What Grover Taught Me about Writing Mysteries
/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?