1. How to Write a Mystery …secrets to writing a really good story

2. What is a mystery? Does it have to include a murder? Does it have to include a detective? Any story?  Any genre?  Give two examples of mysteries

3. Characteristics of a Mystery Real Setting Problem Clues Distraction Answer

4. Try starting at the end… What is the mystery that will be solved?  Something that is lost is somehow found.  No one knows what is behind some mysterious act…until the mystery is solved.  A crime has been committed and the culprit needs to be found.

5. Examples of Conflict You might even be able to use a story without a detective or crime as your mystery— Which person cheated? Teacher is/isn’t a detective Disagreements over food Who stole the cookie? Misunderstandings in a friendship Battles between people and nature, such as a protagonist being caught in a storm, earthquake, etc.

6. Conflict— Internal versus External External  Protagonist versus antagonist Internal  Protagonist battles self/decisions Narratives often contain both external and internal conflicts as characters struggle with outside forces or people and with their own desires…

7. Another way of looking at conflict… Character versus character Character versus society Character versus self Character versus nature Character versus technology

8. Essential Elements Setting- Decide on time and place Characters with motivation— They want to solve the problem, but someone gets in the way. Plot- a problem that needs to be solved, an event that cannot be explained, a secret. Exposition- A clever way to expose the story. Foreshadowing— Use to draw in your reader (clues). What is a red herring?

9. What Can Be a Mystery? Adventure Gothic Western Horror Romance Historical Humor Suspense

10. Where Can a Mystery Take Place? In a Car The Desert Old House The Mountains Cyberspace On the Phone Amusement Park Library Small Town The Beach On a Train Restaurant On a Boat

11. Showing versus Telling Telling:  #1 The student found out about the fight through a text message.  #2 The woman was upset when her date failed to show.  #3 The man remembered to eat his breakfast. Take one of these examples and write 2-3 sentences that show the action.

12. Works Cited Rozakis, Laura E. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creative Writing, Alpha Books, New York: 2004