Delving into my first mystery novel

I like the Snowflake method: http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-method/

I've adjusted it to my own preferences, and call it the Pizza method: http://thewritegin.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-pizza-method-of-writing-novels.html

I also like to do something I read about at John Scalzi's blog, when a guest author, John Barnes, talked about how he liked "to set up seven slightly related ideas and riff on them till it adds up to something." I do that now, in my own way, with what I call the Rule of Seven: http://thewritegin.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-rule-of-seven.html
Having those seven things figured out, even if I don't have a formal outline, helps to keep me on track. I print them out in large print near my monitor, so they're right in front of me as I'm writing.

There are several books geared specifically towards writers - The Writers Guide to Forensics is one, just off the top of my head, but I've read through several others as well. Another dealt purely with crime scene procedure.

It also can't hurt to get friendly with the public affairs person at your local PD either. Many writers rely on their local police force for information and many are quite happy to oblige.

As for the story itself - maybe try to think of a particular case or circumstance that fascinates you. For instance, I've long been fascinated by people who disappear, start a new life elsewhere and no one around them has any idea. Others have taken inspiration from the ultimate wolf in sheep's clothing Ted Bundy - the serial killer who was quite sociable, had steady girlfriends and even for a bit worked (I'm not kidding!) as a crisis counsellor for a university hotline. Or pulling off the perfect heist like $100M from a Casino vault like in Ocean's 11.

I probably won't be of any help because I'm a pantser, not a plotter. I start with the characters and let them show me the plot. But I wanted to say hi!

Definitely look in the news for stories. A good thought exercise is to look at how a criminal has been caught, and then what they could have done to beat that particular piece of evidence. Then think of what new evidence that change would bring about - which would help convict them.

I found two things extremely helpful with my first book even though I am mostly a pantser. As I got deep into the story, I stopped a few times to figure out where I was and where I needed to go with it.

1) The Classic, 12-Chapter Mystery: At one point when my book was only about 50,000 words, I found this helpful for figuring out where to add—and again, where to go from there. I used it like a fill-in-the-blanks to calm my insecurities about pulling it off. Watch this website. It's full of pop-ups so make sure your blocker is on and your anti-virus is working. http://ticket2write.tripod.com/mysplot.html

2) Four books: Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell
http://www.amazon.com/dp/158297294X/?tag=absowrit-20

The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6376896-the-fire-in-fiction

Writing Mysteries edited by Sue Grafton
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/297179.Writing_Mysteries?from_search=true
(this is more just anecdotal but helpful for ideas if you are stuck)

5-Minute Mysteries: Read them over lunch or before bed just for mindset.

I broke into selling mysteries by keeping it simple. I used for setting where I lived for many years, places and people I knew, kept the murder simple, and just tried to write as well as I could possibly write.

It was only after I broke in that I started going to the police in person.

Online research and e-mail can take away any jitters you have about walking into a police station.

If you want to try to improve your writing, by writing outside your comfort zone, don't plan.
Just start writing from the dead body. Just let the story flow. You know the characters already, you have the atmosphere, let your world tell you the story. You can always backtrack to insert clues, evidence etc as your characters show it to you.

You couldn't get much further out of your comfort zone, and who knows you might discover new skills.

posting so i can subscribe to this thread...

I agree with Jamesaritche. Write about something you would want to read. If you're interested in the West Coast, make your setting and plot revolve around San Francisco or Salem. If you're interested in the beach, try the Florida panhandle. if you enjoy skiing, set it up in Aspen. The plot can evolve more easily if you don't have to struggle with the setting.

For a mystery I would advise that you set it someplace that you know. That makes the background part easy; the descriptions, whether simple or not, will sort of flow. Then stick a dead body in your favorite location, add a witness or two, a cop or two, or local armchair detective and let the story carry you.

Btw, I don't plot either. I start with title, then dialogue, but most mystery writers do not do this, just some. I like to discover what happened along with my MC.

dontpanic said:

I decided to try writing a murder mystery as I've always enjoyed reading the genre and just took a course studying the conventions and history of it. I also feel like it would benefit my writing skills to try a genre out of my comfort zone.

I have the atmosphere and characters but haven't figured out the details of the crime. Does anyone have any recommendations of articles or other sources to read to help planning? I'm a huge planner and I think it's necessary with the genre to have all the details figured out beforehand so I can make the narrative unfold properly.

This is an unfamiliar genre to me as a writer so any tips or advice from your own experience would be very helpful.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

so basically the crime is the plot. At least that's how I always approach it. I haven't taken any classes on it or anything. But foreshadowing is a good thing to do.