While mysteries have always garnered rapt attention by their followers the writers of today face a big challenge to keep their audience interested. The latest crime novels need to maintain a much more sophisticated level of information and detail to survive the market they occupy. The simple plots and characters from the past need to be fleshed out and personalized.
The line between a novel and a text book has become thinner because the readers of today have much more information at their disposal and they expect their favorite authors to have and use this same knowledge in their books. The trick being to use the technical information without making one feel like they are back in a college lecture. One goal of every author is to enthrall and involve every reader in the story line without putting them to sleep.
They want to know the characters and be able to relate to the hero. Whether it is a detective or someone with three PHDs and is simply very lucky at solving the "Who" in a who done it the reader wants to be able to feel like they could be that person if they were in the right place when something bad happens.
The mystery writer today must develop a personal life for the people who populate their book. Today's readers like to know what made the killer the way he or she is and they want to know that the hero has family and relationship struggles just like everyone else. Many of the novelists of today create super rich profiles for the leading character and some are consultants for the police department working the case.
Some authors have adopted the theme of international terrorism as their forte. The concept of stopping a specific terrorist or incident captures a reader's interest because it is actually happening in the world today. Conspiracies are also a popular subject with the readers of this era. The multiple characters that are developed demand a lot of attention to detail from the author to become believable enough for the best sellers lists.
A popular means to success that has developed over decades for some novelists is the continuing story of one character. Some writers are so adept at this line of writing that they have developed a character following that nearly guarantees a best seller with each new segment they write. You can see this with the Alex Cross series produced by James Patterson and in the Scarpetta series written by Patricia Cornwell.
Writers need to stay abreast of current events when devising their stories. Some areas they pay attention to are media based and currently in the public interest arena. The main object is to keep the interest of the reader throughout the book as well as pique the suspense, mystery or puzzle bones of everyone who reads it. That is the goal of every good writer.
The thing you might say about mystery novels is that story lines are varied and different in many ways as they have always been but that the back ground and personalities have evolved into believable individuals. The characters have been developed into someone that is nearly alive to their followers and people look forward to reading about their exploits from book to book.
The line between a novel and a text book has become thinner because the readers of today have much more information at their disposal and they expect their favorite authors to have and use this same knowledge in their books. The trick being to use the technical information without making one feel like they are back in a college lecture. One goal of every author is to enthrall and involve every reader in the story line without putting them to sleep.
They want to know the characters and be able to relate to the hero. Whether it is a detective or someone with three PHDs and is simply very lucky at solving the "Who" in a who done it the reader wants to be able to feel like they could be that person if they were in the right place when something bad happens.
The mystery writer today must develop a personal life for the people who populate their book. Today's readers like to know what made the killer the way he or she is and they want to know that the hero has family and relationship struggles just like everyone else. Many of the novelists of today create super rich profiles for the leading character and some are consultants for the police department working the case.
Some authors have adopted the theme of international terrorism as their forte. The concept of stopping a specific terrorist or incident captures a reader's interest because it is actually happening in the world today. Conspiracies are also a popular subject with the readers of this era. The multiple characters that are developed demand a lot of attention to detail from the author to become believable enough for the best sellers lists.
A popular means to success that has developed over decades for some novelists is the continuing story of one character. Some writers are so adept at this line of writing that they have developed a character following that nearly guarantees a best seller with each new segment they write. You can see this with the Alex Cross series produced by James Patterson and in the Scarpetta series written by Patricia Cornwell.
Writers need to stay abreast of current events when devising their stories. Some areas they pay attention to are media based and currently in the public interest arena. The main object is to keep the interest of the reader throughout the book as well as pique the suspense, mystery or puzzle bones of everyone who reads it. That is the goal of every good writer.
The thing you might say about mystery novels is that story lines are varied and different in many ways as they have always been but that the back ground and personalities have evolved into believable individuals. The characters have been developed into someone that is nearly alive to their followers and people look forward to reading about their exploits from book to book.
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