By Cyndi Lord
After the release of They Call Me Murdered, book
one in the Sandra Derringer Chronicles, I’ve been asked how I develop the
mystery aspect in a novel. The straightforward approach used is solving the
mystery.
The oldest investigation techniques start with the
crime, and in this novel, it is murder. Initially, we start with the victim. A
dead body is presented, now the author’s job is to unravel the basics of crime
or another mystery; when, where, how, who, and why.
Create character lists for all players in your
book, main to bit parts. I strongly encourage you to use a free character list
you can obtain online. This saves you time when you forget what a character
looks like or some personality attribute you used previously. I print them out
and keep them close while I am writing. Of course, with your creative mind,
strangers will come strolling into a scene. They have a reason to be there,
dress them, and give them attributes observed by your POV character.
If you write as I do, knowing only the basics,
such as, she was killed (when) in the early morning, (where) in the park play
area, (how) with a blunt object, the outline of your story should be short.
Knowing the first three questions is easy, and developing the discovery scene,
a piece of cake. The work starts with creating bits and pieces of evidence,
ultimately leading to the conclusion.
Dialog is an ideal place to fill in important
backstory and hints to move readers onward. It is also a perfect avenue to have
the characters who are solving the case keep the clues in order for readers and
yourself.
In the end, always satisfy your readers with a
solved case. This is known as ‘playing fair with the readers.’ If you intend to
write a sequel or series, after the mystery is resolved, briefly begin another
one, but do not tangle the emotions of your readers into the new story. Prick
their curiosity, and leave them to eagerly await your next book.
Cyndi
Lord moved to NE Texas in 2005 where she lives on a ranch with her husband, two
dogs, and two cats. An award winning author, she recently decided to
go into semi-retirement from her career as a private investigator and research
paralegal in order to write full time. Her novels incorporate her professional
experience into the plots readers love to unravel along with the investigator. She
is a Christian who is active in ministry to the homeless and enjoys many
aspects of philosophy. As an animal lover, she is a vegan, and strong voice against
cruelty to animals. Cyndi and her husband have nine adult children, sixteen
grandchildren and one great-grandchild. For tranquility she loves to work in
the garden, and bake. Painting nature scenes is her favorite joy after writing.
Her first book in the Sandra
Derringer Chronicles is They Call Me Murdered. Nick The Owlet's Adventure, is her children's picture book. Her most recent book is A Plain Wish,
book one of The Plain Series.
And on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cyndi.lord.9?fref=browse_search
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