Mystery Writing

You’ll start by learning about the genres, subgenres and tropes that make a mystery story what it is – and what it is not – helping you to find your own area of focus and preparing you to write your own novel – laying a trail of clues, red herrings and plot twists.

With suspense being at the heart of any mystery, you’ll discover how to build tension and intrigue, how to pace your novel and how to keep your readers guessing all the way to the end. You’ll learn how to create believable characters; from a sleuth your readers will get behind to a villain they’ll be rooting for them to catch.

Planning the perfect crime is a skill, so you’ll learn how to create a crime scene, layer clues and build a trail. Research is key – mystery readers know their stuff – so we’ll look at how to ground your work in reality, using targeted research to ensure your work is believable.

You’ll be taken, step-by-step, through writing the first draft in a 4-act format, before preparing your novel for potential publication.

By studying this course, you will:

• Become familiar with the genres, subgenres, and tropes of mystery writing
• Learn how to lay a trail of clues, red herrings, and plot twists
• Know how to create believable characters and crime scenes
• Follow step-by-step guidance in the four-act structure of mystery novels
• Understand how to ground your stories in reality
• Be able to create and edit a novel – ready for potential publication

Designed to help you to develop your writing and editing skills, this course will guide you in mystery writing as a hobby or a potential career – taking you from introduction to preparing your novel for possible publication.

Packed with theory-based work and creative writing exercises, this is an introductory course for those who are new to writing mysteries but assumes you have read mystery fiction and have some familiarity with the genre. It’ll help you to build your writing and editing skills and work towards creating a piece of mystery writing that will keep your readers guessing all the way to the big reveal.