Taking the Mystery Out of Writing a Mystery

Steps to Writing a Mystery Story

Step One – Story Skeleton

Fill out the story skeleton sheetSettingCharacter ListConflictRising ActionClimaxResolution

For each character, make a web or cluster. Develop your character’s personality and appearance. What is the motivation for how your characters act and talk?

Step Two – Character Webs

Name

Hair, eyes, weight, general appearance

Hobbies, collections

FamilySpecial talents

Friends

Favorite places

Step Three – Rough Draft

Write on every other line on one side of the paper. The extra space will be used for revising and editing later.

Be sure to include dialogue to help the story come to life.

Let your reader know early in the story what the setting is.

Use the skeleton and character webs to help you organize your thoughts.

Think of an attention grabbing title.

Step Four – Revising

Do you need to add information? Try adding in thoughshots and snapshots.

Do you need to subtract information?

Do you need to move sentences or paragraphs?

Did you include dialogue?

Are you happy with the beginning?

Have you used interesting vocabulary? (Avoid unnecessary repetition.) Do you need to replace any words?

Do you need to combine any short, choppy sentence?

Step Five – Editing

• Look for corrections to be made:

spellingcapitalizationpunctuationrun-on

sentencesfragments

verb usagepronoun usageParagraph

indenting

Step Six – Final Copy

HandwrittenWrite in cursiveUse black inkUse looseleaf

paper (no spiral)Write on one side

onlyUse neat margins

on both sidesMake corrections

neatly

TypedUse 12 point fontDouble spaceUse 1/2” tab to

indentUse 1” margins

Be sure your name and period are in the upper right hand corner.

Mystery Story Skeleton

How to Plan Your Mystery Story

Choose the Setting for Your Story

Where will the story take place?Will it be in the city

where you live or somewhere else?

Writing about someplace you can picture is easier.

Use the five senses to help describe the setting.

When will the story take place?Will your story

take place in the present, past, or future?

Will your story take place all in one day or over a longer time?

Cast of Characters

Make a list of the people in your story.The main character

is most important.Minor characters

may help the main character, or they may prevent the main character from solving the mystery.

Conflict

WHODUNNIT? What is the mystery? What is the problem that your main character will have to solve? Is someone or something missing?Did someone steal something?Was there a murder?

Rising Action

Rising action is the steps between learning there is a mystery and finding the solution.

List these events in order, but stop right before the mystery is solved.

Develop suspense with clues. Red herrings are clues that lead the reader

to suspect the wrong person.One clue must be the key to solving the

crime.

Climax

This is the moment when the mystery is solved.

The climax is the solution to the mystery.

This is the moment you have been waiting for!

Resolution

This is the end of the story – the last paragraph or two.

The resolution ties up the loose ends.Tell the reader any details the reader

needs to know to understand how the mystery was solved.

It should be obvious that this is the end of the story. (Do not say “The End.”)

Write Your First Sentence

Grab the reader’s attention and make them want to read the rest of the story.

Begin with action, and with something interesting happening at the beginning.

Starting with a conversation or someone talking is another way to make your story come to life right away.

Turn in Your Skeleton

Turn in the story skeleton sheet

Your next step will be to complete the character webs.

The Mystery Is Solved

Self EvaluationAnd

Teacher Evaluation

Self-Evaluation

On a separate sheet of paper, write about your experience writing a mystery story. Include the questions on the following slide in your evaluation.

Staple the evaluation to the rough draft, webs, and skeleton.

Turn your final copy in separately. Be sure your project is turned in on time.

Questions to Ask Yourself

– How much time did you spend?

– What did you enjoy or not enjoy about his assignment?

– What do you think you learned from completing this project?

– What is your project’s strong point?

– What are you most proud of?

– What do you think you could have improved on?

– What grade (out of 100) do you think you earned?

Teacher Evaluation

Following directions on each step

Original work Interesting title Sensible story order Carefully chosen

vocabulary Correct spelling Correct

Capitalization

Correct punctuation Well constructed

sentences Correctly written

dialogue Correct use of

paragraphs Neat final copy Project turned in on

time