Mystery Writing I is a 10-week workshop, which includes lectures, exercises, and the critiquing of student projects. It’s for beginners or anyone who wants to brush up on the fundamentals. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
Nothing quickens the pulse like a good mystery, which is why millions of readers surrender themselves to the page-turning exploits of their favorite sleuths. Mystery is an expansive genre, welcoming amateur detectives, intellectual puzzle-solvers, policemen, private eyes, lawyers, spies, even average folk caught in a web of suspense. If crime is a central element, consider it a mystery.
To write riveting mysteries, you must merge the skills of a fiction writer with the clever tricks of the mystery trade. Here you will learn about the various types of mysteries and their special requirements, as well as fiction craft and how to market your work.
Whether you seek to write short stories or novels, classic puzzlers or crime fiction, we’ll show you how to capture readers.
Notes
- If you’re working in the mystery genre, you may take Fiction I or (at the advanced level) Novel II First Draft or Novel II Critique, or one of our genre courses: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Romance, Mystery.
- If you’re working on a YA novel, you may take a Fiction/Novel course, or a “genre” course, or you may take a Children’s Book course, where the full spectrum of children’s books will be covered.
This course gives you a firm grounding in the basics of the mystery genre, and gets you writing a short story (or two) or a novel. Course components:
- Lectures
- Writing exercises
- Workshopping of student projects (each student presenting work two times)
Online classes
- Week 1
- Introduction to Mystery Writing: Origin of mystery stories. Exploration of classic mystery fiction. Exploration of crime fiction. Exploration of true crime stories. Short stories, novels, and series.
- Week 2
- Plot: The protagonist—desire and stakes. Antagonist. Twists and turns.
- Week 3
- Character: How much to reveal. Character actions. The “Watson character." Heels and villains. Dames and bad girls.
- Week 4
- Point of View/Voice: First person. Second person. Third person—various types. Finding a voice.
- Week 5
- Dialogue: Compression. Subtext. Dialogue tips. Handling exposition.
- Week 6
- Description/Setting: Painting with words. Sensory detail. Establishing time and place. Conveying mood.
- Week 7
- Plot II: The main event. Backstory. Raising the stakes. Planting clues. Conventions and clichés. Plot holes. Climax.
- Week 8
- Revision/Authenticity: Techniques for revision. Keeping it authentic.
- Week 9
- Moral Universe: Stories are set in a moral universe. Understanding and utilizing theme. A moral center. Shades of gray.
- Week 10
- The Business: The truth about publishing. The submission process. Selling your work.
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
About
- The Online classes bring students from all over the globe to Gotham—New York City’s most famous writing school.
- The Online classes happen asynchronously—not in “real time.” You can participate in class any time, day or night, but the classes advance week-by-week, and certain things should be accomplished within that week-long session.
- You can take an Online writing class from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection. The majority of our Online students are located in the U.S. but we also draw students from practically every country in the world.
- Tech support will be available.
- Aside from the convenience of time and location, you have a record of everything that transpires in class, which you can print out and keep for future reference. (The material is text and image, not video.)
