NaNo YWP: 3 Basic Steps to Writing a Mystery Novel

In addition to the main event every November, NaNoWriMo provides free creative writing resources to educators and young participants around the world through our Young Writers Program. This month, we’ve asked some of our young writers to share their own words of wisdom. Today, YWP participant Sierra Maestas shares her experience as a first-time mystery novelist:

There’s always something I’ve enjoyed about mysteries. The unknown endings, sporadic evidence, and red herrings are thrilling! Ever since middle school, I have wanted to write my own mystery, but there’s always been a looming fear behind it. What if my plot was lame? What if my characters weren’t relatable? Could I keep an audience on their toes like my favorite books did? Well, this past November, I decided to finally try my hand at writing a mystery for my second NaNoWriMo novel.

More than other stories, a mystery’s plot has to fit together in just the right way, otherwise the reader will get lost or the climax and reveal won’t pack a punch the way they should. In writing my mystery novel, I had to make sure that the basics of mystery writing were present:

1. Create a valid motive.

I had to make sure that the bad guy had a valid reason to be bad, and that it was believable why she was doing what she did. 

2. Connect the dots.

I had to connect the evidence smoothly, so my protagonists could figure it out. I couldn’t make the clues too easy, yet I also couldn’t make them seem random. On top of all that, I had to make sure I wove in the secondary characters, and arrange the events in a logical order so the plot would progress. 

3. Double-check the logic.

There were moments where I didn’t know what should come next, or what the characters should do. There were scenes that I thought made sense only to have my family tell me they didn’t. But then there were the great moments, the ones where I would get so excited and type for hours on end. Moments where sudden ideas would turn into incredible scenes that would end with me screaming “YES!” at the computer screen. Moments where I felt like I was alongside my characters. I could feel their fears and frustrations with them as they tried to figure it out. Through it all, there was always the drive of finishing the story.

Finally, I did it. My characters had triumphed, and I had reached the 20,000 word goal–double that of my first novel. I’d done what I didn’t think I could do, and I was proud of it. The story is definitely not perfect, and I’m still revising it, but it makes me happy to know that it is mine. My goal is to get it published in the next year or two, even if it’s just for myself.

So whether you are writing a mystery like I did, a romance novel, or a sci-fi story, go for it! Don’t doubt yourself. It’s ok to get stuck, or frustrated, but then you just push through and keep going. Don’t give up! I believe in you!

Sierra is an 18-year-old girl who just graduated high school. Besides writing, she loves music, sparkles, and the color orange. She enjoys meeting new people and can make friends quickly. You can usually find her with her earphones in, singing loudly just about anywhere. Sierra lives in Denver, Colorado with her parents, her two brothers, and her two dogs. She hopes to write as a future career.

Top photo by Flickr user Sheila Sund.