OPWA: Episode Twenty

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Where you can learn the stuff I paid thousands of dollars to have taught to me, for free.

The Art of Mystery
(AKA "HOLY COW, WE HIT 20 EPISODES?!")

I’m really into true crime. As such, I love a solid mystery. But what makes a good mystery story? And why is it one of the least written genres on FimFiction?

My guess is that the answer to the second question lies in the simple fact that alot of people can’t answer the first. Many writers, both young and old, just feel intimidated by the prospect of coming up with a story that poses critical questions to the reader: what really happened and what is really going on? 

In attempting to craft a mystery, even writing veterans find themselves discouraged as a result. Perhaps they think their plot’s answer is too weak. Or maybe they get lost in presenting the mystery’s question. Heck, just coming up with the question in the first place may seem like a Herculean task!

The fact of the matter is that many writers already engage in elements of mystery in other genres.

In your romance, the love interest may be harboring a dark past that isn’t discovered or revealed until later. And in your adventure story, the heroes may be struggling to uncover the key piece of information to foil the villain’s dastardly plot.

While it’s true that these kinds of plotlines lack some of the essential elements that would categorize them as full-fledged traditional mysteries, the point is that they still use the foundational parts that make mystery stories what they are.

In this post I’ll talk about a possible road map to crafting your own mysteries, pitfalls to avoid, as well as providing additional resources to help you create a thrilling and believable tale. But first? A little detour…

A note about horror:

The interesting thing about this episode of OPWA, is that when used in conjunction with the previous episode on creating suspense, you very quickly find yourself in the horror genre. Now I’m really condensing things here, but all that separates a thriller and mystery from a horror story are a few key things:

1. Mood: Horror stories often have a sense of foreboding and gloom. It can be understated, but they are usually still noticeable. In film, for instance, this might be achieved with a spooky or menacing musical score. There also may be small visual signs of impending danger sprinkled throughout.

   A written story on the other hand will wield language with much more narrow focus to aim at the same result, because unlike the visual medium of film, us writers have to choose our words carefully. Here’s a famous example from Stephen King, the so-called master of horror:

   “ The mallet smashed into the bathroom door, knocking out a huge chunk of the thin paneling. Half of a crazed and working face stared in at her. The mouth and cheeks and throat were lathered in blood, the single eye she could see was tiny and piggish and glittering.”
   -The Shining (1977)

   Notice how King creates an utterly horrific mental image for us in just three brief sentences. By using razor-sharp descriptors, he establishes a few things about Jack Torrance that brings the novel’s menacing atmosphere to its height.

   First by partializing his face, King signals to us that Jack is metaphorically no longer “all there” in his mind. Next, he attributes a violently wrathful and even gluttonous animal quality to Jack by making note of his blood-covered skin and his “piggish” eye.

   By using language to effectively subvert qualities that people take for granted and take comfort in, Stephen King scares the hell out of us. Never for a second believe that prose can’t be just as scary as films!

   So to underscore the difference further--

   Whereas thrillers are more exhilarating because there is a general sense that the protagonist can overcome these scary obstacles, and mystery leaves us tantalized by the promise of a satisfactory conclusion, horror leaves us ultimately with a sense of hopelessness and disquiet over what has transpired and what we are ultimately left with.

2. Lack of Complete Answers: Continuing that last bit from the previous point-- horror stories aren’t out to answer your questions. They are out to thrill, disturb, and even sadden you. A few common themes found in horror center on the threat of the unknown, the dangers of truth, and the tragedy of an indifferent world. With themes such as these, providing satisfying answers only undermines what the creators may be trying to achieve.

   You’ve probably heard it said that a good horror movie knows better than to reveal the answers to its mysteries to you, if at all? And very often the questions that do get answered only spark more pressing questions.

   One good example is the film, Alien. A big reason the film was so successful at the time of its release was that the audience had no idea what the monstrous Xenomorph fully looked like. Up until the climactic last moments of the film, all that was ever offered were small glimpses of the creature. And even after its appearance was briefly revealed, the audience was still left wondering… where the hell did that thing come from?

Now I should put the caveat here that (like any genre) those two things above are hardly absolute. You can have a scary story that more or less answers the questions that need answering, or even a story that blends in elements of other genres, like Scream does with comedic satire. 

But in that movie, there was still a noticeable mood of foreboding throughout the film, and the climactic reveal of the killers left us with the same unanswerable kind of questions we wrestle with for real-life serial killers and many mass shooters-- what is wrong with them? What went awry in their life and/or upbringing? How could they commit these atrocities?

And that’s another theme horror is commonly known for: what is evil, and how do people deal with it when forced to confront it?

Anyway, to tie this back into the true purpose of today’s post, just keep this in mind: Everything you find here and in the post on suspense can be used to craft a good horror story. Just make your obstacles more menacing and subversive, include an appropriately dark mood or atmosphere, and be sure to leave a sufficient amount of mystery at the end to leave your readers uneasy.

Now before we get started in earnest on the matter of mystery, I’d recommend diving deep into the genre. Read a classic mystery novel or two, then read a contemporary one. Watch a bunch of critically acclaimed mystery movies. And if you’re doing a mystery centered on crime? Devour true crime, but I would avoid most cop shows. The latter tend to focus less on mystery and more on drama and adventure. The exception would probably be the Law and Order franchise (you could literally pick any L&O series and it’d work).

Some things I’d recommend checking out... Gillian Flynn’s novel, Sharp Objects. (I know there’s an HBO series, but I didn’t finish it, so I can only vouch for the book.) Rian Johnson’s 2005 neo-noir mystery film, Brick. Another film of Johnson’s to check out is the 2019 flick, Knives Out. And lastly, Quantic Studios’ interactive drama game, Heavy Rain, available on PS3, PS4, and Windows PC.

These are fictional recommendations to give you a sense of the genre and how others have executed it through various formats. At the end of the post is when I provide the more technical research-y resources.

1. The Road Map

In a previous post, I detailed how to construct your plot from beginning to end. The interesting thing about mystery stories is that you have to carefully construct an event, in great detail, that usually occurs before your story officially starts, and that isn’t fully understood by your audience until the very end.

All that said, I’d recommend starting at the crime or mysterious event that precipitates your tale first. Details about who your characters are, what motivates them, how they got there, etc. can still be answered in the course of this process. Any additional details will be better added at the end of this phase to avoid losing focus.

So let’s assume this is a crime for ease of explanation. As this is the central thing that your entire plot will revolve around, you need to be very detailed in your answers to the basic questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how.

Who was involved? What was the crime? Where did it happen? When did it happen? Why did it happen? How did it happen?

Personally, I’d start with the crime itself. The ‘what.’ Then I’d move on to answer where, when, who, how, and why. I’ll do a short example plot here to illustrate how this would look.

“The crime was murder. It happened at the library, long after operating hours near midnight. It involved the head librarian, Susie, the custodian, Jeremy, and Jeremy’s ‘girl-next-door’ sweetheart, Molly.

Susie was beaten to death with a decorative statue from one of the library’s seating areas and buried under a pile of novels in the adult romance section. The statue was washed and replaced on its stand on the opposite side of the library, but a small speck of blood remained on the statue’s base.

Molly was the perpetrator, and Jeremy tried to help her clean up. He was also the one who granted them entry into the library in the first place thanks to a set of keys he stole from Susie.

Jeremy had simply been looking for a unique and taboo place to take his girlfriend for a sexy date, but in the middle of their lovemaking, Susie, who had returned to work for a critical errand as a means of escaping her abusive husband, walks in on them. 

Unbeknownst to anyone, Molly is a high-functioning psychopath whose childhood was riddled with violent episodes. As a young academic star on her way to a prestigious college, Molly believed her future was in jeopardy and attacked Susie as a result. Jeremy was horrified but feared he would also be blamed so he didn't turn Molly in. He is consumed by guilt. 

Molly, out of a fit of spite and perverse amusement, poses Susie's body. Jeremy uses his custodial equipment to clean up the evidence. He's the only one with a key to access the equipment. They decide to lie and tell everyone they went on their date somewhere else."

Now, this just serves as a start and you can certainly fill in more details and challenge this example more. But just from this I come up with the essential answers, set up red herrings (Susie's abusive husband, even Jeremy to a degree), and establish a possible route to catch the killer. 

Note that I state the statue still had blood on it. Well, if the investigators find this, they'll realize that the statue was cleaned within the building. They'll check the bathrooms but find no traces of blood. Ultimately they'll check the custodial closet to find more blood on the equipment. 

This will lead them to Jeremy who would at first deny any knowledge. Then maybe out of misplaced loyalty, he'll cover for Molly by taking the blame. The protagonist won't settle for this, however, because Molly had also been caught in a lie when her alibi fell apart along with Jeremy's. 

I'd just need to come up with some reasonable evidence the hero would uncover to indicate that Molly's the true murderer. Maybe they find the childhood history of psychopathic violence? Maybe they find her bloody clothes from that night?

However, you go about presenting your crime, be sure to provide a sufficient amount of evidence in the beginning so that the reader can start crafting their own theories about what really happened! Half the fun of mystery stories is trying to guess the outcome before you get to the end. A thriller and horror story doesn't need to give you the crucial details upfront. People aren't having that expectation. But for a mystery? Well...

Take a look at the classic Sherlock Holmes short, The Adventure of the Dancing Men. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle burned Sherlock into the pages of popular culture and literary history thanks not only to his striking characters and clever tales, but also due to the interactivity of his stories. The above short story gives you just about everything you need to solve the mystery upfront. Can you solve it?

Here's something that will spice up your story: try thinking of ways to add multimedia to your fic. It could be a mock document, a picture of a location, or even "crime scene" photos!

But do you see how starting from the crime and working from there ends up guiding you to all the relevant answers you need? Once you have the crime down, you can answer more of the typical questions I covered in some of my other episodes. 

1. Pitfalls to Avoid

First, do not skimp on your research! I would wager you do more for mystery than the average story, barring historical fiction. Why? Because you gotta get the details right! There is nothing more irksome for a reader than a mystery tale that portrays an impossible or even highly improbable execution of a crime. Worse, a stupid way of uncovering it!

Learn about investigative techniques. Interrogation, forensic science, and yeah, the importance of timelines! Any pertinent details to how to commit the crime? Maybe the murder happened on a boat? Learn about boats, then!

Don't know how to start? I have an episode for that, too!

Second, don’t overdo your research! ...Sorry, did I give you whiplash? 

What I mean here is-- While on the one hand a person might be tempted to under-research a project, the flipside is to do so much research that you bloat your story with all these technical details that ruin your pacing and drown out its soul.

You must remember that while readers may appreciate a well-crafted mystery, they won’t be able to appreciate squat if they can’t connect with your characters. 

Make sure your cast shines through. Keep people (or ponies!) at the heart of your story. Make them interesting, sympathetic, detestable, scary, fun, etc! Need help with character creation? I’ve got guides that cover how to define your protagonist, as well as your whole cast!

Let your story evolve naturally. Planning doesn’t have to mean forcing a story to be something it ain’t. If your heart simply isn’t in it for a mystery story, then just let it go. It’s true that a good mystery requires some contrived effort, but there is such a thing as trying to make a square peg fit a round hole. If you’re mixing too many elements from other genres into your project, it’s just not going to read like a true mystery.

This should be obvious to you halfway or three-quarters of the way through your story planning. It’s nothing to feel bad about! Just re-evaluate what you’ve got and treat your story with the right kind of attention it needs.

But if your heart is truly set on crafting a mystery… Do not, by any means, feel like you have to be restricted to the whodunnit. I know I used it as an example, but gimme a break, I was being lazy! (It’s like 4 am for me, seriously! I'm allowed a little expedience!) You can totally write a story that isn’t a by-the-numbers murder tale. Crime need not even be the center of your story. Maybe it’s the mysterious history of some ancient ruins? Maybe it’s the enigmatic origin of a strange family?

Or, like Christopher Nolan’s 2006 thriller, The Prestige, it’s about the things magicians keep hidden for the sake of their act… but at the cost of lives?

Avoid stereotypes and overused tropes. There are many mystery novels set in big cities, and many more following a private investigator or cop protagonist.

Do you know what made Rian Johnson’s film, Brick, stand out? The story was set in a California suburb and followed high school students. Despite this, it had all the feel of Chinatown. Which is also a good example of how you don’t have to necessarily re-invent the wheel, just customize it enough, and do the rest well!

1. Additional Tips and Resources

At the heart of almost every mystery are people. So here I’ll recommend some really great YouTube channels that break down and explain abnormal behavior, mental disorders, and criminal motivations.

First up is JCS - Criminal Psychology. This channel is superb if you want to get an in-depth look at how criminal interviews are conducted, and the ways that criminals try to lie and manipulate their way out of accountability. Some particular videos you may want to check out are:

And

Next is Dr. Todd Grande’s channel. He is a licensed professional counselor that covers a broad range of mental health topics, including analyzing the motivations and abnormal behaviors behind crime.

Finally, here's a few really helpful websites.

This first one is for crime research: https://www.inreferencetomurder.com/

This next one is more specifically for crime science: https://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/csi-resources.html

This one allows you to create a timeline of events for your stories (requires registration and subscription, but there is a free trial!): https://onestopforwriters.com/about_timeline

And here's a really excellent write-up on how to craft non-linear timelines, like Christopher Nolan's Memento: https://eschlerediting.com/writing-nonlinear-timeline/

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