“It is only through mystery and madness that the soul is revealed”
― Thomas Moore
Why is it that everything we strive to avoid in real life--screams, violence, bloodshed, gunshots, robbery, kidnappings, and murder are so fascinating when they appear between the covers of a book or on the screen?
What is it about suspense that makes us sit up late at night, turning the pages unable to put the book down or clutching the remote, unable to click off that terrifying late night drama?
Is it because our ordinary lives are too sedate and we crave to vicariously experience the thrill of danger without actually being in danger? Or is it, as some experts have suggested, a way for humans to deal with their guilt at our current existence at the top of the food chain?
Whatever it is, I love the thrill of reading a well plotted mystery, identifying in turn with the person in danger, the sleuth who cleverly interprets and connects the most fragmentary and elusive clues, not to mention the ruthless villain who perpetrates the most vile crimes.
That thrill, however, does not match the thrill (and challenge) of writing a well plotted mystery full of ruthless villains, evil deeds, screams, gunshots, kidnappings, bloodshed and murder. In the process of final editing my second mystery I find it difficult to regain the perspective of the first time reader, trying to decipher the clues, discovering who will be the victim and who the perpetrator.
At this stage I have to depend on friends to give me feedback--is the protagonist interesting and engaging, the plot twists believable, the outcome satisfying? Another edit. Writing is rewriting. WRITE ON!
Mysteries scare me...I think they are too real and draw me in too much...I am a coward reader!!
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