Murder Mysteries

[ausfet]

Anyone written one? I've finished a draft and am going to give it a few days before I re-read it and start editing. In the meantime, I'd like to know what flaws you found in your work, what worked, what didn't, and what you'd change going forward.

If you posted to literotica, did you post it as one submission, or break it into chapters? I'm sitting at 45k words but was thinking of posting it in one hit as a) it is non-erotic and not likely to garner much attention anyway and b) I actually prefer reading single submission longer stories as I can stop reading wherever I wish, rather than feeling like I need to wade to the end of the designated chapter.

 

[sr71plt]

I write mysteries, including murder mystery novels and novellas, in the mainstream and have quite a few written to Literotica, both as a chaptered series and a standalone. For example, here's one, a GM standalone one (six Lit. pages), that won second place in the 2016 Literotica April Fools Day contest (rating 4.84 when it won and then immediately was knocked down significantly to keep it off the top lists).
https://www.literotica.com/s/all-fools-day-foolery

The only difference in what I write/how I plot a mystery for Literotica than I write for the mainstream marketplace is that I include more and more detailed sex scenes in the Literotica versions. They still have to fit naturally in the plot.

 

[Handley_Page]

Anyone written one? I've finished a draft and am going to give it a few days before I re-read it and start editing. In the meantime, I'd like to know what flaws you found in your work, what worked, what didn't, and what you'd change going forward.

If you posted to literotica, did you post it as one submission, or break it into chapters? I'm sitting at 45k words but was thinking of posting it in one hit as a) it is non-erotic and not likely to garner much attention anyway and b) I actually prefer reading single submission longer stories as I can stop reading wherever I wish, rather than feeling like I need to wade to the end of the designated chapter.

I'd suggest a single part.

 

[ausfet]

Thanks sr71plt that was a great, sexy read (LOVE bears) and I could easily keep track of a relatively large number of characters, which was something that was concerning me with my story.

Shame about the trolls.

 

[ausfet]

I'd suggest a single part.

Thanks, that's my gut feeling, too. I read a 19 page (literotica page!) mystery this week and loved not having to change chapters.

 

[oggbashan]

I wrote one (in two parts) for a Nude Day challenge:

https://www.literotica.com/s/danger-naked-woman-ch-01
https://www.literotica.com/s/danger-naked-woman-ch-02

 

[MelissaBaby]

I'm interested in how you plot out a mystery. Do you completely plot the series of events involved in the crime, and know exactly what happened before you write anything else, or does the mystery unravel to you as you go along?

 

[jaF0]

When you do a whodunnit, do you know whodunnit before you start doin' it?


And why do a 'murder' mystery on a board like this? Why not do something like she gets mysteriously taken at a party at her home and likes it so much she has to figure out whodunher?

Yanno, pleasure over displeasure?

 

[MelissaBaby]

Ai, come on! Why not here? Literotica is the perfect place for 'whodunnit' stories!

Girl got pregnant, five suspects. The father starts checking their alibies and reconstructing their whereabouts, thereby moving through dark streets, nightclubs and meeting shady people and getting unusual and unexpected encounters

I would read that.

 

[jaF0]

What if the only way to be sure is to have the girl do all five again one or more times so she can compare to her recollections?

 

[Kantarii]

I love murder mysteries. I wrote “My Brother’s Ghost” as such. This summer, I plan to go back and update the entire storyline to reflect my current writing style that I refined on “A Slut’s Triangle” and carried into “Best Friends Forever”. Kant

 

[SimonDoom]

Ai, come on! Why not here? Literotica is the perfect place for 'whodunnit' stories!

Girl got pregnant, five suspects. The father starts checking their alibies and reconstructing their whereabouts, thereby moving through dark streets, nightclubs and meeting shady people and getting unusual and unexpected encounters

All he needs is a DNA sample! Go to a bar and collect glasses they've drunk from.

 

[8letters]

I've done a start on a incest murder mystery. I don't know if the solution would be too obvious for the story to be enjoyable. As it would be so different from what is in the I/T category, I don't know if it would work at all.

 

[blackrandl1958]

Interestingly enough,

I have an invitational coming up on March 17, St. Patrick's day, that is all about mystery stories. We're calling it the Magical Mystery Tour. You are welcome to join us, if you wish. About two dozen of the most followed writers around will write mystery stories. You will get plenty of exposure, I promise. If you're interested, drop me a line. If your story has plot and character development, you'll fit right in with the others. We're not much into kink, but a sexy mystery is right in line. We did a Western themed event on Thanksgiving and if you wish, you can check that out here: https://www.literotica.com/s/literotica-writers-go-west-full-story-list

Drop me a line if you're interested. If not, best of luck. Randi.

 

[ausfet]

Thanks for the replies. It looks like I have a good solid weekend of reading ahead of me so when I start the editing process I'll have a good idea of what has and hasn't worked, what I need to fix, and how obvious the clues need to be.

Why write a mystery on lit? This thread http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1469766 got me thinking. As Patrick is still missing and I felt there was something disrespectful about writing too many similar details, so I changed the nationality of the missing man from Irish to Scottish and the location from the Northern Territory to Queensland. Is it a sexy story? No. The amateur sleuth is a 5'9 bloke with male pattern baldness with an overweight wife who is overseas visiting family with their son at the time of the story. But it was a challenge and I enjoyed it (obviously.... I wrote 45k words in three weeks) and it'll be okay in non-erotic. I hope! Just need to edit it.

Randi, I appreciate the offer, but I don't think the story is good enough. Good enough for a first attempt at the genre, but that's it. I've bookmarked the Go West series; there's some big names in there and I can imagine it's an amazing collection.

 

[ausfet]

I wrote one (in two parts) for a Nude Day challenge:

https://www.literotica.com/s/danger-naked-woman-ch-01
https://www.literotica.com/s/danger-naked-woman-ch-02

I never knew I was claustrophobic until I started reading your stories. I was almost through chapter two and thinking 'nobody's been restrained in a way that makes my heart leap into my chest' and yep, then it happened! Great story though, and I'm glad Julia wasn't the killer.

'My brother's ghost' is next on the reading list. I'm finding it very helpful to read through these, so thanks to everyone who posted.

Melissababy, I never have any idea where my stories are going to end up! I just start writing and see what happens. I found the last 10% of the murder mystery by far the hardest as I had to come up with an answer, then adjust scenes, then try and write an (ugh) action scene. Back to smut I go after this!

 

[LiamHDunn]

I write crime fiction outside of Lit, though with a sci-fi or fantasy backdrop.
The most important thing to understand are the details of the crime, the literal minutia of the crime. Which is easy, because you make it up. Once you have that it becomes a matter of the possible vs. the impossible to determine the clues you feed your readers. Also, never forget the importance of timing. Know where X us when Y happens.

The readers that you are trying to snare are detail junkies.

 

[ausfet]

Hmmm, I think I made things unnecessarily difficult for myself by not deciding the who and how early enough. Next time I'll start with the crime rather than the characters.

 

[LiamHDunn]

Work backwards!

 

[ouchfeelsgood]

Thanks for the replies. It looks like I have a good solid weekend of reading ahead of me so when I start the editing process I'll have a good idea of what has and hasn't worked, what I need to fix, and how obvious the clues need to be.

Why write a mystery on lit? This thread http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1469766 got me thinking. As Patrick is still missing and I felt there was something disrespectful about writing too many similar details, so I changed the nationality of the missing man from Irish to Scottish and the location from the Northern Territory to Queensland. Is it a sexy story? No. The amateur sleuth is a 5'9 bloke with male pattern baldness with an overweight wife who is overseas visiting family with their son at the time of the story. But it was a challenge and I enjoyed it (obviously.... I wrote 45k words in three weeks) and it'll be okay in non-erotic. I hope! Just need to edit it.

It seems to me that a murder mystery could have many erotic facets, which can be intertwined to create a very engrossing erotic murder mystery. For example, a bondage scene that went awry -- maybe on purpose, or a romantic three-way that didn't work out for the best. Basically any scenario where it's not necessarily obvious who the murderer is, or the motive. Anyway, this would be for future stories since you already are writing a non-erotic. Have fun!

 

[ausfet]

It seems to me that a murder mystery could have many erotic facets, which can be intertwined to create a very engrossing erotic murder mystery. For example, a bondage scene that went awry -- maybe on purpose, or a romantic three-way that didn't work out for the best. Basically any scenario where it's not necessarily obvious who the murderer is, or the motive. Anyway, this would be for future stories since you already are writing a non-erotic. Have fun!

As a reader, do you think you could make the mental shift from 'what is going on' to 'fuck, this is hot?' while reading a murder mystery? That was what concerned me, and according to the feedback I've received, where I went wrong in the past.

I did end up including some sex, but not a lot and all of it is straight and vanilla, which is not really my usual style. I'm still not sure it works. Oh well. It has been submitted so and I refuse to edit my draft one more time so it will just have to stay.

Back to femdom for a 'break' from the mental strain of plotting a murder!