Writing the Mystery: A Start to Finish Guide for Both Novice and Professional

by G Miki Hayden

Overview

This third edition of G. Miki Hayden's award-winning guide for mystery writers provides invaluable step-by-step advice on shaping plots, developing characters, and creating a fast-paced and compelling mystery for the modern market. Regular exercises throughout the book help you put into practice what you've learned, and once you've created your masterpiece Hayden provides guidance on how to get your novel to market: how to approach agents and publishers; how to prepare your manuscript and cover letter; and a whole new section on the self-publishing phenomenon that has exploded since the publication of the first edition. Hayden also offers tips and advice from some of the biggest names in modern mystery, through interviews with such renowned authors as Mary Higgins Clark, Tony Hillerman, Rick Riordan, and others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781909935228
Publisher:	Jp&a Dyson
Publication date:	04/07/2018
Edition description:	3rd ed.
Pages:	236
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

G. Miki Hayden is a long-time member and former board member of Mystery Writers of America, and regularly teaches a mystery writing workshop (and other courses) at Writer's Digest online university. She has recent novels from Portals Publishing and from Curiosity Quills Press, the current publisher of her style guide, The Naked Writer. She has had many short stories in print over the years in national publications. Her story "The Maids," set in French-ruled Haiti and featured in an MWA anthology, won an Edgar.

Editorial Reviews

"Keep your mouth shut as tight as possible.... Because anything you leak can become less strong for you," advises G. Miki Hayden (Pacific Empire) in Writing the Mystery: A Start-to-Finish Guide for Both Novice and Professional. With writing exercises, classic wisdom of the genre ("Hitchcock dubbed a sought-after article the McGuffin.... In the traditional mystery, the McGuffin is... the knowledge of who committed the murder and why. In plotting your story, keep your protagonist's eye directly, at all times, on the McGuffin"), market savvy ("the short story... can be a pathway in your career"), submission protocol ("The cover letter conveys the mystery's `hook' ") and so on, the book will benefit beginning writers as well as writers ready to make the next career move. It concludes with interviews with six mystery authors, including Elmore Leonard (Cuba Libre), Sujata Massey (The Salaryman's Wife) and Laura Lippman (Baltimore Blues). ( Sept.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

In this breezy but well-written manual, Hayden, an author of mysteries (By Reason of Insanity), sf, and essays on writing, offers advice on how to write a mystery that sells in today's saturated market. She starts with a rundown of the genre and then goes on to explore outlines, openings, chapter length, climaxes, and plot devices most often used in mysteries. Then she discusses character development, dialog, and setting. A section is devoted to violence in the genre, and a brief chapter on writing short-story mysteries is included. The rest of the how-to section is devoted to general writing advice and submission guidelines. Hayden concludes with short, informative interviews with such well-known mystery writers as Elmore Leonard, Laura Lippman, and Rick Riordan. This fun, exercise-laden manual is recommended where writing books are popular. Lisa J. Cihlar, Monroe P.L., WI Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal