Every good story contains a bit of a mystery. Some revolve around the mystery — hence the Mystery genre. Others have a mystery that is a central part of the story but the story itself does not revolve around it. In the Mystery genre, clues are often given to figure out who was behind the event in question. In other genres, some clues may be given but sometimes, no clue is given. Sometimes there are red herrings and sometimes there are no herrings whatsoever.
In the Fall of the Lanarian Empire series, there are several mysteries for the reader to unravel. Some are obvious. But some are not. Some are intentionally let sans clue because the reader should be focused more on the moment before him than the past or the future.
I’ve never really liked the Mystery genre. Generally, it’s too…formulaic. That’s not to say that Mystery writers lack creativity. They are very creative! However, most Mystery-specific stuff involves a high element of danger as the main character tries to unravel the tangled threads. Someone dies/disappears/steals a bunch of money and the central character gets caught up in the events and is trying to keep himself and his comrades alive while he figures out the whodunit. Many mysteries, like many romance novels, are so similar that if you’ve read one, you’ve read them all.
So, why am I putting a mystery into the Fall of the Lanarian Empire series? Because every good story has a good mystery — a puzzle for the reader to try to figure out until the moment of the great unveiling. I’m currently building up to one of the major climactic points of the series and I’m just as excited as I hope my readers will be about what is about to happen. I’ve been planning this scene ever since I started writing Twilight of Lanar’ya and it’s really cool to finally be at the point of where it’s about to be written into the story. I’ve had several set-backs with Midnight of Lanar’ya, including one point where I had to scrap what I had and start over again from the beginning. And now, it’s all fallen into place. Once I’m over this hump, the first major climax is done and it’s just time to build up for the next.
Anyhow, I’m going to get back to writing now. Enough dithering. Let’s get that scene in the bag!
