Mystery Writing

Discover techniques needed to become a successful mystery writer. This course combines the best advice of many writing professionals, tempered with the instructor's own experience as a mystery writer, to have you on your way to writing a best-selling mystery.

6 Weeks / 24 Course Hrs

Currently Enrolling

Offered in partnership with your preferred school

ed2go

Change School

Learning method

Instructor-Moderated

$150

Confirm your start date in cart

Starting March 12 | April 16

Enroll Now

Details + Objectives

Course code: mys

You may be surprised to discover that many, if not all, of the books you have read recently are mysteries. From Dan Brown to Dennis Lehane, mysteries are hot items on today's best-seller lists. This course is designed to teach you the techniques you need to know if you want to become a best-selling mystery author.

The course begins by introducing you to the four types of stories and explains how they relate to mysteries. You will discover the three-act story structure and show you how to propel the action forward to a climax, followed by a release of tension as your readers experience a great finish. You will discover the between story and plot and get a chance to experiment with viewpoints to see which one works best with your mystery. This course will allow you to write a complete scene and learn the internal structure that makes every scene feel right. You will discover special techniques that apply to mysteries, including crime scene description, MacGuffins, and the use of red herrings to misdirect your readers and create suspense. Following each lesson, you will get to practice on your own story.

This information-packed online course combines the best advice of many writing professionals. Follow the guidelines taught in this course, and you will be well on your way to writing a successful mystery of your very own.

What you will learn

Discover the four different story types and explore how they combine to create some great mysteries
Learn the difference between plot and story
Explore the relationship between passion, theme, character, and premise
Learn to create your protagonist, antagonist, and other characters, and invent their flaws
Master the nine checkpoints around which you will construct your mystery
Apply Act 1, Act 2 and Act 3 checkpoints as you create your hook, design your crisis, and polish your plan, climax, and ending
Learn an easy way to expand your mystery's structure into a story outline
Explore the way scene and sequel intertwine to create your mystery
Select an viewpoint that will work best and gain an understanding of its benefits and limitations
Learn to incorporate suspense, misdirection, and deductive reasoning as you finish structuring your mystery

How you will benefit

Gain the best advice of many writing professionals, tempered with the instructor's own experience as a mystery writer
Be well on your way to writing a successful mystery of your very own

How the course is taught

Instructor-Moderated online course
6 Weeks access
24 course hours

Outline

You're probably wondering if you can really write a novel or screenplay. You may have already started one—maybe even several—and then run out of steam. In this first lesson, you'll begin finding out the secret that guarantees success. It's the secret of knowing where you're going before you start. You'll also take some time to learn what makes a mystery great, and to explore a number of real-world examples.

Did you know that there's a big difference between story and plot? Amazingly, even many professional authors are confused about this. In this lesson, you'll learn that plot is physical while story is emotional. Balancing the two is one of the keys to writing fiction that will satisfy your audience.

This lesson is about the dramatic elements at the heart of every story: passion, theme, character, and premise. Your passion is what drives you to tell your story and the theme is the underlying message it carries. To convey your theme, you create characters that represent it—either positively or negatively. Put these elements together and you've got your premise.

Character is what story is all about. Without a character—and a change taking place within them—there can be no story. In this lesson, you'll discover why the best characters are flawed. You'll explore the main character—the protagonist—and the opposing force of the antagonist. After that, you'll look at some tricks and techniques for creating characters that are memorable.

In this lesson, you'll explore the structure underlying almost every great story. That's right: Nearly every successful story has the same structure—a structure that virtually guarantees success! Like Sherlock Holmes, you'll examine each element of it under your writer's magnifying glass. Then, you'll test your theories against some well-known mysteries. By the end, you'll have solved the mystery of story structure.

This is the first of three lessons in which you'll construct your story outline, act-by-act. In Act 1, you'll hook your readers. Then you'll fill them in with some character history called backstory. Finally, you'll exit Act 1 with a bang by triggering a traumatic event in the life of your protagonist.

In this lesson, you'll work on Act 2 of your mystery. If Act 1 ended with a bang, Act 2 starts with a whimper. Your protagonist begins in crisis—an emotional state brought on by their flaw. Because of that flaw, your protagonist will struggle throughout the act as the antagonist deals setback after setback. Fortunately, at the conclusion of Act 2, your protagonist finally figures out the source of all this emotional distress and overcomes it.

The epiphany that ended Act 2 has prepared your protagonist for triumph in Act 3. So it's time to devise a plan. The result will be a final confrontation with the antagonist. This lesson looks at the best way to defeat the antagonist—it's not what you might guess. Then, with that dramatic climax behind you, you'll be ready to tie up all your story's loose threads in the ending.

Once you've become comfortable with story structure, it's time to put it all together. You'll move from story idea, to story outline, to developing scenes. From these little seeds, you'll grow an entire forest.

This lesson will unravel the internal structure of every piece of fiction you've ever read. This is different from story structure and it's something you probably never even knew existed. It's called scene and sequel. After this lesson, you'll never forget it.

One of the most important choices an author makes is viewpoint. It affects every aspect of story—from theme, to pacing, to suspense. In this lesson, you'll look at the three most common viewpoints: third person omniscient, third person limited, and first person. You'll explore the advantages and disadvantages of each by considering examples from real-word mystery novels.

Much of the content that's been talked about in this course applies to all types of fiction, not just mysteries. So, in learning how to write a great mystery, you've also been learning to be a better writer in all genres. In this final lesson, you'll examine some elements unique to mystery writing. Then, the lesson will wrap up with some ideas about how to follow the roadmap you've created and actually reach your goal of a finished novel or screenplay.

Instructors & Support

Steve Alcorn

Steve Alcorn is the CEO of Alcorn McBride Inc., a leading theme park design company that creates products used in all the world's theme parks. He is a proponent of advance planning and has experience with wills, living trusts, advance directives, and power of attorney. His experience also includes arranging for in-home care, nursing home selection, retirement community evaluation, memory care facility selection, and the analysis of Medicare and other insurance paperwork. He is a counselor to his employees, possessing insight into the varieties of relationships, problems, opportunities, and legal issues that can arise in the field of eldercare.

Steve is the published author of a wide range of fiction and nonfiction works. During the past decade, he has helped more than 30,000 students turn their story ideas into reality, with many of his students publishing novels they developed in his classes. His books include A Matter of Justice, Everything In Its Path, Molly Builds a Theme Park, How to Fix Your Novel, Theme Park Design, and Write Your Life Story.

Instructor Interaction: The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.

Requirements

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

PC: Windows 8 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

FAQ

A new session of each course begins each month. Please refer to the session start dates for scheduling.

Once a course session starts, two lessons will be released each week for the 6 week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends. You will interact with the instructor through the online discussion area. There are no live sessions or online meetings with the instructor.

The interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes two weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release. However, you will have access to all lessons from the time they are released until the course ends.

Students enrolled in a six-week online class benefit from a one-time, 10-day extension for each course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.

Reviews

Every person considering writing any type of fiction should take this course with Steve Alcorn. It contained concise information, writing assignments and quizzes, as well as comprehensive review by the instructor. Mr. Alcorn was in his classroom available for instruction and assistance when it was 2:00 a.m. and I was in my pajamas! The class was strikingly beneficial, fun and up-to-the-minute with instructional responses. He has my highest recommendation.

During the course I wrote a mystery using your guidelines. I finished it last week and sent off a query letter. The publisher has requested the complete manuscript!

Having this course being taught by a published author was immensely valuable. It is great to be taught by someone who has the success and experience, yet can still relate to us beginners and cares that we are successful too. Wonderful!!

I have a novel coming out in June 2007 (thanks to Steve's help), and a mystery in the hands of another publisher, a mystery that never would have been written without his help. I wanted to say thank you.

I really enjoyed taking this course. Steve is excellent. He knows his subject. When I had difficulty grasping a topic, he gave good examples that helped me understand the point he was trying to make. I recommend this course to everyone who has an interest in/or aspires to write mysteries.

Steve Alcorn is an amazing teacher. I took his Advanced Fiction Writing and Mystery Writing courses, in that order, and I learned more in his courses than I did as a creative writing major at an outstanding university. This is by far the best way to learn, and you're learning from a real pro. Thank you Steve - I am working on my mystery and plan to get a book proposal out there within a few months.

Thanks Steve, you're the best! You're a great role model for all of us who dream of being a writer whose readers just can't wait for us to write another best seller! I enjoyed your sense of humor, guidance and best of all your knowledge of the craft, which is without peer. Thanks again for all your encouragement -- it made a big difference.

You know what I liked about your course? My entire home library of books on writing TOLD ME WHAT I needed to do in order to write a book. You SHOWED ME HOW to do it. Thanks a million.

You may be interested to learn that during the course, I developed a novel. Shortly after completing the course, I finished work on the book and submitted it. It has been accepted by a publisher!! Very helpful course.

Run; do not walk, to sign on for Steve's classes. This is the best writing class I ever took, exceeding a college curriculum.

During the course I wrote a mystery using your guidelines. I finished it last week and sent off a query letter. The publisher has requested the complete manuscript!

You know what I liked about your course? My entire home library of books on writing TOLD ME WHAT I needed to do in order to write a book. You SHOWED ME HOW to do it. Thanks a million.

Run; do not walk, to sign on for Steve's classes. This is the best writing class I ever took, exceeding a college curriculum.

Mystery Writing

ed2go

Mystery Writing

Details + Objectives

Course code: mys

Outline

Instructors & Support

Requirements

FAQ

Reviews

Related Courses