BEWARE THE SCAM-2

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

MYSTERY WRITING MISTAKES

When cleaning out some old files last week, I came across an article I’d saved from the October 2008 issue of The Writer Magazine by Hallie Ephron. It’s titled “The Deadly Dozen Mistakes in Mystery Writing” and it’s as relevant now as it was five years ago. Maybe more, since, as I wrote last week, self-publishing has mushroomed.

In fact, thanks to Amazon’s “Read inside,” I read a portion of a self-published romantic suspense novel that wouldn’t pass Number Twelve of the list below. Ms. Ephron pointed out that many years ago, a group of British mystery writers, including Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, formed the Detective Club, and made a list of things to avoid in their writing. They even swore an oath with dire consequences for ignoring it.

“If you fail to keep our promise, may other writers anticipate your plots, may strangers sue you for libel, may your pages swarm with misprints, and may your sales continually diminish.”

So, here they are: make notes and beware.

* #1. Coincidence or an Act of God. Coincidences happen in real life, but the rules are more stringent in fiction. If your sleuth is in a bathroom stall and overhears two strangers plotting a murder, Rewrite!

* #2. Concealed Clues. Mystery readers want to solve the crime along with your detective, so if your sleuth knows a fact you haven’t revealed to the reader, Rewrite!

* #3. Plot-Herding Characters. Don’t let your characters do things normal people wouldn’t do just because your plot requires that. If your character, all alone and unarmed, goes into a scary place to confront the villain, you’d better give him a darned good reason, or else... Rewrite!

* #4. False starts. Readers need a mystery, or something exciting, to keep reading, so if you give them an immediate information dump, or a “flash forward” instead, Rewrite!

* #5. Narration in dialog form. Sure, there are things you want the reader to know, but if your dialogue is stuffed with “reader feeders,” Rewrite!

* #6. False finish. These days readers expect the sleuth to have a final confrontation with the enemy, or at least a credible, though unexpected, solution. If you’ve picked the least-suspected person to be the villain and it’s not believable, or the sleuth spends pages explaining to the gathering how he put all the clues together, or if good luck, or divine intervention or a sudden rescue party solves the problem... Right. Rewrite!

* #7. Too many viewpoints. There’s a reason so many whodunits are written in first person. Readers have no problem following one person and trying to solve the crime when, or before, he does. Your story may require two viewpoint characters, but if you write more than three, and especially if you switch viewpoints in the middle of a scene, Rewrite!

* #8. Sidekicks as Stereotypes. Please, no heart-of-gold ex-hookers, no eyeglass-wearing, clumsy computer nerds, no incompetent cops. Dream up an interesting original or else, Rewrite!

* #9. Zigzag Timeline. Don’t switch between time periods if it can be avoided. If you make the reader wonder if this is 2013 or 1990 too often, you’ll lose her. Rewrite!

* #10. Fa, la, la, gathering clues. Remember the theme of all fiction is conflict. If your sleuth is brilliant, fearless and cunning at all times, if he always stumbles upon the necessary clues, if witnesses always tell him the truth, let’s face it, it’s boring.  Rewrite!

* #11. Overstaying your welcome. If your sleuth reveals a suspect to be the murderer, and then decides he’s not and chooses someone else, or the killer escapes and the last hundred pages are just a “007" chase scene, Rewrite!

* #12. The small stuff. Mystery readers are relentless about wanting things to be accurate, so make sure you have no glaring errors. That applies to punctuation and grammar too. Do it right, or Rewrite!

14 comments:

  1. AS ALWAYS HALLIE EPHRON WAS RIGHT ON THE MARK. GOOD TO HEAR IT AGAIN.
    JUDY HUDSON

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Judy:
      Good to hear from you too. Thanks for the comment.

      Delete
  2. I'm a huge fan of Halley Ephron. These are all valid rules. But I'm not a fan of rules in that rules are made to be broken. There's always a story that works in spite breaking one or two of these rules. I will say, if he/she breaks the majority, the story will appear amateurish and stilted.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Donnell:
      I dislike the old cliche that rules are meant to be broken, but I agree with you that some can be when necessary. Good writers, like yourself, know when and how to do it. Thanks.

      Delete
  3. Pardon my violation of rule #12. Hallie Ephron!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Donnell:
      Just shows you're human. Spelling gremlins are always waiting to pounce.

      Delete
  4. Thanks, Phyllis! Those are timeless and true!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Susan: Thanks for the comment. I found those helpful too.

      Delete
  5. Thanks Phyllis! Always good to remember!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Larissa:
      Thanks. I'm always pleased to find good information too.

      Delete
  6. Thanks Phyllis,

    I'm thinking of takiing your twelve points, if it's okay by you, and seeing if i can rewrite them a bit for
    romance writing. As it stands, the ideas are great, no matter what writing you do. like deux-ex-machina.

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bob:
      The twelve points belong to the Detective Club, not me, so have fun. I think it's a great idea. Let me know when and where to read your Rules for Romance writing.

      Delete

Speak to me! I'm listening!