Zara Altair's Blog, page 9

Avoid A Sagging Middle: The Detective Finds the Killer’s World

Avoid the Sagging Middle in Your Mystery
Mystery writers have an advantage over many other genres when it comes to keeping the middle from sagging. Up to the middle the detective has delved into the evidence and suspects in the victim’s world

The essence of keeping a reader turning pages is heightened tension. Rather than episodic scenes where this happens and then that happens and then something else happens, you create tension by throwing up increasingly baffling obstacles for your detective.

In the chapters after the crisis in the middle, your detective gets glimpses of the killer’s world. These glimpses into the killer’s world are the mystery writer’s advantage, because the detective enters a world within a world. The killer’s world is inside the victim’s world.

In these chapters, the detective gets glimpses of the intersection between the two worlds.

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Q&A
What is a character bible?
How to liven up dialogue.  
Reference Article Characters Don’t Speak in Semicolons

After The Middle
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Using the Four-Act structure your detective recovers from the crisis in the middle, gets his bearings, and digs deeper.


Act Three

21       He might feel foolish for not seeing things clearly until now, but your protagonist makes a new plan. Unfortunately, now that he’s past the meltdown, he fails to recognize that temporarily abandoning his misbelief was a healthy thing, and he grabs onto it more tightly.

Your detective, stumped by recent events, tries going back to old interpretations. She reviews what suspects said, considers the victim’s world and pokes around in it, completely missing key elements. She’s regrouping, but sees nothing new.

Story structure label: aftermath of the midpoint.




22       Executing the new plan while gathering allies and resources as he goes, your protagonist hits a snag and it becomes apparent that his epiphany might’ve made him a wee bit overconfident.  (Subplot B)

The opponent throws up a roadblock as your detective goes out to find new resources - histories of the victim and new knowledge of the victim’s world. His great idea is not getting him closer to finding the antagonist.

If you are holding tight to structure labels, this is the fourth complication.


23       He must improvise once again in the face of a dilemma:  his misbelief wants him to choose option 1, but his epiphany suggests option 2 is the way to go. (Subplot A)

Out in the victim’s world, your detective makes a stab at connecting with suspects she’s met, but an inspiration suggests he get background on the suspects and how they operate in the victim’s world. Things get intense with the love interest and they may say or do something that gives your detective new insight.

In plot world that fourth complication threw your detective for a loop. This is the aftermath.


24       Whether he makes the wrong choice or fumbles after making the right choice, he’s now on a collision course with the antagonist. He might be walking into an ambush, or he might be deliberately seeking the confrontation without realizing how seriously he’s out-gunned.

Although he doesn’t know it, your detective’s new vision of the victim’s world sets him in direct opposition to the killer. Feeling pinched, the killer may strike another victim. The detective thinks the two murders are related, but doesn’t see how.

In story structure this is the setup for the second pinch point.




25       The antagonist has the upper hand, and your protagonist feels his enemy’s true power—the antagonist is even stronger than before. Your protagonist might get a glimpse into the enemy’s end game, but he definitely realizes how deeply he’s in over his head. (Another place where you might add a twist!)

Your detective’s world turns topsy-turvy. Perhaps a seeming ally suddenly becomes antagonistic. Or a reluctant suspect shares new information. Without knowing it, the detective is getting close to the killer. The killer knows it and now plans ways to stop your detective. Make the complications complicated.

This is the second pinch point in plot structure. Make it hurt.

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Frustrations, Complications, and WeaknessJust as you highlighted your detective’s strengths at the beginning, highlight his weakness as you leave the middle. You don’t have to make this glaring. For example, take your detective’s strength as far as it can go until it becomes a hindrance. If he is confident, take it to over-confident so he misses an important detail.

Plant new clues to the killer’s identity. Get suspects to misdirect your detective. Allow your detective to look in the wrong places while the killer starts to feel the threat. Make your detective work hard for every piece of information.

The aim in this section of your story is to make things as difficult for your detective as possible. The closer he gets to the killer, the more things get in his way. The detective finds the killer’s world, but he hasn’t found the killer.

Zara Altair

Zara Altair writes mysteries set in ancient Italy. Her course for beginning writersWrite A Killer Mystery is coming soon. Get on the notification list.

The Detective In the Victim’s World

​The Detective In The Victim’s World Without A Map
​As you take your detective and your readers deeper into the story in the first half of Act II, your detective enters a new world, the victim’s world.

As he wanders the victim’s world he gathers bits and pieces of information, meets suspects and in their environment expands his vision of the victim’s world. In this sequence of chapters, your detective searches and searches. She thinks she knows the victim’s world, but discovers there’s more than her first introduction.

With each discovery your detective learns goes deeper into the world until he makes a discovery that turns everything around.

Pay close attention to this section of your story. Here’s where many new novelists start sagging. Avoid trying to rush to the end. Focus on going deeper into discovery and getting to the middle. ​ 15:16 Q: I’ve got the story but I keep changing the title. Do you have any tips for narrowing it down?

Write your mystery. Access all Mystery 40 Sentences here.


​As you take your detective and your readers deeper into the story in the first half of Act II, your detective enters a new world, the victim’s world.

As he wanders the victim’s world he gathers bits and pieces of information, meets suspects and in their environment expands his vision of the victim’s world. In this sequence of chapters, your detective searches and searches. She thinks she knows the victim’s world, but discovers there’s more than her first introduction.

With each discovery your detective learns goes deeper into the world until he makes a discovery that turns everything around.

Pay close attention to this section of your story. Here’s where many new novelists start sagging. Avoid trying to rush to the end. Focus on going deeper into discovery and getting to the middle. ​ To The Midpoint ​
​Your next chapters focus on the detective in the victim’s world and headed toward the midpoint which is high drama. Either a great win or a stunner loss.



16       Retreating, your protagonist finds temporary safe haven, but only at the cost of a sacrifice big enough to hurt. He licks his wounds, and if he receives advice, his misbelief keeps him from understanding how to apply it correctly.

Your detective retreats to review what he knows so far, but he’s not progressing. He may be licking his wounds from something his opponent did that keeps him from moving forward. Someone, either a suspect, a love interest, or even his opponent tells him something, but he overlooks the information.

Still lost in plot terms? This is the aftermath of the first pinch point.


17       Your miserable protagonist reaches for one of his usual coping mechanisms, but even if it’s available in this strange world, it doesn’t give him relief. He might hide it well from those around him, but he’s on the verge of a meltdown and desperate enough to try something new, even if it means temporarily abandoning the misbelief that he’s been hiding behind. (Subplot A)

Lost in the victim’s world, your detective tries one of her tried-and-true methods, but no one in this world is responding. She’s so frustrated. She’s a breath away from throwing in the towel. Desperate, she tries something she’s never tried, but maybe it will work in the victim’s world. Then, in walks the love interest, and things get open or even intimate.
Things are mixing up in the plot world as you get to the third complication.




18       A new door opens up for your protagonist…but the price of walking through is steep, and might include losing allies or sticking his neck out in a big way. (Subplot B)

Something unexpected happens and your detective is on it! But he will pay a price. His opponent keeps him from taking the next step and /or a suspect shows him in spades that he doesn’t understand the victim’s world.

You are at the aftermath of the third complication in traditional plot labels.




19       On the other side of the door waits an ambush that your protagonist survives by improvising, surprising even himself.

As far as your detective is concerned, from out of left field a surprise that spills the puzzle pieces. Forced to improvise, he sees everything in a new light.

In story structure, this is the setup for the midpoint.



20       Past the ambush, your protagonist makes a discovery or has an epiphany that allows him to see that he hasn’t been playing the game wrong, he’s been playing the wrong game…and more is at stake than he ever imagined. (Man, is this a great place for a twist!)

While your detective rearranges the puzzle pieces, he sees something new/ has an epiphany that tells him he’s been looking at the wrong details. It could be that the suspect who seemed like the right one reveals an alibi that puts them out of the picture. Whatever it is, he’s still lost in the victim’s world and realizes he’s been looking at the wrong clues.

Congratulations! You’ve made it to the midpoint.



​ The Middle The middle of your detective story is a pivot where your detective goes from digging deeper to getting closer to the killer. From discovery to going on the trail. He’s learned enough to hunt for the killer with some idea of who that person could be.

The middle chapter is high drama and pulls your reader deeper into the story. One way to focus this chapter is to make it either a mirror of the end or its opposite. Whether your detective has a complete fail or a win in this chapter your detective suddenly sees the victim’s world in a new way. You can make this very high drama. You don’t have to save it all for the end.

The middle is one of the most important sequences in your detective story. Spend some time honing every detail while shining a light on your detective’s skills. He’s been lost in the forest and can’t see it for the trees. Now, at the middle his has a glimpse of the forest.  


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Zara Altair

Zara Altair writes mysteries set in ancient Italy. Her course for beginning writers Write A Killer Mystery is coming soon. Get on the notification list.
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The Detective Takes It On - Into Act II

Meeting The PossibilitiesAll of Act II in a novel can be a big muddle for first time novelists. It’s easy to get lost in your own story, forget conflict, or pace in uneven leaps from one scene to another. Your protagonist goes here and then goes there in an episodic attempt to get to the climax.

Here’s where focusing on story rather than fitting scenes into a form can help you successfully build a story that readers like. You’ve involved them in the story got them experiencing your protagonist with empathy, and in a mystery involved them in looking at the clues and suspects with a discerning eye, at least through the eyes of your detective.

In Act II you take your eager readers by the hand to journey through all the steps and missteps your detective takes. When a suspect comes with new insights into the victim, or the opponent throws up a barrier, you reader is ready to keep going wherever your detective goes as long as you focus on moving the story forward.

Now, your protagonist has committed herself to unravelling the threads. In Act II you add new twists to the threads and tie some of them in knots. When you keep the focus on the story you’ll avoid that episodic feeling with no rising tension that can mark you story as a first “attempt” at novel writing.

​Q&A
19:52 Q: I’m starting in on my mystery. I’ve heard that authors need to learn marketing. Is that right?
21:41 Q: I love reading crime novels and want to try my hand. I have an idea but don’t know anything about the inner workings of a police department. Any suggestions?

Resources:
Mark Dawson’s Self Publishing 101.
Sergeant Derek Pacifico’s The Writer’s Guide to Homicide. The mystery writers' textbook on murder and policework.
Writers Detective Bureau
FBI  for writers

​Trips and Stumbles In The Old VisionThe first half of Act II sets your protagonist on a journey to the middle. Your detective is still learning about the victim and the suspects. Although he is peeling away the layers of the proverbial onion, his vision is not broad enough or deep enough. Suspects tell partial truths to cover up their own inadequacies or secrets. They tell convincing lies, sometimes spotted by your detective and other times not.

Chapters 11 through 15 of the 40 Sentence Outline focus on your protagonist and the trips and stumbles he makes as he sets out to solve the puzzle. He learns more about the victim’s world, but not enough.



11       Your protagonist immediately stumbles on unfamiliar terrain—everything feels different here, even if it looks the same:  new rules, new problems, new dangers. As he dusts himself off, his insecurities sing a song of future failure.

Your detective stumbles. The plan she devised doesn’t fit the circumstances. A new problem or dangers upset the plan. She feels stumped...for the moment. The pivot she just took slammed her into a wall.

Want to know where this is in traditional plot?  This is the aftermath of the first plot point.




12       Moving onward, he meets a representative of this extraordinary world—the antagonist, a minion, a mentor, a former ally or enemy who’s comfortable here, or maybe even a random stranger who embodies the spirit of this place. Your protagonist starts to understand the new yardstick that he will be measured by here, and that he’d underestimated the dangers he’ll face. (Subplot B)

Your detective finds an unexpected ally that tells him more about the victim’s world. He starts to understand the complications of taking on the murder investigation. This could be the enticing new love interest or a new character. Speaking of that love interest, this is a good place for them to meet again.

Where are we in traditional plot? This is the second complication.

13       Your protagonist plots what he thinks will be a safe course through the extraordinary world, recruiting whatever allies and resources he can, and sets off in a new direction. (Subplot A)

Armed with his new understanding your detective explores the new knowledge, connects clues and suspects with his new understanding, and starts to pursue his new course. Meanwhile his opponent is challenging his moves not knowing what the detective now nows.

In plot speak, this is the aftermath of the second complication.


14       He seems to be making progress…yeah, he was freaking out, but now that he’s getting the hang of this place, maybe it’s not going to be as bad as he thought. The new world throws a problem at him, and he handles it almost competently (or was that beginner’s luck?).

Back on stride, your detective follows clues, successfully interviews suspects and gets a better picture of the victim’s world and how they moved in that world. If your detective entered the victim’s world, she’s starting to get the lay of the land.

Over in plot land, this is the setup for the first pinch point.


15       Crossing paths with the antagonist—or stumbling into a mess that the antagonist has left behind—your protagonist is taken off guard. He gets a glimpse of the antagonist’s true power for the first time, and realizes he’s in completely over his head as he takes significant damage.

Your detective discovers there’s more to the murder than he first thought. A discovery - clue, evidence, suspect - reveals a whole new perspective on the murder victim and opens up possibilities he hadn’t seen. He’s out of his depth, baffled, and knocked off center.

Plot time equals first pinch point.

​Expand the StoryYou’ve left the introduction of your story, now it’s time to expand.

Going deeper into your story gets readers turning pages. Each new problem your protagonist faces keeps readers guessing in your mystery. In this part of the story the focus is on unrelenting problems, the detective’s discovery of the victim’s world, and tests of the detective’s know skills.

Take your time to bring the reader and the detective into the victim’s world. This is the place where you expand your story. Develop the victim’s world. Spotlight suspects. Use clues to take your detective down a wrong path. Bring your research and worldbuilding skills to play to create an environment that is new to the detective and to your readers. If you’ve done your pre-planning by developing secrets for each suspect and the lies they create to hide the secrets, it’s time to play with them as you bring those secrets into your story.


Zara Altair

Zara Altair writes mysteries set in ancient Italy. Her course for beginning writersWrite A Killer Mystery is coming soon. Get on the notification list.
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Headed Toward Trouble: Getting to Act II of Your Mystery

From Murder to Trouble in Your Mystery
In the first five chapters you introduce your detective, connect your detective with the murder, and start your detective off with a plan to find the murderer.

Your main goal in those beginning chapters is to bring the reader into your story world, get them empathizing with your detective—even if he’s not likeable—and bring them onboard to follow the detective as she begins to piece out the puzzle of who the culprit is.

In the next five chapters, you are still in Act I and you are still setting up your story. Now that your reader is hooked, you can add dimension to your story. Introduce subplots like a love interest or an opponent who wants to keep your detective from succeeding.
As you expand your story, remember that conflict keeps readers reading. So whether it’s the main story or a subplot, cause trouble. Make your detective work for even the slightest clue. Expose her weaknesses.

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Chapters 5 -10 of your mystery novel get your detective headed for trouble and straight to Act II of your story. Introduction of subplots and their relation to the mystery of your story which is the main story arc.
16:34 Questions and Answers
16:57 One of my characters isn’t a suspect, but they have an important clue. Does this work?
19:23 I’m feeling like my mystery is an epic. It’s 140K words. Is this a good length?

The Next Five Chapters - 6 - 10
Using the 40 Sentences model you can apply the novel structure and adapt it to your mystery crime fiction.


6          He leans on his usual allies and resources, but they’re not enough; even worse, the trouble he gets into triggers his flaw or wound—this new situation feels a little bit like that thing he never got over. (Subplot A)

Your detective starts working on the plan from Chapter 5, but the plan doesn’t work. A rival or a superior who wants things may deter him to get things done their way.

For those who have studied plot, this is the first complication.


7          Taking a step back, literally or metaphorically, your protagonist tries to figure out how he lost control of this situation. He might go looking for advice, or advice might come looking for him…but either way, his misbelief prevents him from understanding it. (Subplot B)

Your detective looks at the original plan to see if he can spot the error. A suspect or a new suspect gives him a piece of new information that seems like good advice or a new insight into the murder victim. The detective meets a member of the opposite sex who is some combination of intriguing, sexy, smart, so unlike him that as attractive as she is it won’t work, but still…

Plot students, this is the aftermath of the first complication.


8          Realizing it’s time to pull out what he thinks are the big guns, your protagonist does something he would normally consider to be a last-ditch effort to get his life back on track—but instead, whatever he tries ends up backing him into a corner. (Subplot A)

Your detective latches on to a clue or suspect and thinks he has the answer, he may even take a risk to prove his point. Instead the mystery becomes more mysterious. To add insult to injury the detective’s opponent wins a minor triumph.

Still loving those plot labels? This is a minor dark moment.


9          He might have a moment of false success before he finds himself stuck outside his comfort zone, exposed and vulnerable. (Maybe he wasn’t expecting there to be a twist here?) He’s made his situation ten times worse, and none of his usual allies can (or will?) help him.
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You detective blunders along on her discovery path and even makes a find that seems to lead her closer to the killer. But everything, especially the new discovery, is not as it first seems and a step forward sets her back.

For plot aficionados, this is the set up for the first plot point.



10       Maybe he has no choice, or maybe they’re all bad choices—either way, your protagonist has to choose between letting his everyday world become intolerable or stepping into uncharted (for him) territory. He commits to entering the extraordinary world.

So far all your detective’s choices have led down a false path. People around him, even friends, seem to get in his way and he pulls back, takes a look, examines his previous actions, and starts down a new path.

Plot freaks, this is it. The first plot point.

​Move the Story
Using the 40 Sentences is the fastest way to plan and work through a story without spending time trying to slap a label on each sequence. Your writing focus is on the story, not matching plot points, beats, or any other “story structure” to your planning process.

If you are struggling with trying to fit pieces of your story into a framework, try using the 40 Sentences to make your story flow.

Zara Altair

Zara Altair writes mysteries set in ancient Italy. Her course for beginning writersWrite A Killer Mystery is coming soon. Get on the notification list.
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First Steps in Your Mystery Story

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash
Where The Story Starts
Today’s readers want a good story. Your beginning sets up your reader for the rest of the story. Lose them at the beginning and you won’t get them back. Your goal at the beginning, is to get the readers involved in the story.

Beginning writers can struggle with all the information out there on novel writing—story structure, beats, inciting incident, three act structure, four act structure—and end up with a mish-mash of ideas about where to begin. In the first few pages of your novel you need to get the reader to the story.

Just as you are taking steps writing your beginning, you want to take your reader by the hand and get them into the story. Rather than getting lost in trying to fit your story into a plot structure try going chapter by chapter.

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Q&A
18:26  I’ve got my story but how do I choose a title?
21:51 Do you have any tips for writing dialogue?
Focus on Getting Readers Into Your Story
​I’ve mentioned writer/editor Bonnie Johnston’s  40 sentences before. Let’s take a look at how they work in the beginning.



Act One


1          It’s business as usual for your protagonist, who’s being his sympathizable self while he chases his dream…until something throws him off-stride. (Could be someone messing with him, or could be he slipped up.)

Introduce your detective. Show him using his skill, the throw him a problem. Introduce your detective’s personality and how they respond when they’re thrown off track.


2          We see what’s special about him as he does his best to recover from the stumble, but we also see what sucks about the rut he’s stuck in, and how his flaw or wound is keeping him there.

Your detective pulls out his usual problem sovling skills but misses something important because...well, his thinking flaw, his ego, his inability to deal with women...whatever his flaw keeps him from making progress.


3          He thinks he’s getting his groove back, but instead he staggers face-first into the inciting incident, which irrevocably screws up his life and starts the clock ticking on his story goal.

While he thinks he’s making progress, in spite of his flaw, suddenly the murder looms large which turns things upside down. He must solve the murder or...


4          He didn’t handle that very well, did he? So he indulges in one or more coping mechanisms as he muddles through the aftermath, resolving to get his life back on track.

Your detective takes a step back and then follows a the first clue or interviews the first suspect. He gets new information. Here’s where you can plant a clue that the detective misses the first time. .


5          Your protagonist has a new plan, and it’d be a great one, if it wasn’t based on his misbelief. But something has changed, whether he recognizes it or not, and things get a little rocky as he executes it.
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Aha! Your detective has a plan. He has no idea that he has overlooked something important like a snippet of dialogue that was false. He starts tracking down other suspects.
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Story Eases Plot Worry For Novel Writers
I love these storyline sentences because they focus on the story. They gently guide you through story. No worries about whether you’ve reached the right beat, or whether this setback is the inciting incident or where the break to Act 2 is.

You can see that you have great leeway in bringing your detective into action. You’ve done your character work and your research and your world building. And if you are a nonlinear writer you are able to insert the scenes you’ve written in the appropriate place.

Zara Altair
Zara Altair writes mysteries set in ancient Italy. Her course for beginning writersWrite A Killer Mystery is coming soon. Get on the notification list.
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Unpack Your Story’s Supporting Characters

Individual Characters and the Story
​In a mystery, supporting characters provide conflict for the detective. Their role in the story is to confound, confuse, lie and make trouble for your protagonist. They enhance the story context and color how your story is revealed.

​The Character Bible
​A character bible is the place where you keep all the details for every character in your story. It can be handwritten sheets in a binder or a character development section of a writing software program, on character notes in MSWord or Google Docs. The important action is to keep track of all the details for each character, so they don’t change hair or eye color half-way through the story because you forgot.

Each character has their own individual pages and often multiple pages like backstory and character interviews.

The character bible is your own reference work you create to save all the character details.

​14:20 Ask Me Anything:
Q: I want to write a mystery. I read them all the time and think I could write my own. I’m wondering if I should have a male or a female detective. I’ve read that female leads sell well.
18:00
Q: I’m halfway through my mystery and now I don’t know what to do next. Any advice?

What You Need to Know About Your Characters ​
​The most important aspect of your character is how they move the story. Writer/director Adam Skelter calls it the context. Define the story situation the characters deals with in the story. Know their personal conflict.

For mystery writers, the context is how a character impacts the detective’s attempt to solve the mystery.

Details like height, hair color, and carriage are icing on the cake. Readers love details because they heighten the presence of the character and make them real. But, if you change your character’s hair color, and you can, it won’t impact their influence on your detective.

You need to know each character’s intention. That’s why the secrets and lies (Mystery Monday, Episode 3) are important in your mystery. The lies they lead your detective on create false paths on her trail of discovery. These lies create conflict. A story is not a story without conflict. The more frustrations and problems you throw at your detective, he’ll have a more difficult time solving the puzzle. And so will your readers.

Most character creation guides and tools start with physical details. And I think they start beginning writers backwards. The first thing you need to know about each character is how they work in the story. Knowing this prime aspect of each character will prevent you from having too many characters, Or, going off-story by emphasizing a minor character because they are intriguing or fun to write about.

Just as each scene must move the story forward, each character must impact the detective in her search to discover the murderer.

Once you know the character’s role in the story, then you can build their background.

Physical detailsSecretsLiesWoundBackstory about the wound. You will know this but may not put it in the story.Relationship to other charactersLikes and dislikes
​Create a Character Hierarchy
​Create a Character HierarchyNot every character has equal importance in your mystery. Spend more time with the background of the main supporting characters.

Sidekick or partner, if you have one.Suspects. Limit to five to eight at the most.detective’s personal opponent. If you have one. This is not the perpetrator.Perpetrator.Victim.
Limit your time with minor characters who appear once or twice. A simple trick is to give them an identifying characteristic like a limp, a rasping voice, extra rosy cheeks so readers quickly remember them when they appear 80 pages later. This is one time when physical details work as a memory aid for readers.

​The Play’s The Thing
​Shakespeare is a great guideline for us all. When you decide each character’s place in the context of the story and build on their story importance, you’ll create characters that influence the story and keep readers engaged.

Zara Altair
Zara Altair writes mysteries set in ancient Italy. Her course for beginning writers Write A Killer Mystery is coming soon. Get on the notification list.

Weave Your Setting for Maximum Story Impact

Setting - A Force In Your StorySetting is like a character in your story that has no dialogue. Setting not only grounds your characters and your readers, setting interacts with characters to enhance your story. Setting is what makes readers feel like they are there.

Beginning writers often overlook the depth that setting adds to a story. Setting embellishes the storyline and characters.

Know Your SettingFirst, know your setting. Don’t guess. Even if your setting is your hometown, you may need to do research. Remember, 80% of research never enters your story, but you, the writer, know the details.

​Q&A Session on Video  18:22
SEO for Authors
Difference between evidence, clues, and red herrings

Elements of Setting ​As an author you have many ways to include setting in your story because setting includes a variety of elements. You can use them all to give readers a sense of where your characters are in place and time.

Although you may think setting is the place where the story takes place, be sure to include all the elements of setting in your story. You’ll give your readers a sense of where your characters are and how they move through the elements of setting to achieve their goal.

Location. This relates to the physical environment where your story happens and what many people consider as setting. Country, region, state, town, Shoreline, lakeside, inner city, countryside, forest trail, Neighborhood, street, school, county seat, sheriff’s office. Ancient manor, modern apartment, seaside cottage, suburban home. Kitchen, bedroom, patio, dining room, hallway, kid’s room.  Wherever your characters go in your story provides ample detail to include.Seasons. Time of year provides details that directly impact characters who march through snow, swelter in the sun, enjoy spring flowers or suffer from allergies, or bask in the slanted light on autumn leaves. Holidays and festivals vary in different seasons as well. Plus, personal anniversaries like birthdays, anniversaries, or death of a friend or loved one.Time of Day. Morning, afternoon, dead of night, dawn, dusk. Light or the absence of light intensifies the sense of being in the moment in your story.Elapsed Time. Guide your reader through the story with the passage of time. Is it a few minutes after the last scene or months? What happened in the interim? Keep your reader in the time flow.Atmosphere. Weather, temperature, and lighting are tangible to your characters influencing how they act in your story. Give readers the details to help them “feel” the story.Climate. Where your story is located, the geography, will impact the overall climate. Hot and humid. Hot and dry. Cold with fierce winds. Another enjoyable 72℉ day. Do people stay indoors? Are they out and about? Latitude, altitude, prevailing winds, even ocean currents all influence the setting of your characters.Geography. Your story setting may be set far, far away from your reader. Help them understand the ecosystem, flora and fauna, land masses, and the climate in your story’s universe. Humankind influences geography with man-made changes like dams, river diversions, bridges, ports, cities and other constructions.Cultural Environment. Social and political influences surround your characters. Culture, politics influence your story with conventions about family roles, community involvement, slavery, These influence your characters’ sensibilities and the way they interact with other characters.
These are main attributes of setting to color your story. Depending on your story other setting details such as population density or ancestral values from another culture can enrich your story even more.

​How to Integrate Setting in Your StorySetting is just about anything in the space-time continuum of your story. With so many details at hand, the choice for writers is how and where to add those setting details in the story.

Long, detailed descriptions are not the way to go. They slow down the story. Your goal is to keep readers reading. The more you integrate setting into the story, the less likely your reader will notice and skip.

Break up description into small nuggets.
Create character interactions with segments of the setting, throughout the story. From wiping a brow, to shivering, to a long trail hike with details, to changing sidewalks from cracked with weeds to clean and smooth between neighborhoods.
Keep time passing with positions of the sun and moon.
Use the setting to create mood that echoes character feelings.
Frustrate your main character’s goal with hindrance from setting elements.
Create misunderstanding with cross-cultural differences of approach.

Slips, falls, sneezes, social faux pas in unfamiliar culture or place, terrifying heights, dark caves, tornadoes, storms, rough waves, earthquake, menacing clouds. Your setting will have enough detail to add to every scene.

One caveat, be careful with extra detail that feels unnatural. Your heroine may teeter on the top of a 40-story building. It’s much more likely she will think 40 stories than 404 feet. Unless your have established your character as a compulsive number freak, an exact measurement like 404 feet will sound unnatural.
Zara Altair 
Zara Altair writes mysteries set in ancient Italy. Her course for beginning writers Write A Killer Mystery is coming soon. Get on the notification list.
Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on Unsplash

What Readers Want From Scenes

Readers Want One Thing From a Scene - ChangeScenes are the building blocks of your story. Each scene moves the story forward and shed a no light on the main character. Each scene is a mini-story with the same overall sequence as the main story—beginning, middle, end. Within that mini-story a change happens.

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Stories are about change.  
Jane Friedman

​Stories are built on conflict and resolution. Without conflict there is no story. In Master Scene Sequence (Mystery Monday, Episode 8) I covered the two types of scene—proactive and reactive. The proactive scene leaves the protagonist with a setback and the reactive scene he makes a decision that leads to change.

​The Four Reader Targets for Each Scene  ​
Each scene has a story arc. The purpose is to move the story forward. For readers that means keeping them engaged as your story unfolds.  Cover four reader emotional targets to involve your reader.

The Story Plot. Know the purpose of the scene within the overall story. Example: The purpose of the scene is to reveal the protagonist’s lifelong practice of martial arts to provide motivation for knowing when and how to fight.The Character. The feeling about the character the reader has at the end of the scene. Example: When the reader finishes the scene, they will feel sympathy for the protagonist, but be skeptical of her ability to solve the puzzle.The Theme. What your reader thinks at the end of the scene. Example: At the end of the scene the reader will think that the protagonist has good observational skills but is using them incorrectly.The Conflict Suspense. At the end of the scene the audience will wonder (what will she do next?) Example: Will the protagonist overcome the political forces against him?
When you are in the flow of writing, it’s not difficult to miss one of the reader target elements. Don’t over-think your writing. You can check each scene for the targets when you are editing. Keep the flow.

On the other hand, knowing these four reader targets will help you craft scenes that keep readers reading.

​Ways to Create Change in a SceneChange evolves through your characters so each scene requires a character to evolve in the story.

Pulled out of comfort zone
Complicates the situation
Make a decision
Takes action on the decision
Describes what the action or decision means

In other words, a scene represents an event in the story. For mystery writers, when a detective evaluates the knowledge he has so far from evidence and clues, he is making a change. The change is his decision to act on the knowledge so far.

​Event Thinking for the WriterThe simplest way to illustrate change in a scene is to build around an event. For example, in one scene your detective evaluates information and makes a decision. In the follow up scene, your detective takes action on the decision. He may interview a new suspect or talk again to a character with the conversation based on his new information.

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Ideally, every scene is a story event. Robert McKee in Story.

If you focus on the event and change of each scene in relation to your story, you will know how your scene moves the story forward. Beginning writers will save themselves from writing out take scenes that need to be cut.

Each scene is another bridge between your reader and the story. Your reader crosses the bridge to get to the next event.

You’ll move your story forward and readers will keep reading.

Zara Altair

Zara Altair writes mysteries set in ancient Italy. Her course for beginning writers Write A Killer Mystery is coming soon. Get on the notification list.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Dialogue Tips for Mystery Writers

Listening Is a Writer’s Best Dialogue SkillAn emotional teenage girl, a befuddled oldster, a patronizing matron, and an Oxford don all speak differently. The fiction writer’s task is to convey their speech with idioms, syntax, vocabulary, and language. When does a character pause? Why does a character pause? Do they use run-on sentences? Speak in clipped staccato? Or, master the use of conditional phrases and subordinate clauses?

You won’t be searching for the 401 words to replace said because your reader will know who is speaking. You don’t want to use those words anyway; they take the reader out of the story. Get into your character. Think how they think and say what your character would say.

​Where to Find Speech Patterns for Dialogue The best way to get the rhythm of how other people speak is to listen to other people. It’s easy to trick yourself when you are in your writing cave to come up with dialogue for characters, but to get deep into who they are and how they speak you need to listen to other people.

Try getting out and just listening. Take notes. Write down phrases. Write down gestures and body language that accompanies the speech. The trick is to listen to other people speaking, people who are not like you.

Sit in a cafe and listen. Ride public transportation and listen. Go to a public meeting. Hang out at the mall where teenagers congregate. Watch men play bocce ball or petanque at the park. Hangout at an art museum or an opening at a gallery. Listen at PTA meetings.

You know the joke about being a writer and someone ending up in your book? Well, when it comes to dialogue, it’s not a joke.

Live in a isolated mountain cabin or have mobility concerns? No excuse. Use YouTube. You’ll find every character in your story expressing their opinion in their own words complete with body language.

​Create Instant Subtext ​When you train yourself to watch and listen to people talking, you’ll discover that writing subtext becomes a natural part of your dialogue. You’ve watched and listened to people do it in real life.

A character says one thing but their body language says just the opposite.

Writer Joe Bunting in an article on subtext suggests that the best way to create subtext is with details. In dialogue the details are speech patterns, inflections, facial expressions, and body language are details that bring the words your character speaks to life.

​The Research of ObservationThe hundreds of articles, videos, and other educational tools can confuse beginning writers into thinking that writing dialogue is harder than it is. Listen and observe other people. It’s the best research you can do for dialogue. Then go into the head of each character as they speak.
Collecting dialogue snippets and notes echoes the same process as researching setting. You collect the details that fit your character the same way you collect setting details. Your craft as a writer weaves them into a story that keeps readers turning pages.

Zara Altair
Zara Altair writes mysteries set in ancient Italy. Her course for beginning writers Write A Killer Mystery is coming soon. Get on the notification list.
Photo by Anna Vander Stel on Unsplash

How to Create Mystery Subplots

Subplots in the StorySubplots add depth to your mystery story by giving readers a deeper vision of your protagonist, the detective. They can

Add dimension to the main plot
Test the protagonist’s motivation and ability to solve the puzzle
Create different points of view on the central murder victim and suspects

In a mystery, the subplots enhance the detective and often lead her down false trails that prevent her from finding the murderer.

​Two Types of Subplot ​There are many variations on subplots. Taken as a whole they fall into two main categories.

Affinity Subplots - These stories within the story involve the detective in a positive relationship. As well as the traditional love interest, other positive subplots include friendship, mentoring of young people—often a love interest between young adults, and even relationships with animals.Opposition Subplots - These plot arcs involve opposition to the detective. A jealous cohort, corrupt boss, political conflict, riots, acts of God, and other outside influences that distract and thwart the detective from solving the mystery.
​How To Use Subplots in Your Mystery
​Mystery readers enjoy the puzzle, so the first criterion is to keep your subplots minor additions to the overall story. Focus on your story. Novice writers should have no more than two subplots and focus on the craft of weaving them into the main storyline.

Outline the subplot from beginning to end, just the way you outline your main story. Your subplot is a mini-story so give it a beginning, middle, and end with plot points or beats depending on what structure you use. Your subplot is simpler and have fewer steps to resolution than your main story.

Then look at your main story outline and position the episodes of your subplot within the main story outline.

The main action of the subplots will take place in Act II. That means your subplot will go from beginning to end within the second act. Remember the main story takes precedence. If you have two subplots, bring them to conclusion in different places within the main story.

​Put On Your Subplot Kid GlovesSubplots can take beginning writers down long trails that lead away from the main story. It’s best to handle them with kid gloves, with a light and gentle touch.

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If a subplot doesn’t thematically contradict or resonate the Controlling Idea of the main plot, if it doesn’t set up the introduction of the main plot’s Inciting Incident, or complicate the action of the main plot, if it merely runs alongside, it will split the story down the middle and destroy its effect.
Story, Robert McKee

​Before you plan your subplot consider how it enhances the main story. Your detective is out to find and confront a murderer. You don’t want to go too far afield with your subplot.

​Subplot Safety Valve for New Writers
​Learning to create and use subplots is part of the craft of writing. For your first mystery novel choose one subplot that develops your main plot. Drive the main plot by adding breadth to the characters and intrigue to the storyline.

Go deeper into your detective by adding conflict that exposes his flaws, or his strengths. Your subplot can also gives readers insight into your detective’s motivations for solving the crime.

Choose one aspect and develop your subplot. Then add your subplot scenes into the main story sequence. You’ll find the pre-planning you do will help you write a story with a subplot that is fluid and keeps the reader turning pages.

Zara Altair
Zara Altair writes mysteries set in ancient Italy. Her course for beginning writers Write A Killer Mystery is coming soon.


Photo by David Clarke on Unsplash