How To Write A Damn Good Mystery: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide from Inspiration to Finished Manuscript (St. Martin's Press, 2004)

Edgar award nominee James N. Frey, author of the internationally best-selling books on the craft of writing, How to Write a Damn Good Novel , How to Write a Damn Good Novel II: Advanced Techniques , and The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth , has now written what is certain to become the standard ''how to'' book for mystery writing, How to Write a Damn Good Mystery . Frey urges writers to aim high-not to try to write a good-enough-to-get-published mystery, but a damn good mystery. A damn good mystery is first a dramatic novel, Frey insists-a dramatic novel with living, breathing characters-and he shows his readers how to create a living, breathing, believable character who will be clever and resourceful, willful and resolute, and will be what Frey calls ''the author of the plot behind the plot.'' Frey then shows, in his well-known, entertaining, and accessible (and often humorous) style , how the characters-the entire ensemble, including the murderer, the detective, the authorities, the victims, the suspects, the witnesses and the bystanders-create a complete and coherent world. Exploring both the on-stage action and the behind-the-scenes intrigue, Frey shows prospective writers how to build a fleshed-out, believable, and logical world. He shows them exactly which parts of that world show up in the pages of a damn good mystery-and which parts are held back just long enough to keep the reader guessing. This is an indispensable step-by-step guide for anyone who's ever dreamed of writing a damn good mystery. Writing Cover 1 Copyright page 8 Contents 11 Introduction: Why Every Mystery Writer in the World Should Read This Book 13 1 Why People Read Mysteries and Other Useful Stuff for Mystery Writers to Know 19 The Modern Mystery As Heroic Literature 21 Why Is the Injustice a Murder? 24 Types of Mysteries 29 2 Ideas to Get You Started—The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly 32 The Good 32 The Bad 39 The Ugly 41 3 The Plot Behind the Plot 43 A Philosophy of Plot 43 First Things 46 How to Create a Damn Good Murderer 48 Our murderer will be evil 50 Our murderer will not appear to be evil 50 Our murderer will be clever and resourceful 50 Our murderer will be wounded 50 Our murderer will be afraid 51 4 Creating a Murderer 52 The Murderer as a "Bell Curve" Character 52 The Birth of a Murderer 54 The Adventures of an Adult Murderer 57 5 How to Become Intimate with a Murderer 61 A Meeting of Minds 61 Forest Volner's Journal 62 Character Check 64 The Plot Behind the Plot 65 6 The Hero/Detective 69 The Importance of the Hero to the Reader, Your Editor, Your Agent, Your Creditors, and You 69 How to Create a Hero Worth Reading About 70 The hero/detective must have courage 71 The hero/detective must be good at what he or she does for a living 72 The hero/detective should have a special talent 73 The hero/detective is clever and resourceful 73 The hero is wounded 74 The hero/detective should be an outlaw 74 The hero/detective needs to be self-sacrificing 76 Other Common But Not Necessary Traits of the Hero/Detective 76 The hero/detective is usually a loner 76 The hero/detective is often not financially secure; sometimes a hero/detective may even be flat broke 76 The hero/detective is loyal to old friends and forgotten, even lost, causes 77 The hero/detective is usually sexually appealing and sexually potent 77 Creating a Hero for a Genre Mystery 77 The Mainstream Hero/Detective 80 The Literary Hero/Detective 81 7 Creating a Damn Good Hero 83 The Hero/Detective of A Murder in Montana 83 The Birth of a Hero 84 All About Our Hero 85 Shakti's Journal 88 A Review of Shakti 94 From Shakti's Journal (The Section About Aunt Hatti) 96 8 The Other Characters: Some Mythic, Some Not and Mythic Motifs of Interest to Mystery Writers 97 Common Mythic Characters 98 Common Mythological Motifs 99 A Murder in Montana Cast 102 Bentley's Journal 104 Matt's Journal 106 Sharon's Journal 107 Lyle's Journal 108 Molly's Journal 109 Mike's Journal 110 Penny Sue's Journal 111 Clyde's Journal 112 Caleb's Journal 115 Discussion 116 9 All About Plotting, Stepsheets, Flowcharts, and That Kind of Stuff or How to Get the Hell Out of the Way and Let Your Characters Tell the Story 117 Designing A Murder in Montana 117 A Stepsheet for Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon 118 Discussion 123 What Goes Into a Stepsheet and What Doesn't 123 The Four Pillars of Mystery Fiction 125 1. Mystery 126 2. Suspense 126 3. Conflict 127 4. Surprise 127 10 Designing the Plot for Fun and Profit 129 A Damn Good Mystery's Five-Act Design 129 Act I: Tells How the Hero/Detective Accepts the Mission to Find the Murderer 130 Show the murder without revealing the identity of the murderer 131 Show the murder and reveal the identity of the murderer 131 Show the body 132 Show the victim alive 133 Show the hero/detective's call to adventure 135 Act II: Tells How the Hero/Detective Is Tested and Changes, And, in the Pivotal Scene, Dies and Is Reborn 138 Max, the PI 140 Alice Cicero, Amateur Detective 141 Simon Craft, Detective 142 Act III: Tells How the Hero/Detective Is Tested Again and Finally Succeeds 143 Act IV: Tells How the Hero/Detective Traps the Murderer 144 Act V: Tells How the Events of the Story Impact the Major Characters 144 The Rare Exceptions to the Five-Act Design 145 11 Plotting Theory 147 The Opening Action 147 Stepsheet: Act 1 / A Murder in Montana (1–8) 150 Discussion 155 Stepsheet: Act 1 / A Murder in Montana (9–14) 156 Discussion 160 12 The Hero/Detective Gets to Work 162 Plotting Act II 162 Stepsheet: Act II / A Murder in Montana (15–29) 165 Discussion 171 Stepsheet: Act II / A Murder in Montana (30–55) 171 Discussion 181 Stepsheet: Act II / A Murder in Montana (56) 182 13 How Our Hero/Detective Figures It All Out 183 Act III: The Thrill of the Chase 183 Stepsheet: Act III / A Murder in Montana (57–76) 184 14 All About Bringing Off a Gripping Climax and Other Good Stuff 193 The Climax 193 Surprise about the identity of the murderer 194 Other surprises 195 Intense menace 195 Intense conflict 195 Seeing justice done 195 Reason does it 195 Action 195 Things to Avoid: Taboos of the Mystery Writing Game 196 Prolixity 196 Corkscrewing 197 Maximum capacity lapses 197 Self-destructing murderers 197 A Special Note About Fortune, Good and Bad 198 Types of Climactic Sequences 198 The dependable standard 198 The dependable standard, legal variation 199 The gathering of suspects 199 The trap 199 The thriller ending 200 The pseudoclimax 200 15 Gotcha! Putting the Murderer in the Bag 201 Act IV: Tells How the Hero/Detective Traps the Murderer 201 Stepsheet: Act IV / A Murder in Montana (77–79) 201 Discussion 204 Act V: Tells How the Events of the Story Impact the Major Characters 205 Stepsheet: Act V / A Murder in Montana (80–81) 205 Discussion 205 16 Writing Damn Good Prose 207 Elements of Damn Good Prose 207 Good prose is clear 208 Good prose is efficient 208 Good prose uses sensuous detail 209 Good prose makes good use of metaphor 210 Good prose uses active verbs 211 Good prose uses the active voice 211 Good prose is emotional 212 Good prose uses telling details 212 How to Check Your Prose 214 Choosing Your Viewpoint and Voice 214 The Secret Method of Mastering the Art of Writing Damn Good Prose 219 A Sample Imitation 220 17 The Fine Art of Writing the Mystery Scene 222 Creating the Fictive Dream 222 Story Questions 222 Sympathy 223 Empathy 224 Identification 224 Inner Conflict 224 Drafting a Damn Good Scene 225 Damn Good Endlines 228 Punchy Endlines 229 Scene Writing Made Simple 231 Discussion 239 Dramatic Narrative and Half-Scenes 239 18 All About Viewpoints and Voices or Who's Telling This Damn Story Anyway—Me or Him? Him or Me? 243 Decisions, Decisions, Decisions 243 First-Person Narration 244 Discussion 245 Third-Person Narration 249 "Close" Third Person 250 "Distant" Third Person 251 Switching Viewpoints from Character to Character 252 The Usual Voices and Viewpoints 253 The Rare Exceptions 255 19 Drafting, Rewriting, and Polishing Your Damn Good Mystery 257 Creating in the Fast Lane 257 A Speed Sample 258 Discussion 260 The Professional Mystery Writer at Work 260 Being Self-Critical 261 The Process of Rewriting 262 Draft #1 262 Discussion 263 Draft #2 264 Discussion 265 Draft #3 266 Discussion 268 Draft #4 268 Discussion 271 20 The Killer Attitude or Getting an Agent, Dealing with Editors, Promotion, Book Signings, and Living the Writer's Life 273 The Killer Attitude and How to Get One 275 Having a killer attitude means you will constantly be improving your craft 276 Having a killer attitude means you will constantly be producing new work 276 Having a killer attitude means you will be represented by as good a literary agent as you can get 277 Seducing an Agent 279 Be Ready to Pitch Your Project 280 The Query 281 Working with an Editor / Doing Publicity 283 A Last Word 284 Bibliography 287 writing;,fiction;,technique;,mystery;,literature;,cinema;,screenwriting writing,fiction,technique,mystery,literature,cinema,screenwriting 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 "Frey urges writers to aim high - not to try to write a good-enough-to-get-published mystery, but a damn good mystery. A damn good mystery is first a dramatic novel, Frey insists - a dramatic novel with living, breathing characters - and he shows his readers how to create a living, breathing, believable character who will be clever and resourceful, willful and resolute, and will be what Frey calls "the author of the plot behind the plot."" "Frey then shows, in his well-known, entertaining, accessible (and often humorous) style, how the characters - the entire ensemble, including the murderer, the detective, the authorities, the victims, the suspects, the witnesses, and the bystanders - create a complete and coherent world."--Jacket