IS THIS A MYSTERY OR IS IT SUSPENSE? by Maria Hudgins

Question: The book you are reading has a murder on page twenty. Is it  a) mystery b) thriller c) suspense  d) adventure. Answer: It's a mystery.

I bet most of you got it right without even thinking about it. I remember a mystery conference I attended where a well-known mystery writer said, "I try to have a dead body on page one if I can." I think that's going a bit too far. It puts a cramp in your scene-setting plans. But the idea is fairly sound. Mysteries are about figuring out what happened. Suspense stories build up to something that happens.

This week, the third week in July 2024, is both. I have been glued to my laptop for more on the happenings in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In November we will have a coast-to-coast event that will involve all of us.Are we in a mystery, a suspense drama, or, as Joe Rogan suggests, a simulation? The events in Butler, Pennsylvania have left me with unanswered questions about what happened and why. Mystery. What will happen between now and our November election? Suspense. What are the odds something unexpected will happen between now and then? A denouement? A clash of philosophies? A meeting of minds?

The story I am writing now is morphing back and forth in my head between mystery and suspense. I am wondering if I have to stick with one or the other, or if I can sort of straddle the two. I haven't finished my outline, but I have already written the first chapter. I think this may be the problem. I should first do the outline. Then start writing.

There is a book I know will help me and I already have it on my bookshelf. It's Carolyn Wheat's How to Write Killer Fiction. She talks about "The Funhouse of Mystery" and "The Roller Coaster of Suspense." In a mystery the main character, the sleuth, is mentally challenged to figure something out, and the reader is, too. In a suspense story the main character, the hero, is emotionally, if not also mentally and physically, challenged to overcome a daunting problem. 

I have a slight problem with writing suspense. I love my main character and I hate having to put him or her through the coming challenge. But I have to steel myself against the misery and do it for the sake of the story. No misery, no story.

 Writing a mystery is more comfortable because the challenge is mainly mental. The problem here is that I have to keep it from becoming a dry mental exercise that nobody wants to read. Here's where the first-or-third person choice may help. I often choose first person because we can know what the main character is feeling as well as what he is thinking and you don't have to worry about head-hopping when it's all coming from one head.

And speaking of our current national challenge to choose a political leader, I am grateful to be the fly on the wall who observes the suspense and thinks about the challenge, but doesn't have to personally enter the fray. Thank goodness for TV and YouTube.