING mystery stories. Created by multi-published mystery author, Nicola Furlong, this e-booklet offers simple tricks and techniques, supported by concrete examples, which you can apply immediately to novels, short stories, screenplays, radio dramas or television scripts.

REVIEWS... (Read more) DESCRIPTION:

Improve your writing today with YOUDUNIT WHODUNIT!, a short and practical how-to guide to CRAFTING mystery stories. Created by multi-published mystery author, Nicola Furlong, this e-booklet offers simple tricks and techniques, supported by concrete examples, which you can apply immediately to novels, short stories, screenplays, radio dramas or television scripts.

REVIEWS

“Nicola Furlong has written a fun, engaging 'how to’ book about writing mysteries. She is witty, thorough and she certainly knows what she's talking about.”
(Maureen Jennings, MURDOCH MYSTERIES)

“YOUDUNIT WHODUNIT! is a snappy guide that effectively covers the bases for the beginning mystery writer. You'll pick up useful insights into plot, character, point of view, suspense and so much more. The many tips should also help you find your unique style. If anything will kick start your first foray into crime writing, this great little resource will. I sure wish it had been around when I waded blindly into writing.”
(Mary Jane Maffini, CAMILLA MACPHEE MYSTERIES)

YOUDUNIT WHODUNIT! covers specific writing essentials, including:

STRUCTURE:
- Key Elements of a Three-Act Tragedy
- Beginnings with a Bang
- Into the Belly of the Middle Ground
- Nailing Endings

CHARACTER:
- Picking Points of View
- Concocting Major, Secondary and Minor Characters
- Dialogue Ditties

STORY:
- To Plot or Not to Plot
- @#% Ideas
- Twists and Turns
- Gotta Have Pace
- Kicking up Suspense
- Clues and Red Herrings
- Flashbacks and Transitions
- Types and Styles of Mysteries

EXCERPTS EXAMPLES:

STRUCTURE: Chapter 2: Hit ‘Em Early, Hit ‘Em Hard

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.

CLUES: Chapter 18: Is That A Clue Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

Clues are the traces of guilt left behind by culprit. A good clue will eventually point in the right direction but initially seems to point in the wrong direction, or it means something different than expected, or it points nowhere.

Earl Stanley Gardner described clues as sequences; in other words, he suggested that a clue is a succession or series of related events. The succession of related events may occur close together or many pages or chapters apart.

For example, we know that a cold beer creates beads of moisture on its glass container. Now, if our suspect states that he finished his lager a couple of hours ago and our dazzling detective spots beads on the glass, guess what? The detective knows the suspect is lying.

It's dead easy…so read on dear Watson. The game's afoot!
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Tags

writing, nonfiction, writing skills, suspense, dialogue, how to write, nicola furlong, plot, mysteries, creating characters, structure, crime writing, detective fiction, writing a mystery, mystery writing

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