Write Your Own: Mystery (20 page)
Read Write Your Own: Mystery Online
Authors: Pie Corbett
  Young Writer
This is the national magazine for young writers â and it's brilliant! It has lots of ideas and tips about writing, in-depth interviews with well-known writers and competitions to enter. It also publishes young writers' stories and poems. You can visit the magazine's website at
www.youngwriter.org
or phone 01544 318901.
 Â
www.stonesoup.com
This website belongs to another magazine for young writers. It provides links to loads of other great sites. These will put you in touch with other young writers, and give you top writing tips and opportunities to publish your writing on the web.
  Kids on the Net
This website invites children from age 6 to 16 to submit their writing for publishing on the web! Visit the website at
www.kidsonthenet.com
and why not send them one of your mystery stories?
  Creative Writing 4 Kids
This is a website where children can upload their work on to their own web pages. You could be just a mouse click away from becoming a published writer! Visit the website at
www.creativewriting4kids.com
.
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Writing tip!
Don't forget to give your story a really gripping title. Many writers leave this until the end as they find that a title often comes to them as they write. Most writers spend a while making lists of ideas. Mystery stories often have the word âmystery' in the title. For example: The Mystery of the Spotted Snake or The Three Bells Mystery. Other words that you could use instead of âmystery' are: riddle, puzzle, enigma, secret or problem.
Find the right title â and you're finished! Now make sure you publish the results of your hard work!
adjective
A word that describes somebody or something, eg the
red
shoes.
adverb
A word that adds meaning to a verb, eg
He ran
quickly
.
alibi
An alibi provides evidence that a person accused of a crime was somewhere else when it was committed.
alliteration
A sound effect caused when a sound is repeated, eg
They
r
an
r
ound the
r
ugged
r
ocks.
backstory
Dropping in clues about a character's past life without being too obvious.
characterisation
Revealing character through what they do, say, think, feel as well as description.
clause
A group of words built around a verb, eg
She was angry
but
she didn't shout.
cliffhanger
An event that ends abruptly, leaving a character in a dangerous situation.
comma
A punctuation mark (,) used to separate parts of a sentence or items in a list.
connective
A word or phrase used to link ideas and events, eg
Later on
, the dwarf fell asleep.
dialogue
The words that characters speak.
exclamation
A sudden expression of emotion using an exclamation mark, eg
Help!
metaphor
The technique of writing about something as if it were something else, eg
The robber scampered away on mouse's paws.
motive
A character's reason for doing something.
mystery
A story built around an unexplained event.
paragraph
A group of sentences that make up a section of writing. New paragraphs begin at a change of time, place, speaker or focus.
personification
A technique in which objects are given human characteristics, eg
The wind moaned.
phrase
A group of words that work as one unit, eg
the grey-haired, old lady.
powerful verbs
Verbs that show action and are expressive, eg
dashed, scuttled
or
darted,
to describe how a character moves.
prepositional phrase
A group of words that explains where something is, eg at
the end of the road.
red herring
A false clue, used to keep the reader guessing.
âsentence of three'
Links in a sentence, useful for description and pace, eg He
wore a hat, a coat and a pair of baggy trousers.
settings
Where a story takes place.
simile
A technique in which the writer compares one thing to another, eg
The moon was as thin as a fingernail.
simple sentence
A sentence of one clause, eg
The man was scared.
sleuth
A character who tries to solve a mystery.
speech marks
Punctuation marks (“) used to enclose spoken words.
speech verb
A verb used to state how dialogue is spoken, eg
said, cried, muttered, yelled, explained.
suspects
Characters who might be responsible for villainy.
suspense
Building up tension in a story.
timeshift
A section in a story where action moves back or forwards in time.
villain
The criminal responsible for a crime.
Click on the page numbers in this index to be taken to the page the reference relates to.
action
5
adjectives
62
behaviour
25
introducing
40
cliffhangers
8
,
36
-
7
,
44
,
53
,
55
,
62
evidence
35
getting stuck
45
ideas for stories
9
investigation
7
publishing story
59
