How to Write a Damn Good Mystery: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide from Inspiration to Finished Manuscript

Cover......Page 1
Copyright page......Page 8
Contents......Page 11
Introduction: Why Every Mystery Writer in the World Should Read This Book......Page 13
1  Why People Read Mysteries and Other Useful Stuff for Mystery Writers to Know......Page 19
The Modern Mystery As Heroic Literature......Page 21
Why Is the Injustice a Murder?......Page 24
Types of Mysteries......Page 29
The Good......Page 32
The Bad......Page 39
The Ugly......Page 41
A Philosophy of Plot......Page 43
First Things......Page 46
How to Create a Damn Good Murderer......Page 48
Our murderer will be wounded......Page 50
Our murderer will be afraid......Page 51
The Murderer as a \"Bell Curve\" Character......Page 52
The Birth of a Murderer......Page 54
The Adventures of an Adult Murderer......Page 57
A Meeting of Minds......Page 61
Forest Volner\'s Journal......Page 62
Character Check......Page 64
The Plot Behind the Plot......Page 65
The Importance of the Hero to the Reader, Your Editor, Your Agent, Your Creditors, and You......Page 69
How to Create a Hero Worth Reading About......Page 70
The hero/detective must have courage......Page 71
The hero/detective must be good at what he or she does for a living......Page 72
The hero/detective is clever and resourceful......Page 73
The hero/detective should be an outlaw......Page 74
The hero/detective is often not financially secure; sometimes a hero/detective may even be flat broke......Page 76
Creating a Hero for a Genre Mystery......Page 77
The Mainstream Hero/Detective......Page 80
The Literary Hero/Detective......Page 81
The Hero/Detective of A Murder in Montana......Page 83
The Birth of a Hero......Page 84
All About Our Hero......Page 85
Shakti\'s Journal......Page 88
A Review of Shakti......Page 94
From Shakti\'s Journal (The Section About Aunt Hatti)......Page 96
8  The Other Characters: Some Mythic, Some Not and Mythic Motifs of Interest to Mystery Writers......Page 97
Common Mythic Characters......Page 98
Common Mythological Motifs......Page 99
A Murder in Montana Cast......Page 102
Bentley\'s Journal......Page 104
Matt\'s Journal......Page 106
Sharon\'s Journal......Page 107
Lyle\'s Journal......Page 108
Molly\'s Journal......Page 109
Mike\'s Journal......Page 110
Penny Sue\'s Journal......Page 111
Clyde\'s Journal......Page 112
Caleb\'s Journal......Page 115
Discussion......Page 116
Designing A Murder in Montana......Page 117
A Stepsheet for Dashiell Hammett\'s The Maltese Falcon......Page 118
What Goes Into a Stepsheet and What Doesn\'t......Page 123
The Four Pillars of Mystery Fiction......Page 125
2.  Suspense......Page 126
4.  Surprise......Page 127
A Damn Good Mystery\'s Five-Act Design......Page 129
Act I: Tells How the Hero/Detective Accepts the Mission to Find the Murderer......Page 130
Show the murder and reveal the identity of the murderer......Page 131
Show the body......Page 132
Show the victim alive......Page 133
Show the hero/detective\'s call to adventure......Page 135
Act II: Tells How the Hero/Detective Is Tested and Changes, And, in the Pivotal Scene, Dies and Is Reborn......Page 138
Max, the PI......Page 140
Alice Cicero, Amateur Detective......Page 141
Simon Craft, Detective......Page 142
Act III: Tells How the Hero/Detective Is Tested Again and Finally Succeeds......Page 143
Act V: Tells How the Events of the Story Impact the Major Characters......Page 144
The Rare Exceptions to the Five-Act Design......Page 145
The Opening Action......Page 147
Stepsheet: Act 1 / A Murder in Montana (1–8)......Page 150
Discussion......Page 155
Stepsheet: Act 1 / A Murder in Montana (9–14)......Page 156
Discussion......Page 160
Plotting Act II......Page 162
Stepsheet: Act II / A Murder in Montana (15–29)......Page 165
Stepsheet: Act II / A Murder in Montana (30–55)......Page 171
Discussion......Page 181
Stepsheet: Act II / A Murder in Montana (56)......Page 182
Act III: The Thrill of the Chase......Page 183
Stepsheet: Act III / A Murder in Montana (57–76)......Page 184
The Climax......Page 193
Surprise about the identity of the murderer......Page 194
Action......Page 195
Prolixity......Page 196
Self-destructing murderers......Page 197
The dependable standard......Page 198
The trap......Page 199
The pseudoclimax......Page 200
Stepsheet: Act IV / A Murder in Montana (77–79)......Page 201
Discussion......Page 204
Discussion......Page 205
Elements of Damn Good Prose......Page 207
Good prose is efficient......Page 208
Good prose uses sensuous detail......Page 209
Good prose makes good use of metaphor......Page 210
Good prose uses the active voice......Page 211
Good prose uses telling details......Page 212
Choosing Your Viewpoint and Voice......Page 214
The Secret Method of Mastering the Art of Writing Damn Good Prose......Page 219
A Sample Imitation......Page 220
Story Questions......Page 222
Sympathy......Page 223
Inner Conflict......Page 224
Drafting a Damn Good Scene......Page 225
Damn Good Endlines......Page 228
Punchy Endlines......Page 229
Scene Writing Made Simple......Page 231
Dramatic Narrative and Half-Scenes......Page 239
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions......Page 243
First-Person Narration......Page 244
Discussion......Page 245
Third-Person Narration......Page 249
 \"Close\" Third Person......Page 250
 \"Distant\" Third Person......Page 251
Switching Viewpoints from Character to Character......Page 252
The Usual Voices and Viewpoints......Page 253
The Rare Exceptions......Page 255
Creating in the Fast Lane......Page 257
A Speed Sample......Page 258
The Professional Mystery Writer at Work......Page 260
Being Self-Critical......Page 261
Draft #1......Page 262
Discussion......Page 263
Draft #2......Page 264
Discussion......Page 265
Draft #3......Page 266
Draft #4......Page 268
Discussion......Page 271
20  The Killer Attitude or Getting an Agent, Dealing with Editors, Promotion, Book Signings, and Living the Writer\'s Life......Page 273
The Killer Attitude and How to Get One......Page 275
Having a killer attitude means you will constantly be producing new work......Page 276
Having a killer attitude means you will be represented by as good a literary agent as you can get......Page 277
Seducing an Agent......Page 279
Be Ready to Pitch Your Project......Page 280
The Query......Page 281
Working with an Editor / Doing Publicity......Page 283
A Last Word......Page 284
Bibliography......Page 287