Anthologies - How Writers Start Their Stories

If you are interested in learning how to write Classic Mysteries like Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky, Bill Crider, Mary Higgins Clark, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, G.K. Chesterton, Jacques Futrelle, Raymond Chandler, Bill Pronzini, and many others, then the best way to learn is to study works by these famous authors and others.

Having some anthologies is a great way to study different authors. I have a few anthologies that contain short stories by these authors and others. I recommend that you study different authors to see how they start their short stories. Each author has his or her own way of beginning a short story. For example, let's look at the anthology titled The Best of Sisters in Crime edited by Marilyn Wallace.

The Best of Sisters in Crime

The authors in this anthology are Sara Paretsky, Mary Higgins Clark, Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, and Elizabeth George, Joan Hess, Margaret Maron, plus others. I have written reviews on some of the short stories in this anthology. You can view them on my other site, Mysteries. Let's look at Joan Hess and Margaret Maron began their stories.

Too Much to Bare by Joan Hess

In Too Much to Bare by Joan Hess, the author starts out with a character saying that her husband is going to kill her. " 'My husband is going to kill me,' Marjorie announced."

" 'It was not the first time she's suggested the possibility,' Anne had lost count." (70)

The author started out with action by using a character making the comment that her husband was going to kill her. Then, another character, Anne, mentioned it wasn't the first time Marjorie said that. This type of beginning builds up suspense in readers. They want to know why Marjorie felt that way. Was she doing something that she didn't think her husband would like? Was there another reason? Also, it wasn't the first time she has made that comment. Why does she keep saying it?

After that scene, the author continued with the action of the women sitting at a table and talking while they are waiting for the show to start at the Happy Hour Saloon.

Lieutenant Harald and the Impossible Gun by Margaret Maron

This author began her story with the setting. "The calendar said late September, but summer hung on in the city like a visiting uncle who'd overstayed his welcome and sat out on the front stoop in a smelly sweatshirt, scratching his belly and smoking a cheap cigar all day. " (240)

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