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 Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:28 pm
I noticed there wasn't a thread for discussing mystery yet, so here it is.
I don't read a lot of straight mystery, but I like when books in other genres have bits of mystery.
My next book will be a mystery, but it's a middle grade, so it's not quite like the adult mystery genre. I'm still having to think about many of the same things, like false leads and how to drop in bits of evidence without being too obvious. It's tough, and I'm not even writing a very complex mystery! It's going to be fairly silly and only run about 30k words, but it's something I've never really done before, so it'll be an interesting challenge. It's also going to be my first contemporary book without any sf/f elements, so that should be fun.
Is anyone else interested in mysteries?
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 4:29 pm
I've never been interested in writing straight-up mysteries, but I like to mix a little bit of that component in from time to time. Of course, its never very indepth- mysteries are hard!
Most mysteries seem to revolve around murders. Even my lastest bit of mystery is about a poisoning.
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 8:57 pm
Considering I read Batman Harry Potter and Godchild, all of which revolve around or use mysteries as part of the premise...yes, I would say I enjoy mystery.
The most recent one not involving the above that I read was called Expiration Date, where a man goes back in time to try to save his father from being killed, but it also deals with some secrets his family had. I bought it in good faith and was not disappointed.
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Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 6:50 pm
I read mystery....I just hate when i come to the correct conclusion three chapters before the Main character does.
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Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 9:46 pm
Haha, I just watched a 'Castle' episode where a model is murdered. This model was about to become the face of a new product line.
However, its not until the middle of the episode that it even occurs to Castle and Beckett that maybe- just maybe- one of the other models would have motive to kill her.
Hamsters- I hate knowing the conclusion before it comes, especially if there's a really simple motive, like "He/she cheated on me" or "Money". Then its not even fun to find out who the killer is (which I usually already knew too).
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:28 am
I've watched so many cop shows that I've seen pretty much every motive, and usually can point out the killer before the end....its kind of irksome.
Princess-everytime i see your signature i laugh....what is that from? and also what is 'Castle'?
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 10:18 am
Neuschwanstein Princess Haha, I just watched a 'Castle' episode where a model is murdered. This model was about to become the face of a new product line. However, its not until the middle of the episode that it even occurs to Castle and Beckett that maybe- just maybe- one of the other models would have motive to kill her. I loooove Castle, though. But I like it more for the Castle/Beckett banter than for the actual mystery. I think that's the main thing for me--the mystery isn't as interesting to me as the characters who are trying to solve it, so if they're too generic, I'm not interested. @Music For Hamsters -- Castle is a cop show, basically. It's about a NYPD detective who partners with a mystery writer (played brilliantly by Nathan Fillion) to solve cases. It's funny, you should try it!
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 10:40 am
Hamsters- how could you not know what 'Castle' is?! How should I put it... Best cop show ever. You get yourself to Hulu.com right now and watch a few episodes. XD (totally safe website, by the way. No funny links or pop-ups).
My signature is one of the messages that popped up during Frontier Skys, with Louie as your guide. There was no way I could pass it up.
Racheling- I agree that the best part is the banter between Castle and Beckett. Mysteries come and go- after a couple, you've seen them all. Its the permanent characters that make the difference. Although after watching a number of cop shows, I really do think 'Castle' has some new material.
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 3:40 pm
Neuschwanstein Princess Racheling- I agree that the best part is the banter between Castle and Beckett. Mysteries come and go- after a couple, you've seen them all. Its the permanent characters that make the difference. Although after watching a number of cop shows, I really do think 'Castle' has some new material. I think so, too. And I love that the show is willing to be ridiculous--the steampunk and the vampire episodes are two of my favorites. I've also noticed that a lot of the side characters they bring in for questioning are really unique (and often funny), and I end up caring what happens to many of them, too. Definitely the best cop show ever. I got the first season on dvd for Christmas, and I just bought the second for $15. Back on the topic of mystery for a second, I just thought of something that came up in my most recently finished book. The beginning felt too slow for people because they knew what was going to happen before the character did, and they thought she was slow for not catching on. Now, I totally agreed that the beginning needed to speed up and change so that the events I was leading up to were not so obvious. But at the same time, it's interesting because the reason it was obvious is our long tradition of stories like this. It was a sort of play on Snow White, so the mother attempts to kill the daughter. But would you (as the daughter) really suspect your mother would go so far, unless you had some hard evidence? Maybe, maybe not, probably depends on your overall level of suspicion or paranoia. I still don't think my character was too stupid to live, but it is much better now and much less obvious what's going on. (And hopefully less annoying to the reader.) XD
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 4:14 pm
Racheling- the Steampunk episode was hilarious! I loved it when Castle walked in on his daughter and her boyfriend making out, with the antique gun- that was too good.
I can see what you mean, about they way your audience would percieve your character as 'slow'. I think that in reality, we wouldn't catch onto many obvious circumstances because we think we know people better than we do.
Now, I still think if I can figure out the mystery too early on, the book is not worth reading. But you learn from your mistakes.
As far as your theme- I'm not sure I would try some sort of mystery with a well known tale. Aren't you kind of setting youself up for an obvious ending? I don't know anything about your story, its just a thought that comes to mind.
Mystery is so tricky... there are so many elements you have to pull together; I would say more than in any other genre.
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 4:27 pm
Yeah, it wasn't really meant to be a mystery (or an obvious Snow White retelling, more of an allusion to it), and it takes a much different direction after that even. But the build-up to the attempted murder went on just a bit too long I think. It made me think of your comment about knowing something before the character does. I agree that it can be frustrating, and probably one of the reasons writing a mystery is so difficult--you need to drop enough hints that the reader feels like they could figure it out, while at the same time trying to make sure it's not too obvious. xp
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:52 pm
Mystery definitely takes a careful balance of everthing, and its only some writers that can manage it. I hope you're able to get a handle on it- I suspect writing mystery could be alot of fun.
You know what else I just realized (after watching another episode of 'Castle')? You can't let your audience down. Some mysteries will build in the most fabulous way, but then the culprit isn't actually anything special.
Like when the King is killed by his brother- even if you didn't see it coming, its a common ending. No excitement there.
Or when the victim, a theif, was killed by their partner in crime- its too common.
Yes, I was just very disappointed. The episode was built up to so many possibilities! Then the killer (like mentioned above) was just the partner who stood to lose alot of money.
Its was like "oh". All of that, and the partner was the only person you could think of?
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