by Annette Young
When writing a murder mystery story, you have to create far more than an engaging story, after all, your aim has to be to ensure that readers keep turning those pages, and to do so, you have to think about what they really need from your creative endeavours. When a potential reader chooses your book, they will be looking for a number of things – good characterisation, drama, a strong storyline and one written convincingly. They also want to be plunged into a mystery that grips them from the opening pages and where the drama escalates in a convincing way, and where the plot deepens through a series of revelations.
You must be able to write with confidence and to do so, you need to understand the plot inside and out, there’s no point trying to write a murder mystery unless you have a fair idea of who the victim will be and who the murderer is and of course, why. A reader will know if you are writing with distraction or if your words lead them on a stroll around the plot rather than to invite them, enticing them into the heart of the story.
You can’t cheat a reader. They have to feel confident that you are taken them on a guided journey that is vibrantly painted with words and one which is 3-dimensional so they can almost become a part of the story as it unfolds. Readers need to feel engaged. They need to care about the outcome but more, they need to care about why the character has died and why the murderer felt a need to end the victim’s life. There has to be a reason, even if it is that the killer is a psychopath who kills when the opportunity arises. While much can be left to the reader’s imagination, you have to reveal vital components to make sense of the storyline and to make the reader care.
It doesn’t matter whether your murder mystery is a psychological drama, a thriller or contains a gory sequence of murders that fills them with fear. The murder could take place in broad daylight or be one where death is claimed in the shadows. The ability to hook the reader’s attention lies with you. The best way to engage the reader is to make them feel, to engage their senses and emotions and immerse them in a story that transcends the human experience.
Enjoy this post? Read more on writing murder mysteries – Writing a Murder Mystery – Get Inside the Mind of the Victim
or….Step Inside the Mind of a Killer
Want to read a good murder mystery?
Buy it from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk
