I went to the source for the following questions:
Susan Quinn asked: How do you reveal a key clue to the mystery in yourstory, without letting the reader know it's a clue until later, when everythingfinally clicks into place?
Both of these questions relate well to mysteries. And there's no better blogging mystery expert than Elizabeth Craig! SO here's her response:
Thanks so much to Lisa for inviting me here today to talk abouta couple of important mystery elements. Since she’s recently gotten questionsin her comments about laying clues and including twists in our stories, thoseare the two topics that I’ll cover today.
Clues
One of the most important rules of mystery writing is thatthe reader must be kept in the loop. We can’t write mysteries where the sleuth is privy to information thatwe don’t provide the readers. Reading a mystery is almost an interactive experience—we’re solving thecrime alongside the sleuth.
So how do we supply enough clues to point to the murdererwithout actually giving away the killer until the end of the book?
The best way I’vefound to lay clues is a technique I think most mystery writers employ:distraction. Here are some ways to do it:
Include the clue in a list of other, less-crucial observations.There’s a smudge of white paint on a suspect who is also unshaven, unkempt,smells like oranges, and has a runny nose.
Lay the clue but immediately introduce a red herring (falseclue) that seems much more important. The suspect mentions going out forbreakfast at a time he previously stated he was sleeping at home. This information is immediatelyfollowed by Penelope’s revelation that Cindy, the victim’s secretary, will unexpectedlyreceive a large sum of money from the victim’s estate.
Drop the
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By: Kirsty,
on 8/8/2011
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By Ian Stewart Falling cats can turn over in mid-air. Well, most cats can. Our first cat, Seamus, didn’t have a clue. My wife, worried he might fall off a fence and hurt himself, tried to train him by holding him over a cushion and letting go. He enjoyed the game, but he never learned how to flip himself over.
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What a great post, Elizabeth. And so useful.
I love how you talk about distraction. That's one thing I feel that J.K. Rowling did very well with the Potter series. I like to think of it as sleight-of-hand in keeping with the magic. When laying a clue, she'll always provide some element to point the reader's attention in an opposite direction...and there's quite a bag of tricks for doing that.
I also love how you've broken down different ways of providing a twist as this is something I struggle with in my own writing. I'm going to take out my WIP and look at it with your analysis in front.
Thanks so much!
Thanks for answering my question! And I love literary distraction! As SP says, you dress up something to look like one thing, but it really means something different. Great post!
What a great list of techniques! I will have to try some of these. Thanks for sharing them, Elizabeth!
*waves to Elizabeth*
This post is packed with great tips, like using distractions. I'd never thought of that before! This all reminds me of The Sixth Sense. When the ending came, the audience was shocked. But the clues had been there all the time. Awesome.
Thanks Lisa & Elizabeth!
What a fabulous post Elizabeth! It's so full of great stuff that I'm going to have to bookmark it for later reference. Thank you!
SP Sipal--Thanks!
That's a great way of putting it--sleight of hand. It's very much a smoke and mirrors trick, but still falls in the "fair" category that's so important with mystery writing.
I'm not much of a plotter, but I will plot a little for twists. Although really, we can go back in after the first draft, even, and lay the clues to the twist and change the ending.
Susan--Thanks for asking the question! As a mystery writer, I use distraction several times in my books. It's really amazing how well it works.
Adrienne--Hope you'll enjoy using them. :)
Hi Julie! 6th Sense is a great twist movie, and exactly for the reason you're mentioning. Distraction is easy to do, but the reader tends to just sort of ignore that they've been diverted...maybe because there are so many distractions in our everyday life!
Heather--Thanks so much for coming by, Heather!
Wonderful advice! Thank you so much for tackling my question!
Smart move, Lisa!! :) And great post Elizabeth - lots of great ways to include those clues!
Cynthia--Thanks for asking it! And thanks for coming by today. :)
Jemi--I really love the clue-laying. It makes me feel like a jigsaw puzzle designer!
Lisa - Nice to "meet" you and thanks for hosting Elizabeth.
Elizabeth - What great ideas for making sure that we keep readers informed without giving everything away. As you say, it's tricky. I remember one Agatha Christie novel where a key clue is a character's physical mannerisms, but every time they're mentioned, it's in the context of discussing other suspects, the murder itself, etc., so if one doesn't pick up on it, one misses it easily.
I wonder if writing a story backwards would help make twists and revelations more believable?
The surprise identity sounds like the easiest, although I'm sure nothing about writing a mystery is easy.
Great post, Elizabeth! Points to keep in mind as I polish my WIP.
Great post, Elizabeth! Points to keep in mind as I polish my WIP.
Margot--Oh, good point. So we can divert even by supplying the information, but make our readers put that info in a completely different context.
Diane--That might be a cool thing to try. Sometimes when I write out of order I get confused, but if I went backwards straight through, it mgiht be easier.
Alex--Actually, I think the structure of mysteries makes them very easy to write. I'd love to see an Alex Cavanaugh mystery!
Kathleen--Good luck with it!
I love the whole puzzle aspect of putting these tidbits together. It makes me want to try writing a mystery.
Leslie--It's really a lot of fun. Hope you'll try!
This is very helpful, as I'm going to eventually get to writing my mystery series.
Plot twists are usually a no-brainer for me... they just come to me during the writing.
The clues are where I have to have help, and this definitely helps me a lot.
Thank you for posting this!
Whoa, this IS good. *drools over keyboard*
Lorelei--Glad it helped.:) Good luck with your mystery!
Stina--Thanks!
Hi, Lisa, thanks for hosting.
Elizabeth, to me the bottom line is you need to be true to your reader. I love surprising, but the writer must be fair. Great advice!
I've got a situation where I need at the end for the reader to understand that the whole story took place in an alternate timeline, but the narrator doesn't know this; she thinks she went back in time and didn't affect the timeline. I'm working on the end to make this more obvious, but it's during the story that I wonder how to sprinkle in clues without tipping off the reader too much... This isn't a mystery, but a time-travel romance. I thought of her saying some things about the future that differ from ours, but then I worry the reader will just think I'm a moron and got my facts wrong.
Now I know more about the art of clues and twists. Thanks for having Elizabeth over, Lisa.
Hi Lisa; thank you for hosting Elizabeth, one of my favourite bloggers.
I love scattering clues while making the reader believe they are not significant, and the unreliable narrator is another favourite of mine.
These are fantastic tips -- I'm in the middle of working out how to lay down clues right now, and it's proving tricky. Thank you!
Thanks for great questions and answers!