Creating murder and mayhem with the pen is a blast for most mystery writers. The
Christian mystery, thriller, suspense and crime fiction writers I interact with are having a ball with their writing. Here are some tips for having fun writing crime fiction.
1. Write what you enjoy reading in a murder mystery or thriller.
2. Create a main character or a couple of main characters who you like, who tickle you, and/or who you think it would be fun to be around.
3. Create a supporting or minor character that makes you laugh out loud.
4. Write in a good, juicy “relationship” for your sleuth. Have your sleuth fall head over heals in love with a cop. Oh boy, that’s going to be a wild ride. Maybe you’re not going for a romance. Then have your sleuth totally frustrate his/her police department mentor, as in drive the older, wiser friend nuts. Create an antagonistic relationship where your sleuth butts heads with a veteran cop. Oh, the possibilities there.
5. Get your sleuth into an impossible and probably dangerous situation and then have him/her get out of it. If you make your sleuth sweat, your readers will also be sweating.
6. Find clever ways to knock off your villain.
7. Do you have someone in your life that’s a royal pain? Someone who doesn’t take a hint? Put them in your next novel and kill them. [Actually, I stole this idea from Danica Favorite. Don’t tell her.]
LOL! Love the tips. Mystery writing gives you a chance to get rid of all the teacher’s you didn’t like too. 🙂
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Great pointers, I definately agree with your points about characters – laugh out loud characters are gems to crime fiction. I’ll take these points into consideration for my next pieces!Thank you for sharing,Valerie.
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Donna, I’d like to knock off a few of my neighbors. LOL
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Valerie, I love crusty old cops that are orney and make the reader laugh.Also like old bitty who’s a busybody but really means well.
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I LOVE this list! Would you mind if I mentioned it in my blog and posted a link to it?Suzanne :O)www.suzanne-hartmann2.blogspot.com
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Glad you liked it. Go ahead and post it.
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It took me a while to get to it, Nike, but I finally posted a link to this article in my blog.
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Suzanne, Thx for the link. I appreciate it. nike
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