What Grover Taught Me about Writing Mysteries

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I am GenX, first-generation Sesame Street and first-generation MTV. One of my favorite children’s books was the classic, The Monster at the End of This Book.

Here’s what Grover taught me about writing mysteries.

  • You need to build suspense to keep your readers engaged.

  • Your readers need to like or empathize with your protagonist.

  • Everyone is afraid of something, and writers need to tap into fears to build tension.

  • Write strong (and fun) dialog. Make it sound like real speech, slang and all.

  • Use pacing correctly. Slow down the action to build suspense, and speed it up to amp up the excitement.

  • Your protagonist needs a challenge or a problem to solve.

  • Your character should not be perfect. Little (or big) flaws make your protagonist relatable and interesting.

  • Make sure your character is not flat. He or she needs to be a real person (or monster) with all the things that life throws in the way. Your protagonist needs to stumble and make mistakes.

  • When you think your character has had enough and is close to breaking, pile it on. Add more tension.

  • Don’t load up your work with a lot of narrative and back story. Readers want to stay in the action.

  • And most importantly, never forget that reading is fun.

Who’s your favorite Muppet?