Agatha Christie is one of the most respected and celebrated authors of the mystery genre. If you are a budding mystery novel writer or just a budding writer in general, here are some tips from this literary giant, which will no doubt help you improve your writing skills, more so if you love writing mystery:
1. Stay Focussed
According to Christie, the best of ideas can come to people when they are doing the simplest of things during their routine day. She says, “The best time to plan a book is while you’re doing the dishes. The most everyday events and casual observations could trigger the idea for a new plot”. Moreover, her second book “The Secret Adversary” stemmed from a conversation overheard in a tea shop. So, if you find yourself void of good story ideas, the key is to never stop thinking. Keep your mind alert, even when you are doing the various monotonous things of your routine life. An idea can come anytime, and you need to be ready for it when it comes.
2. Make Notes
When the idea does come, you need to be ready to take notes. You need to write down each and every detail that you can think of, because once the flash is gone, it is very difficult to think of the details again. According to Christie, she made endless notes in dozens of notebooks, jotting down ideas and potential plots and characters as they came to her. Once you have written down the details, you can later decide which plots or characters to use and which to discard. She says, “I usually have about half a dozen notebooks on hand and I used to make notes in them of ideas that struck me”. You may not use a large amount of detail that you jot down, but there is no harm in writing the ideas as they come to you.
3. Build-Up
While writing a novel, especially a mystery novel, which is Agatha Christie’s specialty, you need to make sure that your build-up is perfect. Reveal the information in a clear, well-organized manner, and make sure you don’t reveal too much at once. Your main goal is to satisfy the readers at the end, so you must make sure you wait until the very end to reveal the secrets. You need to be extra careful regarding your big reveal, though. You must make sure it ends with a bang. The reveal must be abrupt, shocking and should leave a mark on the readers’ minds. Keep in mind, though, that you need to tie all the loose ends and also, never rush into the revelation.
4. Mix it Up
If you want to keep your writing fresh and interesting, you might want to mix genres. Don’t stick to one genre. Make a genre your specialty, and work on other styles every now and then to keep things interesting. Agatha Christie, for example, was a specialist in the mystery genre, but she also wrote plays, dramas and short stories. You need to take readers’ expectations in perspective, and shake them up. Do different kinds of work, use different points of view. It will help increase your reputation as a writer.
5. Don’t Stop
Finally, if you have something in your mind that you want to write about, don’t hesitate. Don’t think what the audience will think if you write about a certain subject. Do the writing for yourself, and you will be rewarded. Agatha Christie was herself, a shy woman. But she never let that come in the way of her writing. She kept going, never doubted her ability, and look where that got her.
Image credit: Peter on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0
Pranay Kanagat is a freelance writer who has a love for writing on various subjects. In particular, he enjoys creative writing. He is also studying for an Engineering degree.