Mystery Stories

Mystery stories are a lot of fun to create with friends and family because of the complexity to the plot. Even if you are making this story alone, your story will still be a hit with your family and friends.

Elements of a Story

Settings: Gritty alleyways, secret basement meeting places, slummy bars, mansions, police station, private detective offices

Characters: the detective (including the private and amateur detectives), his/her side kicks, big crime boss, henchmen, secret organization, scheming women (aka femme fatale), witnesses, suspects

History: Mystery stories have a strong presence in print, stage, films, and comic/graphic novels. Murder, attempted murder, or secret mass destruction plans are popular storylines for mysteries. The detective usually solves the case or stops the plan by logically putting the different puzzle pieces together while always putting him/herself in danger. Audiences receive pleasure by trying to solve the puzzle with or before the detective character does. The element of surprise and suspense are both play important parts in the structure of the story.

Keys

• Begin your mystery story with the crime or mystery happening right away. Many mystery movies, stories, or whatnot begin showing the audience some signs of the mystery but with most of the details concealed.
• Design your main detective character. Is he or she a professional or an amateur who happened upon a mystery case?
• Detectives tend to be talkative when they want to see if they can get clues or find someone lying.
• Sometimes detectives discover something important that will help them solve the case through his/her side kick. Usually s/he listens to something random or causal that will tip the detective off immediately or later on.
• The story first misleads the audience into thinking certain characters are the criminals.
• Time, location, alibis, and clothing are very common clues to help break open a case.
• Usually each suspect gives out their version of their story which the detective/side kicks use to rationalize if it is true or not.
• The suspects each have something to hide or a motive that leads them to lie.
• Think through the point of view of all the characters to make sure everything checks out or look for ways to make the story more deceiving.
• The criminal of the mystery is uncovered while trying to make an extra effort to “cover his/her tracks” since the time of the crime.
• The detective always explains his reasoning at the very end to all the suspects and important characters.