Mystery writers create fictional stories around a crime, usually a murder, that their protagonist must solve. They must keep the reader guessing until the end, provide enough clues to keep the story interesting, and avoid creating stereotypical characters. The best mystery writers create suspense, insert plot twists, and use red herrings to keep the story fresh and compelling. At the end of the novel, all questions about the crime must be answered.
A mystery writer is the author of detective novels or short stories. This type of author differs from a crime writer who writes non-fiction books detailing true crime events. Mystery writers concoct a plot or story revolving around a crime, usually a murder, which their protagonist, or main character, must solve.
The mystery genre is one by its very nature that must remain mysterious to the reader until the end of the story. The mystery writer must be an expert at providing the reader with enough clues throughout the book to keep the story interesting and progressing, without revealing enough to allow him to solve the mystery crime before the main character or protagonist. The protagonist of a mystery is usually a detective, but could be a medical examiner or an unlikely character who finds himself in a crime-solving role.
It’s important for mystery writers to keep their protagonists unique, or stereotypes of characters like the bumbling detective can emerge. If a mystery author creates a familiar type of character, he or she must give it a new angle. For example, male leads were the norm before mystery writers started to have women as the main character in solving crimes. Mystery writer Shirley Rousseau Murphy writes a popular series of novels in which a cat, Joe Gray, is the crime solver.
The best mystery writers know how to create suspense that keeps the reader turning the pages to find out who the killer or author is. A mystery writer must also be skilled at inserting plot twists where everything seems to change, such as when a character who was once innocent of the crime may now be guilty or vice versa. There has to be an element of surprise in every mystery to keep the story fresh and compelling.
Red herrings are also the skillful mystery writer’s forte. A red herring is a false lead or lead that does not help solve the crime as thought. Mystery writers should also keep in mind why or why the author committed the crime as he or she writes. When the reader discovers, along with the main character in the crime-solving, who committed the crime, the mystery author must be sure to answer any questions that might be on the readers’ minds. At the end of the mystery novel, all the what, what, where, when, why and how of the case must be answered in order for the world the mystery writer created in the story to return to normal.
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