It seems that everyone we know or talk to would like to try and write a great mystery novel. I am no exception in that I really love to read great mysteries ever since I first started to read. I don’t know about you but I started with the Box Car Children series by Gertrude Warner and moved on to any book with the word mystery in it. I never really read Nancy Drew or even the Hardy Boys though. It would be great to come up with a great character that I could turn into a series. You will never know until you try, right?
A lot of mystery writers use their own resources when doing research on the crimes they are writing about and with the internet, there are literally thousands of places to find the information you might need to tell a convincing story. When you put the words “Mystery Writer Resources” into the Google search engine you get over 4 million hits. Now, not all of these really have anything to do with writer resources at all but checking the first 15 to 20 of these can probably get you tons of information you can use in your writing.
We have links to several great resources on the sidebar including the FBI, Florida Law Enforcement, Private Investigator information sites, writers sites and groups that has resources for you to click on and use. Of course, if you are really serious about writing a mystery novel then you might want to consider joining a local writer’s group, one of the National Writing Associations and even join an online critique group. Most of these have a great support system in place and the local meetings allow you to network with other writers as well. The critique groups can help you edit your story and keep you on track with your writing schedule. Learning how to objectively edit other’s work should also help you with your own.
We also suggest you read through some of your favorite writer’s website posts. Most of them get asked what resources they use all the time and a few we know have actually taken the time to write about them on their page. Check out Elizabeth Spann Craig’s blog article on the subject: http://elizabethspanncraig.com/5884/resources-for-mystery-writers/
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