M is for Mystery

MYSTERY
“It is only through mystery and madness that the soul is revealed.” 
― Thomas Moore
Mystery, thriller, or suspense. Which is it? Sometimes, it might be all three. Especially these days, when literary labels can be as slippery as a steampunk slipstream.

 Most of the time, though, if we are sticking with traditional definitions, your book or story will fall more squarely into one area than another.

 So here's a quick breakdown:

 In a mystery, you don't know who did the crime until the very end. It may focus more on the technical aspects of the crime, or the cerebral challenge of the investigation.

 In a thriller, there is typically a lot of action. It may be more about the chase or race to the end.

 In a suspense novel, you might know who and when, but perhaps not why or how. You read to the end to find out, and to see if the criminal will be caught. It could be fraught with danger, but not as much action.


What kind of story are you telling? Not sure? Think about what books or authors your story is most similar to. (note publisher or agent for future reference.) Where might they be located in a bookstore? 

 Where would you look? 

 That's probably what you are writing.

 But most importantly?

 Love what you are writing. 

 Write your story because you have to. 

 Write it because no one else can.

 "Mysteries abound where most we seek for answers."
                                                            -Ray Bradbury

 Below are just a few of of the best books that I've read over the last few years.

 Note which category they fit in. Do some of them fit into more than one? 

 Do you have any wonderful mysteries, suspenses or thrillers to add to my list?

 (Or never mind all that, and just read them, if you haven't already. Enjoy!)

Must Reads
Bittersweet
Wildalone
What the Dead Know
In Search of the Rose Notes
The Girl on the Train
Hell or High Waters
Luckiest Girl Alive
The Black Hour
Mind of Winter
You Should Have Known
The Book of You
One Kick
The Weight of Blood
North of Boston
Black Fridays
Bad Things Happen
The Expats
Visitation Street
Help for the Haunted
Night Film
Crime of Privilege
The Uninvited
The Drowning House
Rage Against the Dying
A Field of Darkness
Talking to the Dead
The Devil of Nanking
The Devil She Knows
Gone Girl
Out
The Darlings
Come In and Cover Me
Oxygen
The Society of S
The Poacher's Son
Sister
The Thirteenth Tale
Missing Joseph
Forty Words for Sorrow
Where the Shadows Lie

 “The sweetest smiles hold the darkest secrets...” 
-Sara Shepard, Flawless

 “The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.” 
-Anaïs Nin

"What is the difference between a mystery and a suspense thriller? This is a question that has been known to stump conference panelists. The answer we want to give is similar to the Supreme Court's definition of pornography, "I can't define suspense, but I know it when I see it."
                                                    -http://www.mysterynet.com/books/testimony/mystery-vs-thriller/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

N is for Name

Image
NA M ES               “Names have power.”                       -Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief              What's in a name? Plenty. The name you give your character gives the reader an instant impression, even if they don't know what the name really means. For example, w hat do you think of when you hear the following names:  Destiny Colt Barack Ruby Hester Sierra Khan Jesus Barbara Magda Aloha Martha Kofi Prudence Lucifer Bilbo Miranda Filippo Jessie Duncan Anjali Peewee Ishmael Ludwig Ngai Dae won Amber Hercules Scarlett Ashley Midori Gabriel Xerxes Ralph Heathcliff Veruca Hannibal Roshanna Ramona Svengali  Hans Isabella Lolita Jeeves Pip Ebenezer  Rudolph Gump Scout Winnie Grendel Tarzan Scheherazade I bet each of them gave you an immediate impression, even if you can't fully articulate what that impression is.  Well, your reader will have one, too. So when you choose a name for your c
Read more

F is for Fear

Image
FEAR “Fear is felt by writers at every level. Anxiety accompanies the first word they put on paper and the last.”  ―  Ralph Keyes ,  The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear Fear isn't something we talk about a lot in terms of creative process.  But it can keep us from following our dreams for years, even lifetimes. And that's a real shame.  Because, at the end of your life, you don't want to have big regrets. Such as: I never wrote that novel I dreamed of. I never published a short story. I never wrote down that children's story. I never followed my dream of writing . I've heard lots of people say some variation of this. You probably have, too.  The good news is, it is virtually never too late to follow your dream.  Don't believe me?  Check out these late bloomers: Grandma Moses began to paint seriously at the age of 78. Laura Ingalls Wilder didn't publish Little House on the Prairie  until she was 64. Frank McCourt wa
Read more

Zest

Image
"What hunger is in relation to food,  zest is in relation to life."       -Bertrand Russell Zest is one of my favorite things: there are few foods that smell as clean and energizing as a citrus fruit--especially a lemon. Zest is, therefore, the perfect word to describe the excitement, or energy for life. We have zest for things that we love. And sometimes it is that zest, the tantalizing hint of what is to come, that hope for a more delicious future, that carries us through. "True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done. The zest of creating things new." -Antoine de Saint-Exupery If gratitude is for the past, hope is for the future,  zest, therefore, is for the present."                     -Park, Peterson & Seligman, 2004 "Zest. Gusto. How rarely do we see one living, or for that matter, creating by them. Yet if I were asked to name the most important items in a writer's make-up and rush him along the road he wants to go...I woul
Read more