What is mystery?

Novels are put into genres. But what if a novel has equal doses of mystery, romance, conflict and adventure? Then where does it fit?

Those arbitrary comments aside, let’s talk about mystery today.

Mystery feeds the need for adrenalin rushes, that thing that keeps us the edge, even though it’s only words. The imagination is powerful and allows us to live, with electrifying clarity, in the written moment.

Mystery is the skeleton of a novel. The novel may be pure romance, but there is always mystery of some sort. Even if it’s simply, why she doesn't want him or visa verse, and how will it be resolved.

If there isn't mystery, then one has to be damn clever in crafting the story or the reader will die from an overdose of love, sex, gratuitous violence or simply endless descriptions of what characters see and feel.

Conversely, all mystery and no meat on the bones will be anorexic, tiring. Is there such a thing as too much tension? Do we become inured or just plain exhausted from living on the edge? Well, vicariously that is. I think that’s possible.

Mystery keeps us turning the pages, but it has to be original, well planned and cohesive. These three elements are one of the hardest things to achieve in a novel.

Then, of course, there’s that phenomena where characters take on a life of their own and move in another direction, or develop personality defects one didn't plan.

Don’t confuse mystery with conflict. Conflict is a result of the mystery, but the subject of conflict is for another day.

Tip:

This is true for any novel. Create a document called, “Story Outline.” This should have all the character names, their traits, habits, hair color, eye color and other characteristics that define them. Use this document to make a chart outlining the plot. When changes are forced, note these so that the plot can be remolded to fit.

Get the manuscript edited or proofread to ensure it makes sense. As the author, one always has the plot all sorted in one’s head. The reader isn't privy to this head knowledge. What may seem quite clear to the author may not be so clear to a reader.

Pay careful attention to which character is doing what. It’s dead easy to have the names, times or places mixed, thereby confusing the hell out of a reader.