NAVIGATION

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How to write a detective story: 7 keys to a killer whodunnit

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Learning how to write a detective story is a helpful process for any ction author. This crime
subgenre distillssome of the most fundamental aspects of story. Cause and effect are strong.
Because every character is a potential suspect, we remember how important it is forevery
story character to have compelling motivations, public and private lives. Here are 7keys to
writing an effective detectivenovel or short story:

1: Draw inspiration from the great detective authors

Edgar Allan Poe was one of the rst great detective ction writers in the English language. Poe
published his story The Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1841, featuring the detective C.
Auguste Dupin.Poes detective ction is useful to read because it gives useful insights into the
genre (You can read Poes famous detective story here).
 Get clues on how to write detective story protagonists from great detective ction authors
work. For example, in The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Poes detective describes the makings
of a great investigator:

The Parisian police, so much extolled for acumen, are cunning, but no more. There is no
method in their proceedings, beyond the method of the moment The results attained
by them are not unfrequently surprising, but for the most part, are brought about by
simple diligence and activity. When these qualities are unavailing, their schemes fail.

27 Vidocq, for example, was a good guesser, and the persevering man. But, without educated
thought, he erred continually by the very intensity of his investigations. He impaired his

248 vision by holding the object too close. He might see, perhaps, one or two points with
unusual clearness, but in so doing he, necessarily, lost sight of the matter as a whole.

1
Poe here contrasts the insightful detective (who can see the parts as well as the whole) with

the police force. Unlike the master detective (for Poes character), they lack the detectives
1
heightened ability to deduce answers by examining the parts and the whole of a problem.

Through Poes characters words, we form a better idea of how to create detectives who are a
cut above.Besides reading the mastersfor clues on how to write a detective story, learn the
basic ingredients of detective ction:

2: Learn eective elements of detective ction plots

Detective ction, itself a subgenre of crime and mystery ction, hassubgenres of its own:

In a whodunnit or whodunit, the reader shares the detectives work. The reader also
attemptsto deducewho perpetrated a crime based on clues the author weaves into the story.
In an inverted detective story, readers might witnessthe criminal act at the start and also
learnthe identity of the perpetrator. The rest of the story is then built around the process of
the detective uncovering this information.

There are other subgenres too. Police procedurals show policemen tackling and solving
crimes. The Dexter book series and TV adaptation is an example of this type of detective story.

Each of these subgenres may have someof the following common detective ction elements:

Red herrings: Suspects, clues or turns of events the author creates suspicion around that
turn out to be distractions from the truth. These keep the suspense high and make
detective story resolutions more unpredictable.
Detective inquiries: The detective protagonist (or duo or team)makesthe rounds,
inquiring after leads. Inquiries present the opportunity to create further subplots and
complicationsfor the primary investigator(s)
False suspects: Sometimes the police bring in the wrong suspect. This issimilar to a red
herring, but false suspects are usually more closely related to the crime.
 Surprise plot twists:There are major unexpected story turns that take the reader by
surprise

These are just some of the core ingredients of effective detective plots.

3: How to write a detective story: Master the use of red herrings

Because detective work relies on reason and deduction,

a story is most believable when you include misleading
27 information. Even the best detectives can follow false
lines of reasoning if all the evidence seems to support
248 this track.

1 Sir Arthur Conan Doyles novel The Final Problem

provides a good example of expert red herring use. The

1 detective Sherlock Holmes goes out walking with his

sidekick Dr. Watson. Watson rushes back back to their

hotel when he receives a message saying a woman

urgently needs his medical attention. The message
turns out to be aploy by the villain. He sends this false
information to get Holmes alone so that he can attack
him. Inthis case, the red herring is not directly related
to the commission of a crime.

Like Conan Doyle, create red herrings to create circumstances necessary for pivotal scenes to
take place. In addition to creating a desirable story situation (e.g. The hero is alone and
vulnerable to attack), a red herring brings surprise, keeping the reader guessing. The element
of surprise keeps the story fresh and interesting.

4: Give characters interesting motivations

Its always worth remembering Kurt Vonneguts writing advice: Every character in your story
should want something. This advice is particularly important when youre learning how to
write a detective story.

Give each character in your detective story a good motivation. An example: The mysterious
woman who tries to avoid your detectives inquiries may be protecting another suspect. This
other suspect isnt the true perpetrator but has an incriminating alibi. Because
shesprotecting him, she herself becomes a suspect.

As you plan what actions each character will take in the course of your story, note down their
driving reasons. A credible sense of cause and effect, a sense that each characters actions and
words have strong motivations, will keep readers believing in your ctionalworld.
 5: Develop your understanding of detectives skills
As writers were story detectives.We have to work out how the pieces of each story t
together. Yet not everyone has the skill set of a criminaldetective. Forensic capabilities, for
example, and advanced powers of deduction.

To become a crack detective ction author, grow your knowledge of real-life detectives skills.
A crack detective might deduce information from:

27 Physical surrounds: What does the strange arrangement of furniture say about a scene
and what could have played out there, for example?

248 Psychological observation: If a person behaves a certain way (avoiding eye contact, for
example), what does this say about them (that theyre lying?)

1 Noticing circumstantial discrepancies: If a suspect routinely went to a speci c coffee shop

every Saturday morning and didnt on the weekend the crime was committed, could this

1 be relevant?
Forensic data: Samples taken from a crime scene tell a story too.

To write great detective stories, spend some time reading true detective books about how
famous crimes were solved. Learn the fundamentals of forensics and common terminology.
Arm yourself with extensive information about how crimes are solved to start thinkinglike a
detective.

6: Always create curiosity (and delay satisfying it)

In the best detective stories, novels and movies, writers create curiosity.

In David Lynchs cultdetective TV series about a small-town murder, Twin Peaks, Lynch
develops perpetrator and victim in parallel. As we nd out more and more about Lauras killer,
Lynch develops Laura too (albeit posthumously). This double process of revelation makes each
character contribute to the story development actively.

The viewer nds out about skeletons hiding in the small towns collective closet,
circlingcloser to uncovering the true story of the central crime. This structure means that
there are smaller sources of curiosity that emerge in the process of answeringthe FBI
detective Agent Dale Coopers core questions. The biggest answersare reserved for the second
and nal season. This structure resolvessome tension even as primary plot tensions build in
the background. This tactic sustains engrossing suspense.

7: Trustthe readers deductivecapabilities

Detective ction authors of the so-called Golden Age of
detective ction (such as Agatha Christie) created
complex puzzles in their novels. In Christies mystery
novel And Then There Were None (1939), for example,
 the mysterious deaths of the books central characters
parallel the deaths of the characters in the nursery rhyme
now known as Ten Little Soldier Boys.It is up to the
reader to try and work out the signi cance of the nursery
rhyme and how the story might proceed, based on the
rhyme which starts:

Ten little Soldier Boys went out to dine;

One choked his little self and then there were nine.
27

Learn to trust in the readers ability to gure things out

for themselves. Reading detective ction authors such as

248

Christie will help you make thepuzzling, brain-teaser

1element of yourdetective story more engaging and

rewarding.

1 MysteryanddetectivefictionauthorAgatha
Get writing feedback on all your detective storys twists Christie

and turns now on Now Novel.

What is your favourite detective story ornovel of all time?

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Agatha Christie, detective fiction, Edgar Allan Poe, how to write a detective story, Twin Peaks

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AvatarShonAdams8monthsago
EdgarAllanPoeismyabsolutefavoritedetectivenovelwriterever.Thanksforthebrilliant

27 advice,yourblogislikeabreathoffreshair.
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BridgetatNowNovel Mod >ShonAdams 8monthsago

HiShon,thankyou!Heisanexcellentauthor,indeed.I'mgladyou'reenjoyingtheblog.
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