All good crime and mystery stories contain a puzzle that needs to be worked out by the reader. The heart of the story is the mystery, and that is what all other events revolve around. The reader must care about what is happening at the heart of the mystery, and that is why, usually, it is a murder of one of the characters near the beginning of the novel.
Plot, characters, clues and the solution are the four main parts of a crime or mystery novel, and every one of them should be carefully thought out before writing the first draft.
A well structured plot is necessary to stick to. This makes sure that events are place strategically, and with precise timing. The pace of the action, and the clues can be given away intermittently throughout the novel, creating tension for the reader.
The characters should be powerful and there should only be a few of them. Each character should have some element of guilt that could implicate them to the crime. Everyone is a suspect, and the reader should sift through the information, clues, and events to decide who the killer may be.
Clues and hints are the other thing that need to be carefully placed. They should distribute just enough information to keep the reader intrigued, but not too much that they give the answer away too soon. A clue here and a hint there is all that is needed to whet the reader's appetite and keep them turning the pages.
The solving of the puzzle must be the climax of the book. This must be the part of the novel that all of the other events revolve around. If you want to keep the reader dying to find out what happens next in the story the entire way through, the mystery must only be solved at the very end of the book.
Plot, characters, clues and the solution are the four main parts of a crime or mystery novel, and every one of them should be carefully thought out before writing the first draft.
A well structured plot is necessary to stick to. This makes sure that events are place strategically, and with precise timing. The pace of the action, and the clues can be given away intermittently throughout the novel, creating tension for the reader.
The characters should be powerful and there should only be a few of them. Each character should have some element of guilt that could implicate them to the crime. Everyone is a suspect, and the reader should sift through the information, clues, and events to decide who the killer may be.
Clues and hints are the other thing that need to be carefully placed. They should distribute just enough information to keep the reader intrigued, but not too much that they give the answer away too soon. A clue here and a hint there is all that is needed to whet the reader's appetite and keep them turning the pages.
The solving of the puzzle must be the climax of the book. This must be the part of the novel that all of the other events revolve around. If you want to keep the reader dying to find out what happens next in the story the entire way through, the mystery must only be solved at the very end of the book.
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