Expert: Cathy Clamp - 8/27/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hi. I'm a high school junior from Massachusetts. I'm looking to become a writer
later in life. Right now, I'm interested in mystery writing. I had the idea of
creating a mystery series on a blog, focusing on a single detective. Do you think
that would be worth it, and what advice would you give to someone who is
starting to write mystery? Thank you for any help!

ANSWER: Hi, Chris!

It's great you're interested in writing, and mysteries are one of the perennial bestsellers. But think about it: If you post the series on a blog--for FREE--why would anyone thereafter buy it? That's the problem that usually comes up with the web and trying to later market to a publisher. It's not the copyright issue, but one of the ability to make money from it. Now, if you post up some short stories with the idea of introducing a character to gain an audience who would later BUY a full-sized novel . . . well, then you might have something. Diana Gabaldon did that with her Outlander series in the early days of the internet, and it worked quite well. Don't know how it would work today, but there are plenty of authors now who post up bits on secondary characters and such when they have on-going series, so it might work.

Is that what you mean?  If not, reply and I'll try again. Good luck!

Cathy

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the reply. I apologize; I should have re-written my question. I
should have written that I'm looking how to get into mystery writing. I
cover sports for a local newspaper as an intern right now, and I'm interested
in writing fiction. However, I'm not sure where to start. What advice would you
give to someone (in my case, a high school student), if they were looking to
become a mystery writer? With the blog, I figured that I wouldn't be ready to
write a book for publishing, but your point makes a lot of sense. Any advice
would be appreciated. Thanks again for the reply!

Answer
Hi, again, Chris!

Sorry for the delay in responding. I've been hard in the middle of finishing a manuscript and haven't gotten to my emails in a few days.

Do you know whether you like writing short stories or novels? Because the best way to learn is to read, read, READ! If you prefer novels, try some of the current bestsellers to find whether your mind thinks more toward "cozy," "procedural," "noir" or "hard-boiled." Those are the current types of mysteries when approaching publishers or magazines.  My best advice at this stage is to go to your local library or bookstore and have the librarian/bookstore manager point out bestsellers in those categories. Mysteries have staying power beyond the life of the author, so today's bestsellers might well be authors who wrote them one year, or fifty years ago.

Specify you'd prefer series and see what happens. You'll not  only discover fabulous writers whose stories you'll love to file, but also discover that one of the types will "make sense" to your head. The characters will resonate with you and you'll be able to imagine characters of that type. I can't say which it will be because everybody likes different things.

Then, once you've figured out which is your favorite (don't read any LESS than ten books from different authors), start to dissect the plot and characters and TAKE NOTES! What role does the hero/ine have? Is s/he a detective with the police, a private investigator, or an amateur sleuth (with no formal training, but a good eye for solving problems)? Are there quirks of the character that make him/her interesting or lovable or weird? How did the character come upon the mystery? Accidentally, his/her job or seeking it out? If  you figured out the mystery ahead of the character, why? If not, why not? What method did the author use to keep the information from you?

Once you've done all that, you'll start to see how the dialogue and narrative work to keep the reader informed or throw them off with red herrings (intentional distractions). You'll also discover how to create personality through dialogue.

Then try your hand at making a character. It can be an amalgam of characters you liked, or something entirely new, and come up with a plot for them to solve. Try a newspaper headline or television report to start. There are mysteries in the news every single day that go unsolved. Come up with your own solution (just remember to change the names of the real people). Have your friends read it to see if you managed to create an interesting protagonist and whether you adequately solved the mystery without "cheating" by having unrealistic things happen. Keep trying, because the first few stories won't be so good. It takes practice to get them right.

Hope that helps, and good luck!

Cathy