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Tips for non-murder mysteries
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Inspector Joseph
Inspector Joseph

Dec-2-2008 22:34

Are there any tips for writing a non-murder scripted mysteries. If so, please do share them.
Thanks

Replies

Anikka
Anikka
Babelfish

Dec-17-2008 12:58

DING DING DING DING!! :0) You are correct, sir!

Nicely done. :o) Don't be afraid to play around with the Workshop and figure out all the neat things you can do.

Oh, and I cannot stress this enough... When writing your questions to be asked of suspects and witnesses, DO NOT put your questions in quotation marks!! For some reason, the Workshop refuses to show any words written after a quotation mark, and there's nothing an editor can do about it.

You can use quotation marks in the answer, and that isn't a problem. In the question, however... just don't do it, please.

Secret_Squirrel
Secret_Squirrel
Safety Officer

Dec-17-2008 15:20

twists are what make the SM's go round. i think everyone should play Doomsayers trilogy before they write a SM (hard when you're not subbed I admit), mainly because it basically shows you how to use twists and research and most of the mechanisms to create deadends, and for want of a better word 'stalls', in your plotline.

yoyofoshow
yoyofoshow
Old Shoe

Dec-18-2008 08:19

One more Q guys, I'm writing a robbery SM; my victim IS my client, now, what do I put in the motive and relationship to victim boxes? :S

Ms Helen
Ms Helen
Con Artist

Dec-18-2008 14:48

Well for relationship you could just write Victim and I'm guessing your client has a reason for wanting to be a victim, whatever it be so you can make that your motive e.g victim wanted insurance money.

Secret_Squirrel
Secret_Squirrel
Safety Officer

Dec-18-2008 14:53

I think you could leave them blank.

You could put 'My client was above reproach' in the motive, and reveal his alibi as 'true' straight away from the Intro. I think you should be able to leave relationship blank.

Inspector Joseph
Inspector Joseph

Jan-11-2009 04:26

Hi! One more question. It was said that we can have more than one client. Likewise, can we have more than one case which is somehow connected to the other.

Anikka
Anikka
Babelfish

Jan-11-2009 09:53

I'm not sure if I understand what it is you want to accomplish. I mean, if you kill off suspects, it is still the same case, although (in real life) they are technically different cases.

Or are you referring to doing something like the Doomsayer's Trilogy, which is three different SMs that continue the same story?

Inspector Joseph
Inspector Joseph

Jan-11-2009 10:43

I actually meant that if there are two or more clients in the same SM and each client brings a totally different case but they are somehow connected to each other. In this case, the detective won't know the connection when they are on the initial stage but as they move forward, some twist, suspect, witness or research shows the connection. After knowing that, solving the mystery would be a piece of cake (if you don't need further details, clues, evidence) against your man. Hope I explained it well. This idea just came to mind, the aim was to make the SMs more fun.
Thanks

Breitkat
Breitkat
Pinball Amateur

Jan-11-2009 17:31

From what I'm reading, yes, I think it's possible. There are several authors out there who have worked on something similar. (Again, my take on your description could be way out in left field, so take it for what it's worth. ;-)

Secret_Squirrel
Secret_Squirrel
Safety Officer

Jan-11-2009 19:39

I'm not sure I understand at all.

Do you mean multiple SM's that are linked together by their characters? Like Doomsayers?

or (more likely) Do you mean multiple 'clients' within an SM, forming multiple story lines, each storyline having some unique characters as well as some shared characters between each storyline, that together fomr one master storyline for the greater SM?

or some permutation of the above that I haven't yet fathomed...


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