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Inspector Joseph
Inspector Joseph

Feb-8-2009 03:47

A friend requested to post some tips for him and for all to help them in writing.
Note1: These tips are not authentic as I collected them myself. Therefore don't use them before the editors and the moderators comment on them.
Note2: Some tips are in paragraph and some are in notes.
For more, scroll down please.

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Inspector Joseph
Inspector Joseph

Feb-8-2009 03:48

Let’s consider the common types of mysteries:
1) Robbery
2) Smuggling
3) Abduction
4) Black-mail
5) Fraud
6) Murder
7) Ghost
8) Hidden/Lost people
9) Illegally stealing someone’s property

In detail, we will see where can these crimes take place and what are the common motives behind them.
1) Robbery:
Where: Banks, markets (jewel markets, central supermarkets), bungalows of millionaires
Why (Motive): Greed or need for money

2) Smuggling:
Where: Seaside, haunted buildings
Why: Greed, addiction

3) Abduction:
Where: Usually crowd-less places
Why: Black-mail

4) Black-mail
Who: Former/current criminals
Why: Greed

5) Fraud:
Why: Greed

6) Murder:
Where: Anywhere you can go
Why: Greed, secrecy, revenge

7) Ghosts:
Where: Haunted buildings
Why: Usually to conceal another crime

8) Hidden/Lost people:
The question that arises here is that why they are hidden or lost
Hidden: Committed a crime, hiding from someone who wants to kill them
Lost: Many reasons of which the most common is that they had an accident and now are unable to return

9) Illegally stealing someone’s property like land, office, house, etc. because of greed.

Inspector Joseph
Inspector Joseph

Feb-8-2009 03:48

Four views of a mystery:
You can write from three points of view.
1) Suspect’s view:
Become a suspect.
In this case, you can chat or walk around with other suspects. You may come to know who the culprit is and you may get attacked, abducted or even get killed. You may see something confusing and tell it to the detective. You may be the client or some other suspect.

2) Investigator’s view:
Become an investigator.
In this case, you may get hired by a client or you may just be wandering near the crime place and go there by chance. You may be a doctor, a lawyer, a police officer, an investigative reporter, a reformed burglar, a private investigator or some adventurer.
Your job is to find:
1) The culprit,
2) The motive and,
3) The trick used to commit the crime. (In random mysteries and maybe in some scripted mysteries, you don’t have to find the trick used but in other cases or real life, you must know the trick before you accuse the person.)

3) Criminal’s view:
Become the criminal.
Plan a crime and commit it without letting anyone know. Twist the mystery and confuse everyone as much as possible.

4) Victim’s view:
Become the victim.
You know/don’t know who the criminal is and why he/she did it. If you know about them or their motive, you might have a chance to leave the dying message.

Inspector Joseph
Inspector Joseph

Feb-8-2009 03:48

Events:
You’ll need to know the events that happened before the crime. This may reveal some motives.
You should know the events that happened at the time of the crime. This may reveal the alibis and you can confirm them.
You should know how to proceed or you may get stuck in the middle of the page.

Moreover, there are some more things to remember.
Every mystery is not a crime.
Write your mystery on a paper or MS WORD before writing it here.
Last thing is that if you put on your hat and coat and become one of the suspects or the detective, the victim or the criminal yourself and start thinking as if everything was happening to you, you would really enjoy it (but don’t hurt someone in real or else I would be blamed for giving such an idea.)

Inspector Joseph
Inspector Joseph

Feb-8-2009 14:48

OOOPS! I forgot to mention the tips mentioned by other people.
* Try playing other scripted mysteries.
* The time frame is between 1920 to 1940.
* The crime scene must be explained in detail.
* The spellings and grammar should be good. (I'm weak in this one!)
* The names should be in CAPITAL LETTERS. (Don't misunderstand it like MR. GEORGE). It's Mr. George!
* Make use of every character as much as possible.

Inspector Joseph
Inspector Joseph

Mar-19-2009 13:36

Just want to ask the moderators, are these tips considered as SPOILERS?
If yes, then please delete this thread. Or else, please PM me the comments.
Thank you

Inspector Joseph
Inspector Joseph

Mar-19-2009 13:48

Yes! There are still more tips. I needed to wait for the moderators' replies but I could not resist sharing.
There are several ways a detective can solve a case:
*Mention each of the actions of the detective and the suspects and later when the detective solves the case, he/she has to just mention the suspicious action the guilty suspect had done.
*Mention the story briefly and directly go to accuse the culprit. The detective would later explain how his/her deduction and how he/she reached the conclusion.
*Use the mixture of first and second point. Mention in detail at some places and in brief at the others.
There are still more but I don't know what they are.
AND PLEASE, I WOULD REQUEST THE MODERATORS TO TAKE SOME ACTION AND WARN ME IF THESE ARE CONSIDERED AS SPOILERS. OTHERWISE, PLEASE COMMENT TO IMPROVE.

Ms Helen
Ms Helen
Con Artist

Mar-19-2009 14:12

Joseph if these were considered spoilers they would already have been deleted.

Inspector Joseph
Inspector Joseph

Mar-19-2009 15:00

Good for me! I can't say if its good for you (anyone who is reading this).
Thanks, I think it helps me a lot.
Maybe you will see a mystery soon.

David Adams
David Adams
Red-Nosed

Mar-19-2009 17:00

Breit here.

I'm not a Moderator, and I don't write FM's, but what I see here is basically the same stuff that most mystery-writing/role-playing around here is based off of. I don't see anything you've written that's spoiler material. (For something to be considered a spoiler, it would have to be a LOT more detailed than what's listed here.) It all looks like pretty decent basic start-off writing ideas to me. One small point for others to consider: These are by no means the ONLY possibilities. Your writing is only limited by the scope of your imagination.

Keep up the good work, Inspector!! ;-)

Secret_Squirrel
Secret_Squirrel
Safety Officer

Mar-19-2009 18:15

A spoiler would be someone telling everyone that secret background No 1 is found by guessing the catch of the day at the shanghai fish market :s

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