THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB discussion

I have written both mystery and suspense novels. I found the suspense novels easier to write.

Writing mysteries requires the author to develop not only the detective but also the suspects. I like to have five suspects therefore I have to develop five characters. You don’t need the suspects’ entire background but you need enough about them to make them interesting. Also each one of the suspects must be different in speech, physical appearance, maybe occupation etc. Then of course you need to lay out the clues to make it look like each of the five suspects are guilty of the murder. Yet those clues cannot make it obvious which one did it nor can they be so weak as to make the killer appear out of nowhere.

In writing suspense I found I needed two main characters, the antagonist and the protagonist. Of course there will be supporting characters like hirelings that help the antagonist and characters that help the protagonist defeat his enemy. However, those supporting characters do not have to be as detailed as are the suspects in a murder mystery.

As to plots, both need to be interesting enough to engage the reader. If written properly, mystery novels should be suspenseful. Suspense novels may or may not have a touch of mystery as to the motive of the antagonist, however many times we know the antagonist’s motive for pursuing the protagonist.

I’d be interested in hearing what you think on this subject.

Richard Brawer
www.richardbrawer.com

My suspense novels have a touch of mystery to them, but it is usually not about how but rather why. The reader usually knows who and often what before the main characters do.

In my group The Suspense of it All, I gave Gus Van Sant's quote as an example of what suspense is:

"The rules of suspense are that you know, and you just don't know when. In the Hitchcock rules of suspense, you are supposed to know that there is a bomb on the bus that might blow up, and then it becomes very tense – but if you don't know that there is a bomb and it just blows up, then it's just a surprise."

I know there are some pretty specific rules to writing a full-on mystery, which is one of the reasons I haven't attempted it. So in answer to your question, I find suspense much easier to write than mystery - although one still has to craft a great story to hook the readers.