by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: May 15, 2009

The rules for writing mystery fiction are not overly different from those which apply to writing any type of fiction. The danger is actually in the opposite form from which we may imagine in that the writer may overly complicate the plot and instead of intriguing and stimulating the reader, confuse and irritate them.

If we stop to think about it for a moment, we can see that writing any form of fiction is in fact writing mystery fiction. The mystery is often simply where the writer is leading the reader on the journey upon which they are taking them, in the form of the plot and the events which are described in the work. Any time a reader picks up a work of fiction, they are essentially going on a mystery tour in this respect.

When a piece of writing is specifically to be classed as mystery fiction, however, the writer has to ensure that this is quite clearly and pointedly the case. Very often, mystery fiction will take the form of a "whodunnit," in the sense that a murder or murders are committed and there are a list of suspects contained within the novel. The reader is expected to pit their wits against the investigators within the plot in an effort to solve the mystery and identify the killer.

Ideally, the writer in "whodunnits" should incorporate clues throughout the text of the novel from which the astute reader will be capable of identifying the killer. This is an incredibly difficult thing for the writer to do, however, in that they will have to strike a careful balance between providing genuine clues and making the clues too pointed. They do not want to give the game away too soon and essentially spoil the remainder of the novel for the majority of their readers.

It is imperative when writing mystery fiction that the writer include twists and turns in the tale. The reader should find themselves led first in one direction towards a solution, then another and perhaps another still before the ultimate disclosure. This serves to keep the reader interested and to heighten their enjoyment of the work. Readers reading mystery fiction naturally do not want to be confused any more than any other reader does but they do want to be tantalised almost, in the journey towards and quest for that ultimate solution to the mystery.

The rules for writing mystery fiction may therefore be summed up as creating the circumstances of a mystery in the first instance, teasing the reader to come up with the solution, yet keeping the solution of the mystery tantalisingly just outside the reader's reach until the ultimate conclusion of the novel.

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