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Description:Consider how your protagonist will grow or what they will discover about themselves or the world around them as they solve the mystery.

Exercise:Write a pivotal scene where your protagonist learns something crucial about themselves or makes a significant discovery related to the mystery.

Step 5: Climax

Description:Plan the climax of the mystery where your protagonist confronts the culprit or solves the central mystery.

Exercise:Sketch out the climax scene, focusing on how your protagonist uses their wits, skills, or newfound knowledge to resolve the situation. This should be exciting, but not violent.

Step 6: Resolution

Description:Imagine how your protagonist’s world looks after the mystery is solved. How have they changed? What does their new “ordinary” look like?

Exercise:Write a closing scene that shows your protagonist’s life after the mystery has been solved, highlighting any changes in their character or situation.

Step 7: Reflection

Description:Reflect on the character arc and the journey your protagonist has undergone.

Exercise:Answer the following questions:

What was the most significant change in your protagonist’s character?

How did the challenges faced during the mystery contribute to this change?

Is there anything your protagonist has lost or given up by the end of the story? What have they gained?

This exercise will help you develop a nuanced and compelling character arc for your cozy mystery’s protagonist, grounding their transformation in the unique challenges and discoveries of the story.

Exercise: The Character Interview

Objective:This exercise aims to help writers explore their character’s psyche, background, and motivations through an in-depth interview process.

Instructions:

Create a Set of Interview Questions:Start with basic questions about the character’s background, including their upbringing, education, and key life events. Then, delve deeper with questions about their fears, dreams, secrets, and regrets. Include questions that explore their relationships with other characters, their moral compass, and how they react under stress.

Conduct the Interview:Write out your character’s responses as if you’re conducting a real interview. Try to answer intheir voice, capturing their personality and how they might actually speak. This process can reveal new insights about your character and how they view the world.

Reflect on Their Answers and Potential Actions:After the interview, think about how their background and personality traits would influence their actions in your story. Consider how they would react to the main plot points and challenges they face.

For gaining psychological insights into your main character, crafting questions that probe deeply into their psyche, motivations, and fears can be incredibly revealing. Here are some time-honored character questions that can help you uncover the complex layers of your character’s mind and heart:

What is your character’s most treasured memory, and why does it hold such significance?

This question can reveal what your character values most and why, providing insights into their emotional world.