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A satisfying murder mystery tale is one that’s well-crafted. There’s nothing quite like it, is there? The high stakes, the building tension, the way the author lures you into rooting for the detective, it truly takes immense skill and attention to craft.
What are the things you should consider while crafting a murder mystery story? Let’s get straight into it!
Part 1: Plotting the story
This is when you concern yourself with getting the story straight. These are the steps before the actual writing begins.
Plot the story backwards
You’ve decided who the killer is? Great! But are you sure about how things get there?
It’s at this point you work towards tightening the plot.
The essence of a murder mystery story is that everything should make sense in the end. There can be no loose ends, and no questions can be left unanswered. A strategy to avert this is to work backwards. Think carefully about how things got to the moment of the big reveal. Obviously, you don’t get to spell it out in a linear fashion, but it all has to be in your head.
You can do this in a few layers:
- Once you know who the killer is going to be, start…
