Here are some tips on writing mystery/suspense stories. This is my particular genre of writing so I take these to heart. If you write in this genre you should really get some helpful information from these tips. Hope you enjoy.
Here is a good video of some other helpful tips.
7 Tips on Writing Great Mystery and Suspense Novels
By: Brian A. Klems
When plotting my new mystery and suspense novel Ghost Maven, I was inspired by the works of Alfred Hitchcock, whom I have written three books about. Hitchcock was dubbed the ‘Master of Suspense’ for very good reason. He knew how to manipulate an audience and keep them watching. In the same way, here are seven tips to remember when writing suspense to keep your reader turning pages.
This guest post is by Tony Lee Moral. Moral is the author of three books on Alfred Hitchcock; Hitchcock and the Making of Marnie; The Making of Hitchcock’s The Birds and Alfred Hitchcock’s Movie Making Masterclass. His new novel, a Hitchcockian suspense mystery, Ghost Maven, is published by Cactus Moon Publications.
1. The number one rule of suspense is to give your reader information.
You can’t expect a reader to have anxieties if they have nothing to be anxious about. If you tell the reader that there’s a bomb in the room and that it’s going to go off in five minutes, that’s suspense. The suspense in Ghost Maven is what will happen when Alice finds out that Henry is a ghost? The suspense drives the narrative and keeps your reader interested. 2. Use counterpoint and contrast.
“Suspense doesn’t have any value unless it’s balanced by humor,” said Hitchcock, who was famous for his macabre sense of humor in films like The Trouble With Harry. In Frenzy, Hitchcock liked the extremes between comedy and horror, and used humor to great effect between the Chief Inspector and his wife. ‘I invented the Chief Inspector’s wife so as to permit myself to place most of the discussion of the crime outside a professional context,’ said Hitchcock. “And I get comedy to sugar-coat the discussions by making the wife a gourmet cook. So this inspector comes home every night to discussion of the murders over very rich meals.” Comedy can make your writing more dramatic and give your reader a chance to reflect on the suspense. 3. A good story should start with an earthquake and be followed by rising tension.
Some of Hitchcock’s best stories start with a bang, such as the chase along San Francisco’s twilight rooftops in Vertigo, or the strangulation murder at the beginning of Rope. I start Ghost Maven with the heroine in deep water and in danger when a kayaking trip in Monterey Bay goes terribly wrong. 4. Never use a setting simply as background.
Use it 100%. Hitchcock was adamant that the backgrounds must be incorporated into the drama and made it a rule to exploit elements that are connected with a location. When writing my locations, I also thought how they could be used dramatically. In Ghost Maven, when Alice climbs the Point Pinos Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse on the West Coast, it twice becomes the setting for her attempted murder. 5. At the same time, avoid the cliché in your locations, such as staging a murder in a dark alleyway or at night.
As Hitchcock loved contrast, he would often stage his most macabre scenes in the most congenial of settings, such as the murder-dinner party in Rope, or the attempted assassination of Cary Grant’s character in North by Northwest, which takes place in brilliant sunshine inside a crop field. This sense of the unexpected, and the idea that turmoil can erupt at any moment, will keep your readers on their guard. 6. Keep your story moving.
The sudden switches of location in a book are also very important to ensure your readers are alert. Hitchcock knew that one of the ways in which suspense drama must change is in its setting. The Orient Express, for example, has had its day as a scene for spy melodrama. The same could be true for narrow stairways and high towers. In North by Northwest, Hitchcock wanted to stage a scene on Mount Rushmore, and like The 39 Steps, wrote a quick succession of scenes that led up to the exciting denouement. Similarly, I start my novel with a quick succession of chapters, with locations and settings that will be crucial for the action later on. 7. Avoid stereotypes whether it’s in character or plot.
Hitchcock has given us some of the most memorable villains to grace the screen. That’s because he avoided the cliché through character and made his villains like Brandon in Rope, or Bob Rusk in Frenzy, attractive. “All villains are not black, and all heroes are not white. There are grays everywhere. You can’t just walk down Fifth Avenue and say he’s a villain and he’s a hero. How do you know?” said Hitchcock. Make your villains attractive, so that they can get near their victims.
Woke up tis morning with book covers on my mind. I was wondering how other self-published authors create their book covers? For my two poetry books I used Adobe Spark, but for my upcoming novel, I am thinking of hiring someone to do the heavy lifting for the artwork. I have been checking into book cover design services lately, and have decided to go with BespokeBookCovers.com for my first novel’s cover. They are well priced, and their work is impeccable from what I can tell. You can check them out here:
Here, also, is a short video I found on YouTube about this subject. Enjoy.
So if anyone out there is reading this, can you drop me a comment on how you get your covers created? Do you do it yourself or maybe you have used a different company in the past that you would recommend. Thanks for reading.
Write Fearlessly
It doesn’t matter if your book is fiction, non-fiction or geared toward children; the book cover design is the first thing potential customers see. Most consumers decide just within a few seconds whether or not they’ll pick up your book and give it a shot. Don’t let an amateurish book cover destroy your chance at the sale!
Why Does High-Quality Book Cover Design Matter?
First and foremost, the book cover matters because most people judge books by their covers. In fact, we recently surveyed over 2,100 people on Facebook, where we asked whether or not book covers play a large role in buying books. The response was overwhelming: 76% of our respondents stated that the cover design plays a large role in their purchases. Other surveys have shown that up to 80% of respondents believe book covers are a factor in book sales. With the majority of people agreeing that the cover design is hugely important in the book buying process, you should make sure your focus is on ensuring your book has the best design possible. Otherwise, you’ll miss out on sales!
A poorly designed cover could limit the amount of reviews your book receives. Most professional reviewers will not review self-published books that look amateurish. Without solid reviews, your book could be stuck in obscurity.
Another reason to have a great cover design: Book buyers for brick-and-mortar stores have been known to “snub” books with poorly designed covers. If you want your book to be on shelves, your cover design needs to be top-notch!
Your cover design needs to be outstanding if you want your self-published book to have any chance at winning an award. Most book award competitions take the book cover design into account in one way or another. Some competitions won’t even look twice at your book if it looks lackluster.
Your book cover will end up being your most important marketing tool — the first component of your book that most people will see and experience. Without a quality cover, your chances of success will be greatly reduced.
Shadows hovering within sunsets grip
Nothingness in darkness we slowly slip
To roam the fields without fear
And swallow the visions of what they hold near
Moonlight glow covers the way
One must be—There are rules to obey
With wanting lust and veins to bleed
The night becomes of wants and need
Following in the ever open hunt
From the darkest deep forest to the willful waterfront
This hunger will never for now be
In pleasure and pain, they will appease
The stars suddenly silently grow dim
A wrathful sunrise to begin
Hidden, waiting, and yearning once more
This is always as the night before