#writing mystery | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ahb-writes · 5 months

Text

Writing Problem: The Scenes Are Void of Meaningful Conflict

Problem: The Scenes Are Void of Meaningful Conflict

Solution: Character growth and story arcs don't occur in isolation. Conflict-guided scenes and conflict-guided storytelling, more broadly, open the narrative to moments in which the characters are continuously tested to validate their knowledge, skills, or relationships.

To drive the story forward with measured purpose, focus on building, developing, and testing a character's desires. If necessary, implement story or relational dynamics to economically assess, judge, and curate a character's failure (and the consequences thereof). Conflict needn't be grandiose; writers must be in tune with the different levels, types, and intensities of conflict that drive their story. Conflict should be multifaceted.

Writing Resources:

A Few Words About Conflict (Glimmer Train Press)

Conflict Thesaurus (One Stop for Writers)

6 Secrets to Creating and Sustaining Suspense (Writer's Digest)

Emotions in Writing: How to Make Your Readers Feel (Jericho Writers)

The Primary Principles of Plot: Goal, Antagonist, Conflict, Consequences (September C. Fawkes)

How to Master Conflict in Young Adult Fiction (Writer's Edit)

Failure, Conflict, and Character Arc (Writers in the Storm)

❯ ❯ Adapted from the writing masterpost series: 19 Things That Are Wrong With Your Novel (and How to Fix Them)

#writeblr #writing tips #writing advice #writing conflict #fiction writing #novel writing #writing problems #writeprob #meaningful conflict #story dynamics #character dynamics #ya fiction #writing suspense #writing mystery #writing failure #character arcs #principles of plotting

461 notes · View notes

writingwithfolklore · 5 months

Text

Following a Trail of Clues

Lots of plots have at least some aspect of figuring out a mystery or uncovering some hidden truth. While it may not be a traditional murder mystery, writing a plot that revolves around the gathering of information and uncovering of clues can be written using a lot of the same techniques.

1. You should probably plan it

If you’re strictly a pantser, give it a shot, but I have never been able to pants mysteries like this. I would recommend planning it from the beginning and saving yourself a lot of time and headaches trying to piece it together later.

2. Start with the beginning and end

When planning a mystery, I start with the beginning, and then skip to the point that they uncover the truth or figure it out and work backwards to fill out the middle. What is the last hint they need to uncover the full truth, then, what leads to that hint, rinse and repeat until we get back to that beginning you created.

For example, say the MC is trying to find their missing friend. The last point would be ‘they find their friend’, so that’s where we begin. Maybe right before that, they’re told the location, to get their location, they’ve kidnapped one of the bad guys who knows it, to get to him, they need to break into the evil lair, to find the lair, they need to spy on the organization, and so on.

3. Diversify the hints

I talk about this a bit in my post about written elements (here), but essentially, you’ll want to diversify how your characters get their hints. It will seem cheap if they find everything they need to know on conveniently spaced notes or journal entries (unless you can really justify that), or it’s all told to them by someone who happens to know it all (such as the ‘wise man’ trope).

Maybe they find the last clue written down, but the one before was told to them from a key character, and the one before was puzzled out through a riddle, etc. etc. Here are some places to find clues:

Someone else knows something

This could be either an ally or an enemy. Family members, friends they weren’t aware of, a hidden partner, seemingly a stranger who knows more than they’re letting on. If they are an ally, there should be a reason they haven’t come forward yet, or justification for why their testimony is where it is in a story. Maybe they are somewhat accidentally guilty in the mystery, maybe they are afraid to be involved, maybe they aren’t aware anything has happened at all.

If they’re an enemy, maybe your protagonists need to corner them, best them in a battle, talk to them away from their boss, kidnap them, etc. Consider why this person would betray their ‘side’ to provide a clue to the protagonists.

Journal entries, notes, letters, ledgers, or otherwise written down

Physical evidence—footprints, pieces of clothing left behind, an object, photos, drawings

Biological evidence--fingerprints, DNA, hair, etc. If your character already has access to the equipment for this, great! If not, consider how they could find this out.

A prophetic dream or vision (use in cases in which it would make sense for your character to have this, obviously)

A riddle, poem, or song, if you can justify it.

An educated guess (for small jumps)

Timing—if they can figure out a timeline, they may be able to figure out something else

Something is missing or off place. That’s odd, character always leaves their book on the bedside table, so why isn’t it there?

Any other ways to get hints or clues to your characters?

#writing #creative writing #writers #screenwriting #writing community #writing inspiration #books #filmmaking #writing advice #hints #clues #following a trail of clues #writing mystery #mystery #detective

397 notes · View notes

the960writers · 2 years

Note

Any idea on where to start with writing a case fic? For example, a murder investigation.

Hello Nonny! I got you.

Here is great guide for writing case-fic (based on BBC Sherlock):

https://archiveofourown.org/works/8042029/chapters/18418816

And this video series gives you all the information for writing cozy mystery (that will help for not cozy stuff too):

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3KL6Jqx65DhnnJJPj4ZOEz4monf8946q

Also, go on youtube and look up forensics for writers to get an idea what they do in a murder investigation.

I'm not that much into murder fiction, but I do have some information under the tags "writing crime" and "writing mystery":

https://the960writers.tumblr.com/tagged/writing%20crime

https://the960writers.tumblr.com/tagged/writing%20mystery

Now, your question was about how to start and, if you're a discovery writer like me, all the advice of planning the murder, knowing who the murderer is, and how many red herrings you can plant, doesn't really help you.

Apparently, even Agatha Christie didn't know who the murderer was when she started writing a story, she just went back, once it was done, and added all the clues and foreshadowing. So, start like that.

Start with finding the corpse, introduce your investigator, and keep going.

#murder investigation #barbex gives advice #writing crime #writing mystery

98 notes · View notes

kathleen-lyons-the-writer · 2 years

Text

Arboriah Lux Character Reveal!

Meet our moody dhampir boi, Esilas!

Esilas is half vampire, half human, and unfortunately, in the city of Obsiditourma, dhampir are seen as lowly as humans. And to make things worse, he's a bastard. Separated from his twin sister, Luxia, at a very young age, he was sent outside the city to the barracks of the Keepers of the Watch, the lowest tier of the Watchmen’s Guild and the Ebony Guard. They protect the city and the farms from ravenous hellbeasts.

He is distant, only trusting his closest comrade Elderik Passor, a fifth generation vampire who treats him like a younger brother; and Ephrem, a first generation with a bit of a childish streak. Of course, this doesn't mean that Elderik's family hasn't adopted Esilas no matter how stubborn he is.

One night while on patrol, Esilas hears a scream in the Pale Woods, and upon slaughtering three hellbeasts about to devour their prey, he meets a girl with fiery red hair and eyes like ocean water. And when he discovers that she is an Aster-Blood, he is instantly protective of her, though ask him and he'll be defensive about it.

He gives this girl the name Lux, because just like his missing sister Luxia, this girl has the same kind light that she had.

Follow Esilas as he supports Lux in her journey while coming to terms with his lineage as well as his feelings for Lux.

Stay tuned for more updates and follow me on Twitter at @ArtKitty97 and on Instagram at @kathleenilyons.writer

Dm me if you are interested in beta-reading. My beta read chapters will soon be available on Wattpad. My name on that platform is Kathleen Lyons

#current wip #writing community #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #writing romance #paranormal fantasy #paranormal #supernatural #supernatural fantasy #Arboriah Lux #character reveal #writing mystery #mystery

15 notes · View notes

writingvideos · 9 months

Link

#writing #cozy mystery #writing mystery #mystery writing #cozies #the killzoneblog

2 notes · View notes

prokopetz · 1 year

Text

Okay, so: in early drafts of Jules Verne's 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Captain Nemo is a Polish guy bent on revenge against the Russian Empire for the murder of his family in the January Uprising. Verne's editor objected on the grounds that Russia was a French ally at the time of the book's writing, and in the actual, published version of the story, Nemo's national origin and precisely which empire he's pissed off at are left unspecified.

Later, in the 1875 quasi-sequel The Mysterious Island, Nemo is retconned as an Indian noble out for revenge against the British for the murder of his family in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 – basically the same as the original plan, simply substituting a different uprising and a different empire. Verne's editor raised no objections this time around, because fuck the British, right? Though Twenty Thousand Leagues and The Mysterious Island aren't 100% compatible in their respective timelines, this version of Nemo has customarily been back-ported into adaptations of Twenty Thousand Leagues ever since.

Now here's the funny part: perhaps as a jab at his editor, Verne made a specific plot point in Twenty Thousand Leagues of Professor Aronnax repeatedly trying and failing to figure out where the fuck Nemo is from. At one point his attempt to pin down Nemo's accent is frustrated by Nemo's vast multilingualism. At another point, he tries and fails to trick Nemo by quizzing him about latitude and longitude.

(To contextualise that last bit, at the time the book was written, there was no international agreement on which line of longitude should be zero degrees, and many nations had their own prime meridians; Aronnax hoped to identify Nemo's national origin by calculating which meridian he was giving his longitudes relative to. Nemo, however, immediately spots the ploy, and announces that he'll use the Paris meridian in deference to the fact that Aronnax is a Frenchman.)

The upshot is that at no point in the course of any of this Sherlock Holmes bullshit does Aronnax ever bring up the colour of Nemo's skin as a potential clue. In light of the book's publication history, this is almost certainly simply because Verne hadn't decided that Nemo was Indian yet. However, taking into account The Mysterious Island's retcon, it retroactively makes Aronnax the least racist Frenchman ever.

#media #literature #twenty thousand leagues under the seas #captain nemo #jules verne #writing #history #metatextual wankery #violence mention #death mention #racism mention #swearing #twenty thousand leagues under the sea spoilers #the mysterious island spoilers #spoilers

11K notes · View notes

whendidmythoughtsgocrazy · 30 days

Text

“You’re an actress, right?”, ”All women are actresses, dear. I’m just clever enough to get paid for it.”

k.b. // murder mystery - netflix

2K notes · View notes

artsymeeshee · 1 month

Text

Some doodles of Mabel and Dipper on their ghost hunting adventures

#gravity falls #mabel pines #dipper pines #pines twins #my art #sketches #doodles #mystery twins grownup #hopefully my terrible writing is readable lol

1K notes · View notes

sleepy-writes-stuff · 1 month

Text

DP X DC PROMPT #27

(Time for something a little more lighthearted/found family. Could probably also make this a crack prompt instead.)

(#) = Notes at the end of post

(*) = Just me building off of other ideas.

✦

Visitation Rights

When Danny went to list Dani/Ellie as his heir after she'd come back from her years of traveling the world, he was quickly informed that he already had one in line for the thrown.

"What? Since when?!"

The pretentious, floating eyeball looked like he wanted to be anywhere else other than here, providing information to King Phantom, but explained anyway.

"The day you officially achieved royal status, you permanently linked your being to the Infinite Realms. When this happened, however, a child was in the process of being created with the assistance of ectoplasmic runoff that's been leaking into the mortal world for centuries. As a result of your power being incorporated into the Realms at such a time, this human child retained an imprint of your core signature. The Infinite Realms itself has recognized this child as your offspring. Your... other offspring has yet to be recognized in such a way and would therefore be considered your second heir once claimed."

Danny stared at the Observant with wide, blank eyes that were slowly filling with dread and panic.

"Why are you just telling me this now?? My coronation was over a decade ago!" He held his face in his hands and gave a horrified groan at what he just learned.

"If you really wanted that clone as your heir, I'm afraid it's too late to change it-"

Danny's head shot back up with a snarl and furious green eyes.

"That's not what I'm upset about you walking cataracts! Eleven years! I've missed eleven years of this kid's life!! How could you think I-"

At a loss for words, he growled deep in his chest. Deep enough that it echoed throughout the halls and rattled the floors.

"Who is this kid, and where can I find them?"

Once given the information and learning of the child's other parental figures, he gets to work. A few weeks later, he appears in the home office of a well-known billionaire with a stack of papers that he promptly slams onto the desk in front of the startled man. (1)

"I demand visitation rights to our son, Damian Wayne."

✦

(1) Danny actually visited Talia first to get visitation rights. Needless to say, that didn't go very well. He's still got a couple knives floating around in his chest cavity because of it.

(*) ALSO! I'm not sure how this lines up with the DC/Batman timeline. All I figured out is that if Danny waited to be crowned until after he graduated college as an astrophysicist, which take 5 to 7 years, he'd be about 36 years old when he finds out about Damian. Bruce would be about 41, so the age gap is only 5 years. If y'all wanna make this Danny/Bruce, go ahead!

1K notes · View notes

lostrealities0 · 1 year

Text

everyone is talking about Blanc calling Marta after Glass Onion, but can we imagine him coming home and telling Philip everything.

like

"darling, i have just experienced the dumbest case ever. good lord, it was worse then playing clue. goddamn pineapple..."

#im bad at impersonations #leave me alone #cant write accents either #benoit blanc #glass onion #glass onion: a knives out mystery #phillip blanc

12K notes · View notes

ahb-writes · 10 months

Text

Writing Problem: The Novel's Questions Are Left Unanswered

Problem: The Novel's Questions Are Left Unanswered

Solution: Conflicts require consequences, character arcs require a destination, and unresolved or unanswered questions have their own purpose. But having too many unanswered questions can make a novel's ending feel too foggy, if not outright incomplete. In short, loose threads can be frustrating.

Handled appropriately, loose threads may encourage the reader to hum and ponder how each character's life may evolve following the novel's events. Some readers adore the beauty of an imperfect story. However, handled poorly, loose threads speak to a poorly planned and disorganized narrative for which the writer was mistakenly more invested in drafting a kitschy or vulgar hook than a purposeful climax or dénouement.

Writing Resources:

Guide to Writing an Unreliable Narrator (Writing and Such)

Story Threads: Fixing Rips in Our Story (Writers Helping Writers)

Loose Threads Can Unravel a Novel (All Things Writing)

How to Pace a Story (Writing Questions Answered)

Figuring Out Where to End a Story (Writing Questions Answered)

Feeling Overwhelmed by Plot Points (Writing Questions Answered)

What Is the Dénouement of a Story? Your Guide (With Tips) (Jericho Writers)

How to End a Story Perfectly (Jericho Writers)

Suspense Definition Literature: Tips for Writing Suspense (Jericho Writers)

❯ ❯ Adapted from the writing masterpost series: 19 Things That Are Wrong With Your Novel (and How to Fix Them)

#writeblr #writing tips #writing advice #fiction writing #writeprob #writing problem #novel writing #questions left unanswered #how to pace a story #how to end a story #writing suspense #writing mystery #story threads #unreliable narrator

36 notes · View notes

thevoidstaredback · 23 days

Text

Okay, so, crisis averted. Both of them, really. Red Robin had not asked or attempted to get any more of Danny's drink and the World Ending Crisis was less World Ending and more World Threatening. Either way, no one is hyped up in lethal amounts of caffeine and the world is in no more pieces than it had been before.

That brings attention to a new problem, though. It's uniquely Danny's problem and Constantine and Zatanna and Deadman won't stop laughing at him. He's also pretty sure that Raven is laughing at him in the privacy of her mind, so that's making him feel worse.

The problem is that every single hero that had been at the meeting a week ago that was not a part of the JLD has been overly concerned about him.

So what if he half died when he was fourteen and therefore will never look over either fourteen or eighteen? So what if he consumes enough caffeine to kill an elephant within a few minutes? What is he gonna do, die? That's not a real threat as long as he only fights as Phantom.

Ignoring the fact that he can, in fact, get hurt to the point of near death as Phantom. It's not like anyone knows that, though! Besides, ghosts run on god rules. They can't die, only fade when forgotten. People aren't likely to forget about most ghosts, though, even if they can't remember their names.

He's not gonna share that, though. Let Batman keep his contingency that won't work because the only contingency that will work for Phantom is the one he made himself. Tried and tested! He's marked it off of his Bingo Card.

Anyway. Heros and their kids/proteges have been trying to track him down for the entire week. He can't risk even leaving the House of Mysteries because the Supers are all probably listening out for him and they can't hear him through magic. It sucks. He just wants to go get a cup of coffee as Danny. The second he leaves, though, the Supers will be on him like bloodhounds. He'd leave as Danny, but the rest of the JLD don't know what he looks like as Danny and he'd like to keep it that way, thank you very much. Being stuck as Phantom was going to start causing issues to his human half if he doesn't get to leave soon.

Should he risk it? Is coffee that won't kill him really worth risking the Supers finding out his civilian identity? Sure, they wouldn't tell anyone, but he didn't like the idea of someone being able to pick him out of a crowd when all he wanted to do was blend in. It's why he avoided Gotham and Bludhaven, actually, but that's both self explanatory and another story for another time.

"You're still here?" Zatanna sat on the couch beside him. "You're normally gone by now. You can't not be tired of us yet."

He sighed and sunk down into the couch slightly. "Believe me, I'm tired of being stuck here, but I can't leave. I can't leave as a human because you guys don't know what I look like and, no offense, but I'd like to keep it that way. I can't leave as I am now because Superman will be on my ass quicker than I can blink!" He whined this time, "I just want a cup of coffee."

"What about your special brew?" Raven asked, coming into the room.

"I want to drink coffee as a human. That stuff will kill me if I drink it as a human."

"At least you know your limits."

"That sounded like a dig at someone, Z."

"It was."

"Why don't you just go out under a protection spell?" Raven offered, "We could cast one over you and you could leave. Superman can't hear through magic, so he won't be able to tell. Neither will Superboy."

Danny thought for a second. "You're a genius, Raven! Has anyone ever told you that?"

"A few times," she blushed.

"Well, it needs to be said more!"

Zatanna laughed. "Alright, kid, let's get you outside before you drive yourself crazy."

Practically vibrating in place, Danny waited for the protection spell to settle over him. The second it did, he was out the door and wandering the streets of whatever city the House of Mysteries decided to drop him as Danny instead of Phantom.

"Who are you," was not the question or voice he wanted to hear the second he stepped into the open as himself.

"Danny," he squeaked out through his absolute panic. He didn't dare turn around.

The sound of fabric moving minutely clues him in to the second person behind him. What the hell were these two doing out? It's the middle of the day and there's no attacks going on anywhere in Gotham!

"Where did you come from?" Robin asked.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! This was really bad! Why did the House drop him *here* of all places? Does it *want* him to die again? It was very painful the first time, thank you very much! "Illinois?"

"Was that a question or an answer?" Why is Red Robin here now?!

"An-an answer?"

"Ah, you guys are scaring the little guy!" That was Nightwing. They're surrounding him! Why is Nightwing here? This is Gotham, not Bludhaven. "Give him some room to breathe."

They did not, in fact, give him room to breathe. Maybe coming outside was a bad idea. If he gets out of this no more dead than he already was, he was going to move to the middle of nowhere and become a hermit. Smallville is a town in the middle of nowhere, right? He'll retire as Phantom and move to Smallville until the people get suspicious and burn him as a witch-!

Maybe moving to a big city would be a better idea. Or locking himself in the basement of the House of Mysteries. Yeah, yeah that's a good idea.

"-even listening?"

Oh shit. They were still talking to him! Now is not the time to panic! "Gottagobye!" And then he was running.

Good job not panicking, Danny.

Part 1 Part 3

956 notes · View notes

the960writers · 2 years

Text

A mystery needs more than a murder and the bad guy who did it. Here, author Connie Berry shares tips on how to ramp up a mystery novel with a killer plot.

#mystery #writing mystery

22 notes · View notes

kathleen-lyons-the-writer · 2 years

Text

Arboriah Lux Character Reveal!

Meet Lux!

She is what is called an Aster-Blood. She is a being of pure spirit and compassion, and her Heart-Mark is that of a deep-rooted tree.

She's a bit naive in the beginning because she's so drawn to help people, but this doesn't mean that she can't fend for herself.

Lux has the power of words on her side, able to use compassion to give volume to what she says.

In the story, she struggles to keep her nature as an Aster-Blood hidden, because if she's found out, then everyone who knows her secret -- particularly a rather handsome dhampir named Esilas -- will be killed for not following the law that says Aster-Bloods must be presented to the Courts and the Morgenstern Family of the Royal Estate.

Her story is filled with mystery, love, and understanding as she searches for the one who murdered Esilas' twin sister, an Aster-Blood named Luxia.

As you can guess, Esilas gave Lux her name because there is a light inside of her just like his sister had.

To find out more about Lux's journey, the friends she makes and the dangers she must face, follow this blog as well as

@ArtKitty97 on Twitter and @kathleenilyons.writer on Instagram

I'll be coming to you with more characters and mood boards soon.

If you're interested in beta-reading my story, I'll send you a few teaser chapters.

Dm me on any of my social media platforms.

#writblr #current wip #writing community #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #writing romance #writing mystery #paranormal fantasy #supernatural #supernatural fantasy #paranormal #romance #character reveal #Arboriah Lux #mythology symbolism #mythology

12 notes · View notes

floorboardchompingfridays · 5 months

Text

Some Advice For People Leaving Comments on Fanfics:

“I liked your fic”

Nice, but basic and easy to overlook

Doesn’t compel the author to do anything other than take the compliment

Sounds like you might be a bot (ew)

“I am going to eat your floorboards!”

Unique and attention grabbing

Makes me second guess whether I should have bought that insurance

Sounds like you might be a termite (how did a termite learn to type????)

2K notes · View notes

poorly-drawn-mdzs · 9 days

Text

Reasons to play In Stars and Time: Canon Pronoun Warfare.

#in stars and time #ISAT #Siffrin #Loop #Context: early on you meet a character who tries to get you to use the royal We pronoun for them and you shut them down. It's great.#The gender swag and non-binary rep in this game is lovely.#I sketched this out when I was in Act 2 - and as of posting this I have not yet finished the game so *please* no spoilers.#It is rare for me to get into something spoiler free and I have been getting my shit rocked by this game in the best way.#Yes I *am* taking another detour to talk about a video game I love again. I will have some fun crossovers. Trust the process.#I will also do my best to pitch this game as spoiler free as possible. Because you *should* play this game:#ISAT is a very lovingly crafted RPG with very fun and emotional writing.#The characters are great and the mysteries you slowly uncover are intriguing!#The way the gameplay ties into the player's own emotional state is nearly always in sync with the protagonist. You *will* feel things.#And it is not afraid to let those things be hard emotions! Do mind the content warnings and know your limits though.#As someone who sucks at video games I also appreciate that it is so generous with your time and keeps things fun.#Not to mention it is honestly underpriced for the amount of content in it. Buy this game. I need to spread the brainworms.

685 notes · View notes