The Best Tips for Writing a Unique Mystery Story

Mystery is a popular genre in literature. Mystery stories have always been in demand among both children and adults. Readers love to read mystery stories, and authors love to write them. There are already hundreds and thousands of mystery stories out there. So, if you want to become a successful mystery author, then you need to bring something new to the table. Your mystery stories should be well-crafted and unique. They must have fresh elements in them. A Major Hurdle by Patricia Sims is a good example of a mystery story that has these things. It has the quality and uniqueness that can stand out among the huge pile of mystery stories out there and can easily capture the interest of the reading public. If you want to learn a thing or two about mystery writing, then go and check Patricia Sims’ literary masterpiece. But for now, you might want to keep reading this article, as listed below are some of the best tips for writing a unique mystery story.

Have various themes in your story

In literature, the term ‘theme’ refers to the central subject or topic within a narrative. It is basically the main idea or underlying message of a story. The theme is a crucial element of a novel. It lingers throughout the entire story, so it is important that you carefully choose what the theme of your story would be. In writing mystery, particularly, choosing the right theme is a must. If you want to make your mystery story unique and fascinating, you might need to come up with various themes for your story. It is common for novels to have more than one themes. However, in doing so, you must make sure that your chosen themes are consistent with one another, or they must be at least written in a non-contradicting way. Have various interesting but connected themes in your story. In A Major Hurdle, for example, the author, Patricia Sims, combined several surprising themes together – suspense, love, and faith – to create a mystery story that is simultaneously intense and heartwarming.

Create distinct but relatable characters

Characters are another crucial element of a story. A character is basically a person, animal, or any other creature that does the actions, speaks the dialogue, and helps move the story along the plot line. Characters are essentially the ones that complete the story. Without them, a story would be boring, dull, and pointless. In writing mystery, particularly, character creation is an important part of the process. When you create your characters for a mystery story, you always have to keep in mind that your characters should be interesting and compelling enough to sustain the intensity of your story. To come up with a unique mystery story, you must ensure that the characters that you create and develop are distinct but relatable at the same time. Avoid recycling character tropes for your story. Make sure to invent your characters instead. Some of the most common overused character clichés that you should avoid when writing mystery are a hardcore detective with a sort of a superpower, an obnoxious police officer who does not know how to do his job, a psychopath criminal with a sad childhood, and more. When inventing your characters, it is important that you carefully craft what their personalities would be. They must have personalities and character traits that are relatable to the general public. In A Major Hurdle, for example, the main character, Catherine Adams, goes through unique experiences in life, but what makes her story compelling to read is her relatable persona.

Engage the readers all throughout

In creating a unique mystery story, your main goal as an author should be to provide your readers with a unique reading experience. You should be able to make their pulse pound, pump their adrenaline, and leave them on the edge of their seats with your story. To accomplish this, you need to craft your story in such a way that would engage your readers all throughout. A unique and effective mystery story shows instead of tells. It brings the readers along from beginning to end. It makes them feel as if they are part of the story themselves. Engage your readers this way by using a descriptive language when crafting your scenes. Descriptive writing allows your readers to explore and discover details that even your characters might have missed. Instead of merely explaining what is happening, show your readers how things unfold. Keep them in the center of the action, and give them a chance not just to read your story but experience it as well. This is what Patricia Sims did in her complex and heart throbbing masterpiece, A Major Hurdle. In essence, if you want to write a unique mystery story, you should also be willing to become a unique author with unique perspectives and ways of storytelling.

3 Comments on “The Best Tips for Writing a Unique Mystery Story”

  1. Pingback: Tips on How to Develop Characters in Mystery Fiction - Patricia Sims

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