Skip to content

Writing A Mystery

Writing tips culled from my fiction writing experience
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About This Site
  • About Me
  • FAQ
  • Author Website
  • Contact Me

Blog

How do you get rid of a bad guy?

November 9, 2020 Paul 5 Comments

I have been wrestling with this dilemma. I have a particularly powerful antagonist in Empty Luck. He is fully capable…

Continue Reading →

Incorporating the Senses

October 26, 2020 Paul 2 Comments

Recently, I was watching an episode of “Breaking Bad,” the Netflix series about a high school chemistry teacher who becomes…

Continue Reading →

Maintaining believability

October 12, 2020 Paul Leave a comment

One characteristic true of all good stories, whether found in a book, movie or play, is believability. If a character…

Continue Reading →

The necessity of plot

September 28, 2020 Paul Leave a comment

I have a tentative title now for my new book, Empty Luck. My main characters are four guys on vacation…

Continue Reading →

Conventional wisdom for writers

September 14, 2020 Paul Leave a comment

One piece of conventional wisdom in the writing trade is you must feature your protagonist in the first chapter. That…

Continue Reading →

Changing my opening scene

August 30, 2020 Paul Leave a comment

Hmmm, the more time I spend with young Ricky Sullivan, the less inclined I am to kill him off. So…

Continue Reading →

Shaping Characters Initially

August 21, 2020 Paul 2 Comments

How do the characters take shape? How do they come to life? I don’t always know ahead of time. For…

Continue Reading →

The First Line

August 2, 2020 Paul Leave a comment

I’m just starting to put something down as a start to my third novel. It doesn’t even have a working…

Continue Reading →

Share the ups and downs of writing a mystery

February 16, 2019 Paul 1 Comment

Coming soon to a computer near you… Posts of agony and ecstasy. Please use the form to sign up and…

Continue Reading →

How do you write a mystery? Where do you begin?

October 31, 2018 Paul Leave a comment

Every writer apparently is different, but for me, it starts with an idea. It can be a message I want…

Continue Reading →

Post navigation

Page 4 of 4
← Previous 1 … 3 4

Sign up to automatically receive my posts via email and join my mailing list.

Recent Posts

  • It All Starts With Place
  • On Writing Two Books at Once
  • Beyond Characters and Plot

Recent Comments

  • Karen Loew on It All Starts With Place
  • Paul on On Writing Two Books at Once
  • Marguerite on On Writing Two Books at Once

Archives

  • July 2025
  • November 2024
  • September 2024
  • June 2024
  • October 2023
  • July 2023
  • May 2023
  • February 2023
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • July 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • February 2019
  • October 2018

Contact Me

  • Email
    backalenick@gmail.com
Copyright © 2019 Paul Backalenick