Genre Guide — Mystery
Genre Guide — Mystery

Genre Guide — Mystery

Cozy Mystery Beat Sheet

Export All to RTF Copy All to Clipboard Section Your Notes Introduction of Protagonist (Approx. 0-1,500 words): Establish the protagonist’s normal life and personality before the mystery begins. Dig Deeper Introduce your amateur sleuth. What’s their background? Are they a retired English professor, a quirky bookstore owner, or a nosy neighbor? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What is their personality like? Are they witty, observant, a bit clumsy, or fiercely independent? Give the reader a sense of who they are and why they might be drawn into a mystery. Establish their “ordinary world” before the crime disrupts it. What...

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Hard-Boiled Beat Sheet

Export All to RTF Copy All to Clipboard Section Your Notes Introduction of Protagonist (Approx. 0-2,000 words): Establish the protagonist’s cynical worldview, their troubled past, and the gritty urban landscape they inhabit. Dig Deeper The protagonist, a hardened detective with a troubled past and a cynical worldview, navigates the mean streets of a corrupt city. Haunted by past mistakes and jaded by years of dealing with the underbelly of society, they operate in a moral gray area, often bending the rules to achieve their own brand of justice. Their world is a gritty urban landscape, filled with dimly lit alleys,...

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Amateur Sleuth Study Materials

Remember to read the articles in the Essentials section. These cover all the essential skills you’ll need as a self-published author. They are not just for beginners either. They go in depth on how to successfully write, publish, and market your own books.

Some of books in the cozy study materials will apply, as they are usually amateurs.

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