mystery writing

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Category Fiction: What’s Hot?

In my Marshall Plan® books I have always recommended writing the genre you love to read. It gives you several advantages. First, the passion you have for reading a particular genre carries over into the writing. Second, you’ll already have a good idea of what’s been done and what hasn’t. But what if you read several [...]

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Keys to Writing a Killer Amateur-Sleuth Mystery Novel

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As the author of thirteen murder mysteries and counting, and a literary agent who represents a number of mystery authors, I keep a list of “musts” for writing a compelling mystery that really holds together. Build all of these points into your mystery novel and your book will be stronger for it. Make sure your [...]

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Three Ways to Make Your Mystery Novel Stand Out in the Crowd

The mystery novel has never been more popular than it is today. People love reading them . . . and writers love writing them. Editors are swamped with manuscripts and can afford to be extremely fussy as to what they take on. How can you make your mystery novel rise above the others and make [...]

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Tips on Naming the Characters in Your Novels

The first question you should ask yourself when naming a character in one of your novels is whether a name you have in mind fits the character’s personality as you’ve defined it so far. This is a “gut” thing—we all have preconceived ideas of how people with certain names look and act. When writing my [...]

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