Lynette Hall Hampton's Tips for Writers

The Cozy Mystery

There are many categories of the mystery. Just to name a few, a police procedural, a detective novel, an historical mystery, a vampire mystery, a hard-boiled mystery and many many more, including what I'm concentrating on -- the cozy mystery.

The cozy came about because of the mysteries set in a small English village. The characters drank tea and there was usually a cat in the story. The novel had an unlikely protagonist such as Miss Marple. This genre has now grown to include a lot of mysteries written today. It is mostly about an amateur sleuth who has another occupation, but gets involved in solving a mystery for many reasons -- to help a friend, to clear their own name, to save a family member and sometimes just because they have accidentally been thrown into the middle of the situation. This sleuth may or may not have a cat or some other pet. Jessica Fletcher of Murder She Wrote is a good example of  the cozy mystery sleuth.

Of course, as in all mysteries, there is some type of crime in the cozy, but it is different in the fact that when the crime is murder, the scene is seldom described in more than a few words. It doesn't have the gritty language or the graphic detail of some of the more hard boiled books.

Most mysteries contain one or more murders, though people have written well selling books about other crimes -- kidnapping, counterfeiting, stalking, political intrigue, robbery and so on. There is one thing you will seldom, if ever, see in the mystery and that is someone killing a child or a pet. And I can almost assure you that it would never occur in a cozy. They may threaten them and make you think they are going to kill them, but it seems that killing a child or an animal is taboo.

Many people want to know how to start writing their books. Different writers do it different ways. Some start with the character and others start with plot. I can only tell you how I write. I'm a character person. When you read my books, you'll find them character driven. Which means, I only vaguely know where my book is going when I start. I know how I'm going to start it and how it might or might not end, but the middle I make up as I go.

When you write like I do, you have to make notes or outline a little as you go. For instance, if you put a character in the first chapter, you had better mention that character again somewhere in the book. You don't want the reader asking "What happened to Miss So and So?" when you have given her time in the first part of the manuscript. Of course this doesn't apply to characters such as a waiter when your main characters have gone out to eat or the secretary when they've entered an office or a bank teller when they've decided to make a deposit or cash a check unless the waiter, the secretary or the teller play a role in the book later. But it does apply to a character you've gone to the trouble to set up.

For instance, in chapter one you have two friends meet at a restaurant and Susie says to Sally, "My mother-in-law is going to break up my marriage in spite of all I do." Sally ask why and Susie explains how she is always coming in to their home and telling her son what to do and about how he could have it better than he does with Susie. Sally and Susie discuss what they can do to break the mother-in-law's bad habits. Then for the rest of the book you have Susie and her husband fighting and arguing, but the mother-in-law is never mentioned again. In a situation like this your reader is going to brand you as an unprofessional writer.

Of course if you don't want to spend a lot of time with the meddling old woman, you could have someone bump off the mother-in-law and Susie try to find the killer to prove to her husband that she didn't do the deed. You could make the mother go on an around the world trip and still call and harass the couple or you could handle it a hundred other ways. But since you set her up in chapter one, you need to do something with her and not just let her drop out of sight without an explanation.

If I were writing the scenario above, the outline I'd stick at the top of my computer would read something like this: Susie and Mark have a rocky marriage because his mother, Ethel is always interfering and won't leave them alone. Ethel is murdered after she and Susie have a fight. Now Mark and the police suspect Susie of the crime. Susie sets out to prove to everyone, but mainly to her husband, that she didn't kill Ethel. This would be all I'd write and as you can see in this outline, I don't know who the killer is, but I'm sure I'd learn this as I continue to write. I'd give Ethel a lot of enemies so many suspects would be indicated. I'd probably make Mark one of them. I would then begin writing and see what the characters suggest I do.

Other writers might take this beginning and write a detailed, chapter by chapter outline featuring all the twist and turns indicating everything that is going to happen. Their outline might look something like this: Chapter 1, Susie Walser explains to ther friend Sally Rogers that Ethel Wlaser, her mother-in-law is set on breaking up her marriage to Ethel's son, Mark. While they are chatting, Ethel comes into the restaurant with a friend and sees Susie. She insists on joning Sally and Susie. As the conversation settles on food, Ethel says Susie doesn't cook and care for Mark as she thinks her son should be cared for. They have an argument and Susie stomps out of the eatery. Everyone can see that she is furious with her mother-in-law. Chapter 2: The next day Mark decides to take Susie to visit Ethel. He wants to put a stop to the beicering between the two most important women in his life. Susie doesn't want to go and puts up a fuss, but he insists. Finally she gives in and they drive the twelve miles into the country to Ethel's plantation style mansion on the outskirsts of town. When they arrive they can't get her to the door. They go to the back because she is often working in her pristine rose garden. They find she has fallen across her prize yellow rose bush with the scissors she uses to cut the flowers stuck in her back. The police are called and.....

Then there are some novelist who just sit down and start to write and let the story come as a surprise from beginning to end.

If you will experiment with your writing it won't be long until you, as the writer in control will know which is best for you. You will also soon know if the cozy it they type of mystery book you want to write.

 

MY ABCs OF WRITING SUCCESS

A--Aspire to reach your full potential as a writer.

B--Believe in yourself and your writing.

C--Create the habit of writing every day.

D--Dare to write the things you want to write.

E--Eagerly greet each new day for the opportunity it gives you.

F--Forgive yourself and others when mistakes are made.

G--Gather facts before putting them in your writing.

H--Help other writers along the way.

I--Indulge in daydreams for a few minutes each day.

J--Judge no one.

K--Kill negative throughts as soon as they enter your head.

L--Live each day fully and thoughtfully.

M--Meditate on the things you really want, not the things you'd just like to have.

N--Notice the beauty of nature and everything around you,

O--Open your heart and mind to new ideas.

P--Pray and/or ponder for your work every day.

Q--Question things you don't understand because someone will have the answer.

R--Relax and be calm when you write.

S--Strive to do your best work, but don't get bogged down trying to be perfect.

T--Thank God as you know Him for the blessing of being alive.

U--Underestimate no one -- not even yourself.

V--Value the things that are most important in your life such as family and friends.

W--Welcome each new challenge as it comes to you..

X--X-rate nothing in your life -- keep things on a higher level.

Y--Yesterday is gone, be grateful for it but do not live there.

Z--Zero in on your writing goals and they will happen.