Write Your Own: Mystery (16 page)

Make sure that by the final page of your mystery your readers know exactly what has happened. Nothing is worse than a dramatic build-up to a story, then not finding out who did it or why!

Here are some useful sentence starters to help you when tying up the threads of your tale:

At long lost Trev knew why …

So, it had been Mr Potter after all who had …

They had been well and truly fooled by the old lady …

It was obvious now what had happened …

Finally, Polly could understand the reason why …

 

Time to Write!

Now it's time to write your story!

Go back in your journal and refresh your mind about the plot. When you are writing, use the list of scenes to help shape each chapter.

Remember the following things:

 start your story with a bang to really capture your readers' attention;

 establish the main ‘sleuth' character early on;

 build up the mystery problem at the start to really grip your readers!

 describe the mystery in thrilling detail to make it exciting;

 use red herrings to mislead the reader but also drop in clues about the mystery;

 use suspense techniques to keep your readers on the edge of their seats;

 use cliffhangers to really add drama;

 tie up all the clues and reveal the mystery at the end.

EDITING AND PUBLISHING

So you've finished your story – well done!

What next?

Nearly all writers will tell you the same thing – you have to read it aloud! Have you missed anything out? Does the story flow? Does the tension build up? Can the writing be improved? Is it accurate?

It can help to put your story aside for a few weeks. When you get it out again, try to reread it as though you have never seen it before. This will help you to spot the places where some rewriting might improve the story. Is your story gripping? Does it make you want to read on? Ask a friend to read it through for you and give you their opinion.

All stories that you buy from bookshops have been checked like this by an editor. An editor reads an author's work, suggests possible improvements and corrects any inaccuracies before it is published as a book.

Here are some things that you (or your friend) might look out for:

1. Possible improvements

  Does the beginning grip the reader?