I’m sorry I’m so late getting this posted today! The weekend was crazy, and I realized this morning that I was supposed to post a blog. Santa will probably put me on his Naughty List (no comment from you, Natalie!).
I’ve already deleted three blogs this morning so I am just winging it today. But let’s talk about mysteries. I’ve always loved a mystery. I devoured Nancy Drew when I was a kid. I love outsmarting the bad guy. And I like a question that needs an answer.
I even liked Diagnosis Murder which make my kids roll on the floor laughing because… “That’s for old people.”
Why do we have kids again? No really. I once made the mistake of telling my oldest son that my favorite Halloween song is Monster Mash. He laughed for a week straight. He called friends just to tell them and laugh. So why do we have kids????? And please, don’t anyone tell my kids that I used to love Colombo!
I love mysteries, especially fast paced mysteries. The mystery is what drew me into Harry Potter. Who was this little boy who lived under the stairs? Things start happening rapidly and every time we get one answer, another question pops up. It’s riveting…
Now I’m going to tell you a secret. I find some mysteries boring. It’s a pacing thing. This is why mysteries can be really hard to write.
See in suspense, the action is based on a chase that naturally lends itself to a fast pace. You might know the bad guy from chapter one, and you know they are going to murder the good guy, and what keeps the reader turning pages is the chase. The tension mounts based on the reader seeing the killer getting closer and closer to the intended victim. (Or that’s one way to do suspense.)
But mystery is based on a question like, Who Shot JR? Wait, that wasn’t a book, but you get the idea. We don’t know who the killer is, and we must base an entire book around finding him or her by using the clues. In real life that can be tedious. And it can be tedious in a book too, if the writer takes the read through every little detail. Readers are smart, and generally very good at using their intelligence and imagination to fill in the blanks. And these days, readers are even more savvy. They understand that you can type blood and do DNA on it, so unless you are writing a procedural or are Patricia Cornwell, you don’t need to take them through every step.
So how to keep a mystery fast paced? Good characterization is, in my opinion, the strongest tool. I’ll follow an interesting, engaging character through even a weak plot—usually because I’m so engaged in the character that I don’t realize the plot is weak until I finish the book. Characterization is my favorite part of the book. I want to know how the mystery is affecting the characters and what the stakes are for them. Harlan Coben does a good job of weaving the character and mystery so closely that the reader is compelled to keep reading to see how the mystery is resolved so they can make sure the character comes out okay.
The next tool I like is to complicate everything for the character. When I wrote NINJA SOCCER MOMS, I knew I was going out on a limb. My first editor had just left, and I’d been kicked up to the editorial director. I had no idea what she was going to think, but I like to write complex plots to really drive my characters crazy. So I did, I sent it to my new editor and held my breath. Finally, I exhaled when my new editor loved it. On the phone she said something like; “You threw a lot of balls in the air and I wondered how you were going to catch them, but you did it!” She meant would I be able to tie all the threads together to a satisfying resolution. I hope I did—she thought I did. And that’s what kept my readers turning pages—to find out how my character was going to handle the next complication. And yet, still solve the murder mystery.
And, of course, the payoff of a mystery is that some kind of justice happens at the end. I don’t follow many rules, but I always follow that one or the readers feel cheated and so do I! The book must feel like it has a just ending.
Those are my thoughts on what makes a mystery novel compelling—what are yours?
I agree with you Jen. I think writing suspense is easier than mysteries because I don’t have to worry about too many clues and red herrings and things like that. I can focus on the tension.
And I completely agree about characterization, not only in mysteries but in suspense and all other books for that matter. If a reader doesn’t like/sympathize/care about what happens to a character, why would they keep on reading?
When I was younger, I loved Agatha Christie, but I think today they may be too slow paced.
Hey Allison, I didn’t mean writing suspense was easier, LOL! All writing is hard! But suspense naturally lends itself to a faster pace.
And I agree with you totally about characterization in ALL books.
How many days until your book is out, Allison????
Terrific post, Jen.
And I agree about the characters. No matter how many challenges you throw into a story, if you can’t sympathize/empathize with the character, who gives a flip if they get resolved?
Actually, Jen, I do think writing suspense is easier . . . at least for me. I’d have a hard time with a mystery. But you’re right . . . none of it is *easy* . . . but it sure beats wearing nylons to work.
Eight days . . . not that I’m counting or anything.
A
Hi Deb! And yep, I’m with you–make me care about the characters
And now that I’m thinking about it, the characters are the whole reason the reader even cares about justice in a mystery, suspense or thriller. We don’t always get justice in real life but we can achieve it in fiction!
Eight days! Cool Allison! I went on Amazon this weekend to see if they were releasing it early, and so far they hadn’t, darn it. But back to suspense vs mystery writing. Editors and agents will tell us that writing GOOD suspense is very hard! I think suspense is just more your comfort zone, but the writing is still hard!
I think everyone will agree about Characterization. If you don’t care about the people – well, who cares what happens to them.
But – after that – setting is important to me. I read every Tony Hillerman mystery when it came out because he took me into those canyons. I walked beside Jim Chee into the mysteries of the Navajo nation – a foreign country right here in the US.
The Southwest has always pulled me so J. A. Jance is another favorite. The country is so big and forbidding and enchanted (to borrow from New Mexico’s motto).
Then the south. I love the Robicheaux mysteries – so atmospheric. He’s got a new series out now that features another part of the country that intrigues me – Montana.
Maybe it’s because the big city scene has been done to death. I like these books set in rural or small town America. Also – we tend to idealize these areas and so murder seems more horrific. We know that the innocence of small towns and rural areas is largely a myth, but it’s a myth deeply held.
Mo
I agree with Mo, I love when not only the mystery, but the scenery envelops you and takes you to places you’ve never been. But I also love characters who stay with you long after the book is closed. When a week later you find yourself wondering what their lives would have been like after the story closed, how they would face the things we all must face after *snowflakes* happen. Stories and people who seem so very real you could step into their shoes.
Mo and Cele–fascinating input about setting. I really liked your points. Setting like that acutally becomes part of the fabric of the story. Not every author can do it. JA Jance and Hillerman are two authors who excel at it.
I love when I can’t stop thinking about characters after I’m finished with a book. It’s almost hard to pin down why some characters stay with us and others don’t…it’s an elusive quality that maybe comes down to the author’s voice. A powerful storytelling voice just pulls me in!
Hey, my kids love the Diagnosis Murder reruns! Good post, Jen, but I’m still reporting you to Santa….
But Natalie, Santa is pretty busy this time of year. And if you “forget” to report me, I have a couple extra Christmas cookies with your name on them
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