Nancy Radke's Blog - Posts Tagged "plotting-a-mystery"
Writing a Cozy Mystery
Mystery novels are a little bit different than regular stories, because you need to plot backwards on some things. I wrote two cozy mysteries, Any Lucky Dog Can Follow a Trail of Blood, 2021, and Any Lucky Dog Can Find a Missing Child, 2022, and am starting to plot the third one, Any Lucky Dog Can Save Her Master’s Life (working title).
Because this is a series, I already have the dog’s name, Lucky, and the hero, Sheriff Craig, and the heroine, Jenna. I also have the town and many characters in the town. But because this is a series, I have to figure out what time of year I want it. Right now I think I will put this in November, when Jenna and Craig plan to have their wedding. Nothing like a murder to interfere with wedding plans.
Plotting backwards involves deciding on the villain or villains—who they are and what their motive is before you plan anything else. Once I have that, then I have to decide who they will kill and how. Since I am just starting to plot, I haven’t made these decisions yet. I am at the stage of just jotting down ideas in a notebook.
Next I need to figure out what clues the sheriff and Jenna will follow to solve the mystery. I also need to decide on what are called “red herrings.” These look like clues but lead nowhere.
Who will find the body? I’ve already decided that it will be Lucky who leads them to the body, and I’ve decided where I’m going to hide it, as this will be the opening chapter. I might have to change it, but that sounds good right now.
Two other mystery books which I plotted backward was Scorpion’s Trail (my all-time favorite) and Stolen Secrets, both written in the late 1900’s.
I am not an author who enjoys plotting. It “ruins” the excitement of writing the book when I know all the answers. But a mystery can’t be written totally without direction. If I can, I will avoid plotting some scenes and let them write themselves. Then I’ll enjoy it more and I think the book just turns out better.
I enjoy watching Korean mystery series on Netflix and pick up some ideas from them. Two series I watch over and over are “Stranger” and “Beyond Evil.” Neither are “cozy” but I enjoy the characters and watching how they work the clues into the plot.
Because this is a series, I already have the dog’s name, Lucky, and the hero, Sheriff Craig, and the heroine, Jenna. I also have the town and many characters in the town. But because this is a series, I have to figure out what time of year I want it. Right now I think I will put this in November, when Jenna and Craig plan to have their wedding. Nothing like a murder to interfere with wedding plans.
Plotting backwards involves deciding on the villain or villains—who they are and what their motive is before you plan anything else. Once I have that, then I have to decide who they will kill and how. Since I am just starting to plot, I haven’t made these decisions yet. I am at the stage of just jotting down ideas in a notebook.
Next I need to figure out what clues the sheriff and Jenna will follow to solve the mystery. I also need to decide on what are called “red herrings.” These look like clues but lead nowhere.
Who will find the body? I’ve already decided that it will be Lucky who leads them to the body, and I’ve decided where I’m going to hide it, as this will be the opening chapter. I might have to change it, but that sounds good right now.
Two other mystery books which I plotted backward was Scorpion’s Trail (my all-time favorite) and Stolen Secrets, both written in the late 1900’s.
I am not an author who enjoys plotting. It “ruins” the excitement of writing the book when I know all the answers. But a mystery can’t be written totally without direction. If I can, I will avoid plotting some scenes and let them write themselves. Then I’ll enjoy it more and I think the book just turns out better.
I enjoy watching Korean mystery series on Netflix and pick up some ideas from them. Two series I watch over and over are “Stranger” and “Beyond Evil.” Neither are “cozy” but I enjoy the characters and watching how they work the clues into the plot.
