4.28/5
Author: James N. Frey
Publication Date: Feb 12, 2004
Formats: PDF,Hardcover,Kindle
Rating: 4.28/5 out of 467
Publisher: Golden Guides from St. Martin's Press
Wondering what is the difference between mystery and suspense? Looking for the best suspense thriller novels and books? Browse the best books, mysteries, police procedurals,read reviews and customer ratings from readers like you. Before you download How to Write a Damn Good Mystery: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide from Inspiration to Finished Manuscript by James N. Frey please read our community Ratings. Read&Download How to Write a Damn Good Mystery: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide from Inspiration to Finished Manuscript by James N. Frey Online
Edgar award nominee James N. Frey, author of the
internationally best-selling books on the craft of writing, How to
Write a Damn Good Novel, How to Write a Damn Good Novel II:
Advanced Techniques, and The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction
Using the Power of Myth, has now written what is certain to become
the standard "how to" book for mystery writing, How to Write a Damn
Good Mystery.
Frey urges writers to aim high-not to try to
write a good-enough-to-get-published mystery, but a damn good mystery. A
damn good mystery is first a dramatic novel, Frey insists-a dramatic
novel with living, breathing characters-and he shows his readers how to
create a living, breathing, believable character who will be clever and
resourceful, willful and resolute, and will be what Frey calls "the
author of the plot behind the plot."
Frey then shows, in his
well-known, entertaining, and accessible (and often humorous) style ,
how the characters-the entire ensemble, including the murderer, the
detective, the authorities, the victims, the suspects, the witnesses and
the bystanders-create a complete and coherent world.
Exploring
both the on-stage action and the behind-the-scenes intrigue, Frey shows
prospective writers how to build a fleshed-out, believable, and logical
world. He shows them exactly which parts of that world show up in the
pages of a damn good mystery-and which parts are held back just long
enough to keep the reader guessing.
This is an indispensable
step-by-step guide for anyone who's ever dreamed of writing a damn good
mystery.
Jan 13, 2016
Many writers--especially outliners--may find the system in this book helpful, but the woman-negative content of the examples in the book generated too much cognitive dissonance for this reader to pay proper attention to Frey's techniques.Apr 26, 2018
It amuses me how much writers seem to hate "how to write" books, judging by their Goodreads reviews. They're dying to find flaws so they can feel like a better writer than the "how to write" author. That may preserve your ego, folks, but I don't think it helps you improve your books.Nov 15, 2015
I spent a fair amount of time reading other folks reviews here - and it's always interesting to see how different folks feel about the same book. I don't think I've rated another book as generously as I've this one. It taught me several useful things and most importantly did help me as a step-by-step guide.Jul 25, 2011
Jim Frey is qualified to tell people how to write a good mystery novel because he has written several which I have never read and has taught in lots of writers' workshops of which I have never heard. His text is adequate but flawed in several respects. He insists on using the modifier "damned good" in front of nouns like sentence, plot, scene, character, complication, resolution and the like ... doubtless in furtherance of what he considers to be a clever book title. He offers ou... (show more)Mar 17, 2012
This book gave me som great insights on how to improve my craft of writing. A must for all mystery writers.Aug 14, 2011
A must read for those writing in the mystery genre and wanting to understand how this genre differentiates from other genres. A great into and confidence builder for writers.Dec 11, 2015
Good advice. Surprisingly sexist in parts (describes a number of stereotypical female minor characters you can have: the whore, the mother, the bitch, the femme fatale, and more, but doesn't list *Any* male counterparts) but provides interesting building blocks for mysteries.Sep 21, 2018
Many of the same points made in How to Write a Damn Good Novel and How to Write a Damn Good Thriller are reiterated here, but sometimes it's good to have things hammered into your brain. Best advice I found in this book is about keeping track of what's happening to your characters "off-stage" and keeping track of each character's agenda. I think this book just might help with a couple of stories I'm struggling to finish off. Working with the examples Frey provides really helps to illustrate the Many of the same points made in How to Write a Damn Good Novel and How to Write a Damn Good Thriller are reiterated here, but sometimes it's good to have things hammered into your brain. Best advice I found in this book is about keeping track of what's happening to your characters "off-stage" and keeping track of each character's agenda. I think this book just might help with a couple of stories I'm struggling to finish off. Working with the examples Frey provides really helps to illustrate the points he makes. Good reference book. ...moreJul 06, 2016
Frey includes what sound like some decent tips about developing characters and plotting. He has an especially good idea about the process of devising a mystery plot, and uses The Maltese Falcon to illustrate it (there's few better examples of mystery novels a novice writer could to aspire to than that one). However, Frey then proceeds to spend much of the back-half of his book running through an outline of what sounds like a somewhat inane and pedestrian sounding mystery he's concocted as a Frey includes what sound like some decent tips about developing characters and plotting. He has an especially good idea about the process of devising a mystery plot, and uses The Maltese Falcon to illustrate it (there's few better examples of mystery novels a novice writer could to aspire to than that one). However, Frey then proceeds to spend much of the back-half of his book running through an outline of what sounds like a somewhat inane and pedestrian sounding mystery he's concocted as a working example. Also, he repeats the phrase "damn good mystery" ad infinitum, making the book sound sort of like a sales pitch. ...moreDec 22, 2017
The book’s clear, casual style and many solid examples made its concepts easy to grasp. It helped me brainstorm some breakthroughs on my mystery novel revision, and I will probably revisit this book again to help me on future projects. The only thing holding me back from a whole-hearted recommendation is that some of the word choices and attitudes in the examples are a little ... retro/not PC. If that kind of thing really bothers you, I would steer clear of this one.Oct 27, 2017
I found this book really helpful. It made me come up with some important questions about the plot of my story, and even a few answers :)Feb 25, 2019
While I won't be taking every single bit of advice in this book, while the "damn good" phrase got old really quickly, and while I'm not sure I'd ever read Murder in Montana, Frey's example project, this book was incredibly useful. It had me thinking about structure, plot, and character development that definitely shook me loose from some stuck places on my current mystery novel. Like many, I'm not entirely a plotter or a pantser, but Frey's suggestions were practical, sensible, and useful in While I won't be taking every single bit of advice in this book, while the "damn good" phrase got old really quickly, and while I'm not sure I'd ever read Murder in Montana, Frey's example project, this book was incredibly useful. It had me thinking about structure, plot, and character development that definitely shook me loose from some stuck places on my current mystery novel. Like many, I'm not entirely a plotter or a pantser, but Frey's suggestions were practical, sensible, and useful in working out ideas. ...moreAug 25, 2019
There's not a lot of evidence, on Goodreads anyway, that Frey knows how to right a Damn Good Mystery, but if he does, he's keeping it to himself. In this guide he's often comically vague and permissive, listing out parts of a story with “step-by-step†instructions like “Write a fun, engaging beginning,†and, “Do a great job with act II!†He uses the phrase “Damn Good†so often you'll worry that he thinks he means something by it. Here's an example of a typical nugget:Jul 15, 2017
For decades I've read mystery novels, along with other kinds of genre fiction. After I started writing, I had always wanted to try my hand at penning a mystery novel but really had no idea of HOW to do it right. Horror, fantasy and sci-fi? Yeah, no problem.Oct 26, 2017
This book has many wonderful techniques on writing a mystery. I believe this should be read by anyone interested in the craft of writing.Mar 02, 2019
It has a very good level of detail, getting below the strictly beginner level of instruction, and it provides good examples, but too much of the material is long, extended examples of the authors own work.Oct 14, 2017
Not really planning on writing a mystery but I read so many that I thought it might be fun to read how some authors put them together. Frey's book fits the bill well and I suspect I will be breaking down the next mystery I read along the lines of what he presented.Aug 07, 2018
Lots of information in this book that I think would be more than useful upon the writing of your first novel. I was curious about the differences between writing a regular fiction book, say, a drama, or a mystery. The most profound bit of advice in here is also the most simple: write what you like to read.Jan 09, 2019
I guess I deserve it for picking up a book called how to write a damn good anything but I could not get past the continuous use of damn good in front of everything. Drove me nuts. I don't even know if there was good content beyond it. Moving onto the next how to book. This one gave me a damn good headache.Dec 06, 2017
Frey sets the villain vs detective battle of wits against the mythic hero’s journey backdrop, actually constructing a genre mystery tale as he walks you through the process. Like many books on craft, this begins as good advice and ends up reading like a formulaic checklist. Take what you will; leave the rest.Feb 18, 2019
I don't read many craft books because they're generally full of things I already know or have heard repeatedly. This was a great read because it took everything I knew and applied it to mystery, which I know little to nothing about. Watching the author create his own mystery story got a little tiring by the end because I just wanted to apply it all to my developing story, but this is still a great book worth purchasing.Oct 02, 2019
I have ambiguous feelings about this book.Mar 05, 2018
Another good book on novel writing by James Frey. This installment of How to Write a Damn Good Novel, repeats a lot of the information in his other books yet Frey bends mystery into this book for people writing mysteries. In this book I really liked exploring what other characters did off screen and disliked the writing good prose section at the end that could have been in any book on writing. I also liked the indepth step-sheet but if I had to keep only one of Frey's book on the shelf, it would Another good book on novel writing by James Frey. This installment of How to Write a Damn Good Novel, repeats a lot of the information in his other books yet Frey bends mystery into this book for people writing mysteries. In this book I really liked exploring what other characters did off screen and disliked the writing good prose section at the end that could have been in any book on writing. I also liked the indepth step-sheet but if I had to keep only one of Frey's book on the shelf, it would be How To Wite a Damn Good Novel II. ...moreJun 30, 2017
This book had a lot of good writing advice for writing mysteries. The author had a lot of good points, so I'm glad I read this book. I started writing a mystery, but after the first couple of pages, I knew something was wrong because I didn't know how much to write, develop, and plot. After reading this book, I feel confident about writing the mystery.Take your time and choose the perfect book.
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