Semantic Words

Setting: How To Make Your Reader Feel Like They’re There

You know you want your reader to connect with your protagonist sleuth. One of the best ways to make that connection is to paint a picture of how your protagonist responds to the world around them-the setting in the scene. Your protagonist may be in the midst of a big city, or trawling through suburban sprawl, or in the morning mists by the ocean. If you paste in the setting to add “color” to…

Conflict or Menace? Which Drives Your Mystery Story?

Get Your Sleuth in Trouble Readers love conflict. It keeps them wondering how the story will turn out. What will the hero do next? How will she get out of this one? Good storytelling needs conflict. Conflict builds suspense by creating tension. For a reader, tension raises the question of what will happen next. That tension keeps them reading more. A traditional mystery is not a thriller or…

Why Mystery Authors Have a Leg Up Mastering the Difficult Muddy Middle

The Muddy Middle Conquered Mystery writers have a great advantage in conquering the muddy middle. In many genres, the vast middle, about 75 percent of the story, has main plot points-first pinch point, middle, second pinch point, etc.-but not much about how to write those 200 pages. What comes before the midpoint? What happens at the midpoint? What happens after the midpoint? The middle becomes…

Read for the Music of Words: Get Inspired by Other Writers

Small Pieces Add Up to Power Years ago I was listening to a classical music station and the young, music intellectual introduced a piece by Beethoven saying, “Beethoven is about power.” I thought, listen more, the music is about the beauty of notes. I had recently listened to Alfred Brendel playing Beethoven Concertos with Simon Rattle conducting the Weiner Symphony Orchestra. Brendel plays…

Introduce Character Emotions by Degrees for a Realistic, Engaging Reader Experience

Emotional Tension Connects With Readers Just as you increase the stakes in your story, you build reader connection with degrees of character emotion. So, you want the emotions toward the end of your mystery, to be stronger than those at the beginning. The degree of emotion reflects the importance of the stakes. Knowing the different stages of universal emotions will help you build emotional…

Is Your Mystery Protagonist a Type or a Character?

If you are writing to market, mysteries, are a high-selling category on the large digital book market on Amazon. You want your mystery protagonist to appeal to your genre readers. So, you want a type of detective to fit your mystery subgenre. Book sales analytics from K-lytics suggested that: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense (MT&S) has grown to be the second highest selling bestseller list on…

Read to Write: 6 Benefits to Improve Your Writing Abilities

One of the best ways to become a better writer is by reading. By reading, you can learn how to improve your writing through observation. You can also learn about new techniques and develop a unique style for yourself. If you want to become a better writer, books can get you there. No matter the genre, reading is an essential piece of the puzzle for writers. Read to learn creative writing…

How To Finish Your First Mystery Novel

Facing the Long Haul  I want to talk about finishing your novel and the struggles that can happen and how you can actually get it done. It’s a big project. I have two mystery writing groups. One is the group for students of Write A Killer Mystery and the other is an open group about mystery writing. What I see is people without a plan can struggle with getting their novel finished. So, let’s…

There are dozens and dozens of reasons to write, but if you ask writers, they’ll tell you they thought about giving up. It’s easy to think about giving up when you’ve been working on a project. Perhaps you wrote ten chapters in your novel but ran out of steam. At some point in the novel-writing process, almost every author wonders if the story is good enough to keep going. Self-doubt creeps in…

Mystery Novel Structure: How to Go from Midpoint to Climax

After the Midpoint – A New Search In the first half of the mystery, up to the midpoint, the detective’s discovery path leads to the victim’s world. The detective learns about the victim—their actions, traits, personality, lifestyle—and the people in the victim’s world. The mystery novel structure creates a change after the midpoint. Those people in the victim’s world become suspects. As your…

Dialogue: Two Writing Tactics for Mystery Writers to Engage Readers

Dialogue is Action with Words Action is something your character does. Dialogue is action with words. Your character speaks to convey intent. And another character responds. Dialogue represents a conversation between or among characters. Today’s two dialogue tips will help you master character speech. Many authors struggle with how to write dialogue. Sometimes it feels unrealSometimes it feels…

Know Your Secondary Characters

What Is Narrative Point of View? – by Zara Altair…

When Characters Run Wild with Your Story – by Zara Altair…

How To Use Supporting Characters

How to Build Story in the Middle – Part 2 – by Zara Altair…