↓
 

Carolyn Mulford

Carolyn Mulford

  • Home
  • About
  • Show Me Mysteries
    • Series Overview
    • Show Me The Murder
      • Show Me the Murder Chapter One
      • Discussion Topics for Show Me The Murder
      • Ordering Information
      • Excerpts from Reviews
    • Show Me the Deadly Deer
      • Show Me the Deadly Deer: Chapter One
      • Discussion Topics for Show Me The Deadly Deer
      • Ordering Information
      • Excerpts from Reviews
    • Show Me the Gold
      • Show Me the Gold Chapter One
      • Show Me the Gold Discussion Questions
      • Ordering Information
      • Reviews
    • Show Me the Ashes
      • Show Me the Ashes: Chapter One
      • Show Me the Ashes: Discussion Topics
      • Show Me the Ashes: Ordering Information
    • Show Me the Sinister Snowman
      • Show Me the Sinister Snowman – Chapter One
      • Show Me the Sinister Snowman: Discussion Questions
      • Show Me the Sinister Snowman: Order Information
    • Talks and Workshops
    • Blog: Writing Mysteries
    • Writing Tips & Resources
  • The Feedsack Dress
    • The Feedsack Dress
    • Ordering Information
    • Historical Background
    • Chapter 1: The Feedsack Dress
    • Discussion Topics for Students
    • Discussion Topics for Book Groups
    • The Feedsack Dress Blog
  • Thunder Beneath My Feet
    • Thunder Beneath My Feet
    • Ordering Information
    • Historical Background
    • Chapter One: Thunder Beneath My Feet
    • Suggestions for Students
    • Discussion Topics for Book Groups
    • Blog: Historicals
  • Other Writings
    • Short Stories
      • “An Aura of Death”
      • “Crossing the Bridge”
      • “Leftovers”
    • Works in Progress
  • News
    • Latest Postings
    • Events
    • Reviews of Carolyn’s Books
    • Media Materials – Images
    • Media Materials – News releases
  • Contact

Monthly Archives: October 2013

Ten Common Mistakes New Mystery Writers Make

Carolyn Mulford Posted on October 22, 2013 by CarolynOctober 22, 2013

All writers differ, but those writing their first (and maybe second or third) mystery usually make at least two or three of ten common mistakes. I base this list on what I’ve observed in reading other writers’ works in progress and what they’ve said about my manuscripts.

The mistakes vary in the manuscript’s different sections: two to three opening chapters, twenty to thirty middle chapters, and three to five final chapters.

The opening chapters

The hardest and most important section to perfect is the opening. Most agents and editors tell us they won’t read beyond the third page (some not beyond the first paragraph) if the story doesn’t grab them. From what I’ve heard, a majority of readers will give the writer until the end of the first chapter. If you can’t move the professional or the casual reader past the opening chapters, your exciting middle chapters and dynamic ending won’t matter. Watch out for these problems in your opening chapters.

1.   A lengthy backstory

Start your story with a crucial event or action, not your biographical notes on the protagonist. Find the corpse or foreshadow the murder in the first chapter.

Give the necessary backstory in phrases or sentences, not paragraphs or pages. Let actions reveal character and aptitudes. Show your protagonist through others’ eyes.

Set the tone and voice of the entire book in your first chapter.

2.   Long descriptions of the setting or the characters

Find the telling details that put the reader in the time and place.

Give thumbnails of the main characters or settings and add information as needed.

3.   A prologue revealing a dramatic point late in the book

If an event is critical, make it part of chapter one.

If your beginning lacks action or suspense, write a new one.

4.   Multiple characters

Introduce your protagonist immediately so readers identify with that person.

Limit characters to those whom you would remember at a networking event.

The middle chapters

We tend to spend so much time rewriting the opening that we neglect the much longer middle, the heart of the investigation and of character development. By this stage, readers tend to put the book down at the end of a chapter. Each chapter must motivate them to pick up the book again. Writers’ most common mistakes involve pacing.

5.   A lack of action

Something must happen in every chapter. Check that by writing a headline for each chapter.

Continue conflict—in solving the crime, in reaching the protagonist’s goals, in personal and professional interactions.

6.   Clues or characterizations that reveal too much

Present three or four viable suspects and speculate on at least two motives.

Use gray rather than black and white in portraying suspects.

7.   Indistinguishable characters

Give each named character a memorable characteristic—appearance, mannerism, speech pattern, etc.

Make each person’s speech distinctive—vocabulary, grammar, syntax, rhythm.

The final chapters

Those last chapters must evoke emotion and stimulate the intellect. If readers feel cheated because previous chapters haven’t prepared them for the conclusion, confused because the solution lacks clarity, or dissatisfied because characters act out of character, they won’t recommend your book to others or read your next book. Readers’ frustration often comes from the following mistakes.

8.   The first indication of the villain and the motive

Give the reader the facts to solve the crime, but don’t make those obvious.

Plant clues and red herrings throughout the book. Don’t bunch them at the end.

9.   Illogical, coincidental, or incredible solutions

Surprise but satisfy with your solution. You want readers to say, “Oh, yes. Now I get it.”

In fiction, readers expect to receive all the answers. They also expect justice.

10. Villain reveals all

If the bad guy has to explain why and how, rework your plot.

Wrap up all the loose ends, starting with the subplots. (If you’re writing a series, a loose end or two may help propel the reader into your next book).

Avoiding all ten of these mistakes doesn’t mean the author has produced a good manuscript. Making several of them guarantees the manuscript requires a lot of rewriting.

 

 

 

Posted in Mysteries, Writing

Latest Postings


I Am a River

Carolyn Mulford Posted on April 19, 2025 by CarolynApril 19, 2025

Each week I lunch with a group of friends and discuss a topic. Last time the coordinator posed this question: What is the shape of your life? The answers included a rectangle, a vase, a cloud, and an octagon. Usually I wing it, but this time I wrote my response. The Shape of My Life I am a river, Birthed in a puddle, Nourished by rain, Pushed to overflow And grow broader And deeper.   Springs and creeks fed my flow. Widening waters gathered force, Thrusting me against unyielding barriers And cascading me over rocky falls.   Other streams joined … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized

Where to Find My Books

Carolyn Mulford Posted on April 1, 2025 by CarolynApril 1, 2025

While only one of my books, Show Me the Sinister Snowman, continues to be published in print and electronic editions, several of my novels are available from online sellers. Most of the copies are used, but columbiabooksonline.com, my supportive local bookstore, has a small stock of new Show Me hardbacks and paperbacks. I also have a few copies of all my novels except The Feedsack Dress, my historical children’s book, and Show Me the Murder, the first in my mystery series featuring a former spy returning   home and solving crimes with old friends. Fortunately e-editions still exist. Barnes and Noble … Continue reading →

Posted in Mysteries, The Feedsack Dress, Uncategorized

Looking Forward 60 Years Ago

Carolyn Mulford Posted on February 28, 2025 by CarolynFebruary 28, 2025

Reminders of my attempts to start my writing career arrived last Christmas. A friend, Joyce Campbell, sent me letters I had written to her while we were serving as Peace Corps Volunteers (teaching English) in Ethiopia from September 1962 to July 1964 and in the months after we returned home (Chattanooga, Tennessee, for her and Kirksville, Missouri, for me) after traveling through Europe. On December 21, 1964, I wrote, “Has anything turned up for you yet? People don’t seem terribly impressed with Peace Corps experience for job qualifications it seems to me. I’m going down to the University Placement Bureau … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing

Mid-Continent Earthquakes, Past and Future

Carolyn Mulford Posted on December 16, 2024 by CarolynDecember 16, 2024

About 2:30 a.m. December 16, 1811, an earthquake threw people in New Madrid, Missouri Territory, out of bed and crumbled brick houses and cabin chimneys, forced the Mississippi River to run backward and change course, disturbed sleep along most of the East Coast, and toppled dishes from shelves in the White House. That marked the beginning of some of the most powerful, prolonged quakes the United States has experienced. These weren’t the first in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which is centered near where Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky come together. Geologists and other scientists have found indications that powerful … Continue reading →

Posted in Historicals, News, Thunder Beneath My Feet

The Turkey That Bullied Me

Carolyn Mulford Posted on November 26, 2024 by CarolynNovember 26, 2024

I grew up with animals as friends, the first being our dog Roamer. He and I wandered around the yard, the barnyard, and the garden. Roamer barked at squirrels and chased rabbits from our vegetables. He made me ponder one of life’s great puzzles: Is it okay to sympathize with Peter Rabbit in the story but condemn him when your own carrots are at risk? Roamer knew not to chase our chickens or cows or pigs, and he joined me in playing with an orphaned lamb and the kittens whose parents kept the barn free of mice. What he didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized

Follow Me

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on GoodreadsFollow Us on RSS

Archives

  • April 2025
  • February 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • July 2022
  • January 2022
  • March 2021
  • December 2020
  • July 2019
  • April 2019
  • October 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • April 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • February 2012
  • September 2011
  • July 2011
©2025 - Carolyn Mulford

Site design by Karen McCullough
Contact Webmaster

Site Admin
↑