Online Class: Mystery Writing
-
13Lessons
-
27Exams &
Assignments -
9Hours
average time -
0.9CEUs
-
Video Audit
Available
Course Description
Mastering the Art of Mystery Writing
Dive into the suspenseful and thrilling world of mystery writing with this comprehensive course tailored for both budding and experienced authors. Whether you've always yearned to pen down a captivating mystery or you're an established writer wishing to venture into a new genre, our meticulously designed course will elevate your storytelling craft.
Why Mystery Writing?
Mystery novels have always held a significant position in literary history. In 2023, mystery and detective fiction represented a whopping 20% of book sales in the fiction category. Readers are inherently drawn to the allure of the unknown, the suspense of the narrative, and the intellectual challenge of solving the puzzle. Now, imagine being the architect of such a gripping tale!
Course Journey
-
The Mystery Genre
Dive deep into the nuances that define this genre. Explore successful mystery narratives and the elements that make them tick. -
Starting Out
Every story starts with a spark. Identify your source of inspiration and lay down the foundation of your narrative. -
Research
Behind every compelling mystery is a trove of research. Discover techniques to make your story both captivating and believable. -
Storytelling - Plot and Sub-Plot
Craft a riveting central plot and complement it with intricate sub-plots that enrich your narrative. -
Storytelling - Characters
Construct multifaceted characters that readers root for. Learn the importance of motives, backstories, and development.
... [Continuing through Lessons 6-13 with similar detailed structure]
Exclusive Features
-
Innovative Writing Exercises: These exercises are engineered to channel your creativity, challenging you to think outside the box and foster fresh ideas.
-
Knowledge Checks: At the end of each lesson, reflect on your learnings with thought-provoking questions that solidify your understanding.
-
Continuous Challenges: Irrespective of your age or experience, this course will persistently push your boundaries, ensuring your writing evolves with each lesson.
Key Takeaways
-
Deep Genre Understanding: Understand the backbone of mystery writing, from its historical roots to its modern-day evolution.
-
Craftsmanship: Equip yourself with a versatile toolkit to create compelling settings, characters, and plots that resonate with readers.
-
Sustained Motivation: Writing is as much about consistency as it is about inspiration. Learn techniques to stay motivated and overcome writer's block.
-
Revision Techniques: Master the art of redrafting and refining your narrative to perfection.
Who is this Course For?
For those with a novel idea but not sure where to start, we'll guide you from a blank page to a compelling mystery. And for the seasoned writer, we offer insights, techniques, and challenges to refine and expand your existing skill set.
Conclusion
The world is full of stories waiting to be told, and the realm of mystery holds some of the most intriguing tales. With the guidance of this course, you're not just learning to write a mystery; you're setting yourself on a path to captivate the minds and hearts of readers. Join us on this thrilling journey and leave an indelible mark in the world of mystery writing.
Course Motivation
A mystery is a story in which something is hidden from one or more characters. Mystery and Detective fiction are interchangeable terms, with detective fiction referring more commonly to murder mysteries. The most popular Mystery or Detective story sold worldwide is arguably the 'whodunit' in which a crime, usually a murder, is committed and characters struggle to solve the mystery and gain some kind of recompense by punishing the perpetrator of the crime.
Thinking About Mystery
Answer the following questions to get you thinking about mystery and the implications the term holds for you personally:
1. What mysteries can you think of? Think about classic stories, modern novels, movies, television shows, and dramas. Make a note of all that you can think of.
2. What elements are common to all these mysteries? Think about:
a. What is the mystery? Is it a crime, a murder perhaps?
b. Who is trying to solve the mystery, and what are they like? Are they a professional or an amateur? Do they have a vested interest in solving it -- for example, money or revenge?
c. When is the crime or mystery brought to light, and when is it solved?
3. How predictable was the outcome of the stories? How did the predictability affect your enjoyment of the mystery? Was there anything you would have done differently?
Noting similarities between characters and stories is useful for two reasons:
1. As a writer, you need to know your genre so you can write for it or challenge its boundaries.
2. The second reason is to note trends in mysteries you encounter so you never duplicate typical storylines in a way that will make them predictable for your reader. Knowing what to expect means you know how to surprise your reader, and surprise is an important part of any mystery.
Challenging Your Genre
Knowing what makes a good mystery is a matter of reading. Reading mysteries and making your own notes on how and why they are effective is the best practice for writing your own mystery. In the modern mystery market, there is a huge demand for mysteries of all kinds, those that conform to the typical mystery protocol, and those that veer off the beaten track. Whichever of these options appeals to you, it is essential that you are familiar with the genre before you challenge it.
Challenging the genre can be done in a number of ways. Remember, if you remove the mystery elements, it won't be a mystery anymore, therefore the puzzle, crime, or murder has to remain. Elements you can play around with are those of character and narrative, perhaps challenging the stereotype of the "detective" or telling the story from an unusual viewpoint.
Sub-Genres
A sub-genre is a genre within a genre. Mysteries have a number of story "types" that you may wish to consider. These are often blended together and the edges are commonly blurred as mystery writers become increasingly reluctant to be bound by the conventions or rules of their particular sub-genre. Here a number of common sub-genres of the Mystery:
-
'Hard-Boiled" – These are usually noted for their gritty realism. They tend to have more graphic representations of violence and sex and are more likely to deal with disturbing or shocking crimes. These are tough stories that aren't necessarily for the faint-hearted.
- "Cozies" – These are almost always set in small towns or villages. They have a gentler, more genteel tone and the characters tend to be particularly likable. The crime that has to be solved in a cozy mystery is usually bloodless, or at least without graphic description.
-
"Historical" – Obviously these are mysteries set in the past. These stories require a lot of research into the historical era they are set in, as while their readers are prepared to accept that the mystery may not have actually happened, the detail of the setting must be correct; anachronisms will seriously impair the quality of the writing and isolate the reader.
-
"Private Eye" – These are simple detective mysteries where the solver of the mystery is a licensed private investigator. Often these mysteries are complex and rely on the amazing talent and insight of the sleuth to solve them.
-
"Procedural" – Sometimes called "Police Procedural" mystery stories, these are mysteries that focus on the procedure and activity of the police who are solving the crime. These include details of investigations, police protocol etc. Similar to this is the forensic detective story.
-
"Didactic" – Didactic is a way of describing mysteries that aim to inform or teach the reader about a particular arena, for example, a mystery that is set in a particular professional world.
- "Amateur" – Opposite in many ways to the "private eye" sub-genre, this type of mystery is solved by a character who is not from the detective or police field. Often the sleuth is another type of professional from a different field completely.
Course Lessons
Lesson 1: The Mystery Genre
This lesson looks at what makes a story a mystery and defines the crucial elements of this genre.Lesson 2: Starting Out
This lesson aims to look at how you can find and collect ideas that inspire you, moving on to give practical advice on getting that pen to paper for the first time -- planning, plotting, and brainstorming.Lesson 3: Research
This lesson gives practical tips on where to find your research and how to write about real-life mysteries.Lesson 4: Storytelling -- Plot and Sub-Plot
This lesson gives practical advice on how to develop a plot that works.Lesson 5: Storytelling -- Characters
This lesson shows how characters can be developed and getting to know your characters so they can be well-rounded and three-dimensional.Lesson 6: Storytelling -- The Narrative
This lesson gives advice, not on how a mystery should be narrated, but on what a writer's options are in terms of telling the story.Lesson 7: Mysterious Elements - The Red Herring
A red herring misleads the reader, takes them on a wild goose chase. It is a staple of the mystery genre.Lesson 8: Mysterious Elements - Violence and Murder
This lesson looks at how a writer can avoid isolating the reader by taking things too far.Lesson 9: Mysterious Elements - Suspense
Suspense is how a writer keeps the reader reading their mystery. To achieve that un-put-downable effect, it is essential that you get the pace of the story just right, so the reader is kept involved and interested.Lesson 10: Mysterious Elements - Realism
This lesson aims to help writers convey a sense of the real world by helping them identify and banish any unrealistic, overly contrived elements in their mystery.Lesson 11: Mysterious Elements - Revelation
It is difficult to decide, and every story is different, but this lesson offers some great advice on how to resolve the mystery and satisfy your readers.Lesson 12: Redrafting a Mystery
This lesson gives professional advice on redrafting, editing, and maintaining the mystery for writers of mysteries.Lesson 13: Overcoming Mystery Writer's Block
Overcoming writer's block can be a nightmare for any writer of fiction, but this lesson offers practical, useful advice for the writer of mysteries who may be lacking in motivation or inspiration.
Learning Outcomes
- Describe the mystery genre.
- Conduct research.
- Describe storytelling essentials--plot and sub-plot.
- Define characters.
- Define the narrative.
- Define the red herring.
- Summarize violence and murder.
- Create suspense.
- Demonstrate methods for creating realism.
- Demonstrate techniques for the final revelation.
- Show how to redraft a mystery.
- Summarize methods for overcoming mystery writer's block.
- Demonstrate mastery of lesson content at levels of 70% or higher.
Additional Course Information
- Document Your Lifelong Learning Achievements
- Earn an Official Certificate Documenting Course Hours and CEUs
- Verify Your Certificate with a Unique Serial Number Online
- View and Share Your Certificate Online or Download/Print as PDF
- Display Your Certificate on Your Resume and Promote Your Achievements Using Social Media
Student Testimonials
- "My instructor is a great teacher. I learn a lot. The feedback is helpful. The exams and assignments. They test my knowledge. I love completing it." -- Deserae H.
- "I really enjoyed this course. The lessons were well written and gave practical advice and useful exercises to improve one's writing. I learned so much more than I had expected going in to it!" -- Reagan F.
- "A wonderful experience." -- Lenora F.
- "It was challenging, but very educational." -- Hubert G.
- "The explanation on the parts of the actual mystery story were very helpful. The instructor was superb." -- Anita K.
- "Instructor and course were excellent. Hope to take more courses with this instructor." -- Kyle B.
- "I found the overall experience to be excellent. The almost instant response of the instructor to questions, to assignments, and to exams was very helpful, as were her suggestions." -- Vincent H.
- "Ms. Merritt is an excellent instructor. She is very helpful and encouraging." -- Donna N.
- "Each aspect was helpful, I liked doing the bits of writing for the course. Stimulating and interesting." -- Joan H.
- "All of it was helpful. All of it was helpful." -- Cherie T.
Related Courses
- 14 hours 1.4 CEUs Creative Writing for Beginners + More Info
- 12 hours 1.2 CEUs Advertising, Marketing and Sales Writing + More Info
- 11 hours 1.1 CEUs Humor Writing 101 + More Info
- 11 hours 1.1 CEUs Writing Effective Emails in the Workplace + More Info
- 12 hours 1.2 CEUs How to Write Case Studies + More Info
- 22 hours 2.2 CEUs Novel Writing 101 + More Info
- 23 hours 2.3 CEUs Historical Fiction Writing + More Info
- 12 hours 1.2 CEUs Writing Effective Persuasion + More Info
- 9 hours 0.9 CEUs ABCs of Technical Writing + More Info
- 12 hours 1.2 CEUs Screenwriting 101 + More Info
- 12 hours 1.2 CEUs Paranormal Romance Writing + More Info
- 29 hours 2.9 CEUs Writing Basics 101: Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation, Writing Structures + More Info
- 7 hours 0.7 CEUs Writing Women's Fiction + More Info
- 6 hours 0.6 CEUs Freelance Writing 101 + More Info
- 16 hours 1.6 CEUs Advertising Copywriter + More Info
- 14 hours 1.4 CEUs Journalism 101 + More Info
- 11 hours 1.1 CEUs Journaling and Memoir Writing + More Info
- 6 hours 0.6 CEUs English Grammar Level 3 + More Info
- 9 hours 0.9 CEUs Mystery Writing + More Info
- 5 hours 0.5 CEUs Writing the Great American Short Story + More Info
- 9 hours 0.9 CEUs Nonfiction Writing 101 + More Info
- 19 hours 1.9 CEUs Creative Writing 101 + More Info
- 10 hours 1.0 CEUs Travel Writing 101 + More Info
- 11 hours 1.1 CEUs How to Write Short Stories for Children + More Info
- 17 hours 1.7 CEUs Poetry Writing 101 + More Info