Writing Great Mystery Plots
> I start by writing a brief, extremely dull short story ...about three pages ... I refine it for weeks...<p>> that small story contains a full, straightforward account of the case my detective must solve, told in simple English. It enumerates who committed the crime and why, how they covered it up, and all the stuff of mystery novels: clues, red herrings, false leads, bloody knives, mysterious scars, anonymous notes, midnight rendezvous — in short, all the details I know I’ll have to omit from the real book I write, the actual mystery novel.<p>This is gold. Thank you.