Content

• Steps
• Tips
• Warnings

Do you want to write a detective story? Here are some tips to get you started.

Steps

1. 1 Choose in which era the action will take place. It could be any time, from Ancient Egypt to the distant future, or even a fictional planet in a new galaxy.
   • Do a little research on what happened in a particular country - murders, mysterious cases. If the crime has never been solved, you can think of any outcome.
2. 2 Create an image of a detective. He can be a tough guy, an intellectual, a victim of circumstance, or even a source of trouble in your story. It is not necessary to answer all of the questions below. However, being careful at this stage will help you write a believable story with a lively and complex central character.
   • Come up with the most basic. Is it a man or a woman? Name? Age? Appearance (color of skin, eyes, hair)? Where does he or she come from? Where does the hero live at the beginning of the story? How did he get involved in it? Should he become a victim? Is he causing this?
   • Think of a family for the hero. Parents? Brothers and sisters? Significant other? Children? Other relationships? Social groups? Someone who has mysteriously disappeared ... Let the circumstances be as real or as unusual as you wish.
   • What kind of life does the hero lead? Is he a celebrity or is he just a rookie? Does he have an exceptional mind? What crimes does he solve - murder, theft, kidnapping?
   • Think about what your character likes. What's his favorite phrase? Favorite color, place, drink, book, movie, music, dish? What is he afraid of? How practical is it? Does he use perfume, and which one - strong, weak, pleasant or not very?
   • Think about religion. Is your main character religious? If so, what faith does he belong to? Perhaps he invented it himself or chose from different religions what suits him personally? How do beliefs affect his actions? Is he superstitious?
   • Decide how your character behaves in a relationship. Does he have many friends? Is there a best friend? Is he a romantic by nature? What is the first impression it makes? Does he love children? Does he read a lot? How does it feel about smoking?
   • How does the hero dress? If this is a woman, does she use makeup, does she dye her hair? What about piercings or tattoos? Is your character attractive, and how attractive does he think he is? Is there something he would like to change, or something that he is particularly pleased with? How much time does he devote to his appearance?
   • It may seem that this is too much for a short story, but it is necessary to work out the image of the main character as deeply and in more detail as possible for a good story.
3. 3 Come up with a plot and crime.
   • To get started, ask yourself the questions: who? what? where? when? why? as? Who committed the crime and who was the victim? What was this crime? When did it happen (morning, afternoon, evening, late at night)? Where did it happen? Why was it done? How was it done?
   • Using this diagram, sketch out the plot of your story more fully, including as many details as you can imagine. Plot ideas are probably already in full swing. Don't worry about organizing them, just WRITE them down so you don't forget!
4. 4 Think about the crime scene. This part of your story is especially important, so take your time and work it out thoroughly. Try to describe every detail so that the picture of the crime scene is in front of the reader's eyes. What does it look like? Is there a difference between daytime and nighttime? What is the difference between the first and second crime scenes? What are the details of the crime? It might be a good idea to write your first draft of the crime scene at this point so that you already have a general idea.
5. 5 Create an opponent for the protagonist. Go back to the questions with which you described the detective, and repeat the same for his antagonist, working out his personality in the same detail. Pay special attention to his attitude towards the hero.
6. 6 Think carefully about the crime, suspects, antagonist, etc. e. Be sure to organize all the information before you start writing.
   • Make a list of suspects. Work out their personality in general terms using the individual questions from step 1.
   • Do the same with witnesses and other characters.
   • Don't forget: you have to imagine how the crime will be solved!
7. 7 Think about how to describe the detective's job. He must be good at what he does. Consider how your protagonist will ultimately solve the case (taking into account his personality and qualities). Be careful not to get the answer trivial or too obvious.
8. 8 Start writing. First, introduce the characters and setting to the reader. Then let the crime happen.
9. 9 Introduce suspects and witnesses into the narrative. For example: "Anna entered the office. It was a tall woman with thin arms and legs. Her face was ..." Make sure that the reader has a vivid idea of ​​each of them.
10. 10 Create tension. The more it is, the more interesting the story. Let the hero face situations and circumstances that will seem impossible. Don't make it too easy to solve the mystery!
11. 11 Read more detective stories to get inspired by new ideas. There are probably plenty of them in your home library - or if you are serious about writing detective stories, you should build a good collection of books in this genre.
12. 12 Finally, reveal the motive for the crime. In the finale, it should become clear who committed the crime, why he did it, and how it was solved. There is nothing worse than leaving the ending of a detective story unclear, so that readers do not understand what's what.
13. 13 Reread the story at least twice and make sure you haven't missed anything. Rewrite whatever you think is necessary, choose more interesting words and wording. Cross out everything unnecessary. Be ruthless! Your story must be flawless.

Tips

• Write, then always check and double-check. You will need to check your story at least three or four times to make sure it makes sense.
• You can start a thick notebook or notebook and jot down any ideas that come to your mind as you work on the story. Type the final version of the story on your computer.
• Observe everything and everyone. You still don't know where you will find the idea for a new storyline, so be on the lookout!
• Give your story a good title; it should be as attractive as possible. If you need help, ask your friends for ideas. The name can be obvious or mysterious, reflect the essence of the story, but not reveal the most important thing. An abstract title can be a good choice, but make sure it engages the potential reader. For example, "Scary Story" is like the title of a children's book, while "Midnight Mystery" sounds more dramatic. Such a title says that something mysterious happened at midnight, but does not tell what exactly.
• Don't use the same word over and over. Replace words with synonyms.

Warnings

• Do not overdo it and do not come up with an overly twisted plot, otherwise you will end up writing much more than you need to. You write story, remember?
• Be original. You may enjoy copying others, but you should understand that other authors have put in a lot of effort and would not want you to use the results of their work. You may even be accused of plagiarism.
• Do not insert the word "this" or "such" into every sentence. Don't write in the spirit, "He said, then I said, then I jumped up and fell." Describe and explain the details and actions, or the story will turn out to be so boring and ordinary that it will tire even you while you are writing it.