Case Closed

During my personal odyssey project, I learned a lot about the mystery genre and, how it translates from the book to big screen, and what is needed to write a sufficient story. I was able to begin writing a mystery story, however, after editing it appears that the story is more "scary" than "mysterious" which is something I have to fix. But, I have good edits and a wonderful mentor who will hopefully help me finish my piece. Even though the odyssey is over, I still want to continue working, and on display is my outline, edits, and first draft. All in all, I have had an interesting year filled to the brim with mystery, and though I still have work to do, for now at least. Case Closed.

Thank you!!

I would like to thank all of my lovely blog followers who kept up with my blog and supported my odyssey project. I also want to thank my amazing family and friends who always help me out and stand by my side. I want to recognize my wonderful navigator, Lisa, who guided me and constantly checked up on my project and me. Last, but certainty not least, I want to give a super big thank you to my spectacular mentor, Naheed Aunty :), who never ran out of wonderful ideas as well as advice. It has been quite a year, and I am grateful to have to love and support of so many.

Reflection

Overall, I have really enjoyed the personal odyssey experience. That fact that I was able to "dive deeper" into a subject I find interesting. I have learned a lot about mystery writing and how it translates to television and movies. Suspense has a lot to do with ensuring that the viewer is "drawn into" what he or she is watching. I have noticed that the best authors are able to keep their short stories strait and to the point with just the right amount of twists and turns. From this experience I want to take away a better knowledge of the mystery genre as well as the skills to write my own suspense/mystery story.

Short Story Update

After much outlining and rewriting, I have decided to pursue my latest outline. After sending it to my mentor, who is super awesome :), I am now editing and adding some stuff to my outline in preparation for writing my actual story. My goal is to add those edits and then begin drafting in about a day or two. Hopefully I will be able to stick to my plan, and do my best to keep updating! :)

Influential Mystery Authors and Charecters

The first interest and fascination in mystery can be traced back to the Ancient Greeks, play writers such as Sophocles and Euripides entranced the local community with a combination of mystery and drama. In the mid-nineteen hundreds author Edgar Allen Poe created the first fictional mystery charecter. Poe was one of the first authors to shift the focus from the aesthetics of the story to the intellectual intelligence. Charles Dickinson and Wilkie Collins are other influential authors in the mystery genre. Collins is the writer of many short-stories and essays. In the late nineteenth hundreds detective Sherlock Holmes was introduced to the mystery spotlight. Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is one of the best known characters of all time.  Agatha Christie also heavily influenced mystery writing. With over eighty stories published, Christie was known as the Golden Age author. Nancy Drew is a well known girl detective who would fearlessly solve crimes and bring wrongdoers to justice. Her confidence and strength made Nancy a role model for many young girls. Nancy Drew was created by Edward Stratemeyer, however every Drew book was ghostwritten by different authors all under the pen name "Carolyn Keene".

Nature or Nurture

This year during the science exhibition, I researched the brain development of psychopaths. It's kind of off topic :) but in many "scary stories,"  mysteries, and thrillers, psychopaths are usually the "crazy killers." I felt that it would be interesting to learn about their brain development and understand how they truly comprehend situations.  Based on my research, I discovered that their brains actually do differ from that of a non-psychopath. The main difference lies within the brain itself, specifically the connection between the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (PFC). These parts of the brain control decision making, and emotions, meaning that they cannot register feelings and therefore are not able to fully understand the impact their actions have.  

The Month Of May...

This month, my goal is to continue blogging, and finish up my short story. This is the last month I have to work on my project, and I have really learned a lot about mysteries and thrillers. It has been quite an adventure and I've really enjoyed it :)

Reflection

So far during this project, I have learned a lot about short mystery writing as well as how it is portrayed then into movies. Unfortunately I have not been able to see a direct translation from book to movie, but from what I have gotten, I am able to understand that suspense plays a large role in it. I am excited to write my short mystery story with the help of my Mentor. So far, I have started brainstorming and outlining and I hope to begin drafting a week or two into March. The "Personal Odyssey Presentation: at my school will be sometime in May, and my goal is to have a complete, drafted, and edited short story by then. I shall keep this blog updated with my progress.

Story Brainstorm Ideas

Short Story Brainstorm (Small portion of it)

Overall Topic:

• Murder mystery
• Robbery of some sort
• A jail escape
• kidnapping (international?)

Including....:

• Hypnotists
• Revenge
• Psychopaths
• Clowns :0
• Hatred
• Some sort of cult
• Rivalries
• Betrayal
• Underlying deals
• Secret meetings

Good Suspense/Thriller/Mystery TV Shows

If in the mood to watch a good suspense television show, some suggestions are.....

1) C.S.I (Las Vegas, New York, Miami) This has to be my favorite show ever! I love the overall intensity and suspense that builds when watching. You can always expect the story lines to be interesting and mysterious.

2) Law and Order (Special Victims Unit) Law and Order is a good, text-book crime show that includes much thinking, suspense, and thrill. Every episode is very intriguing. Unlike CSI, there is no (or not much) autopsy so if you do not like watching people cut open dead bodies, than I suggest this show.

3) 48 Hours: Hard Evidence This show is very factual and strait forward. However, it is still able to relay a great amount of suspense. This show does not have recurring characters, but is based on real life events (which to me, makes it a lot more thrilling)

There are many many more good crime shows, however, these are my top three choices.

Mystery Movies To Watch

Here are some thriller movies that I am considering watching for my "movie section" :)

1) Rear Window

2) Memento

3) Inception

4) The Green Mile

5) Psycho

6) Vertigo

I found that most of these minutes are produced by Alfred Hitchcock, I will make sure to upload summaries of each movie as well as my thoughts on it.

January Goals and Miss Marple Info

In January, my goal is to finish up my book written by Agatha Christie and then start up my short story outline. So far, I have learned a lot about mystery writing and how to keep suspense in my writing. A fun fact about the character, Miss Marple, is that she was modeled after Agatha Chrisitie's grandmother. To help give me a different view of mystery/thriller/suspense I am also going to watch some mystery/crime movies and television shows.

Here is a link to the Agatha Christie website:

http://agathachristie.com/

Here is a photograph of the cover for the book that I am reading:

The Blue Geranium

The Blue Geranium by Agatha Christie is a story about the death of a woman who was threatened by the occurrences in her future as told by a disappeared fortune teller. The beginning of the story starts off at a dinner party scenario with the Bantry couple, Miss Marple, and Sir Henry. At the dinner table, Mr. Bantry tells a story about his friend's wife, Mary Pritchard's death. Mrs. Pritchard was a sick and "dreadful" woman who was very demanding of her husband, so when she asked him to move houses because she was getting "unnatural" feelings he denied her request. Mrs. Pritchard had also hired a fortuned teller through her nurse, Nurse Copling, who had given her a letter that threatened Mrs. Pritchard's life. Mr. Pritchard however, laughed this off as nonsense. As time passed, the threats in the letter soon became true and finally Mrs. Pritchard was found dead in her room. It turns out that Nurse Copling had disguised herself as the fortune teller and killed Mrs. Pritchard by shocking her to death.

Christie's Writing Style

After reading many of Agatha Christie short stories, I have noticed a recurring writing structure. Usually, the beginnings of Christie's stories start off by casually introducing the mystery at hand. For example, a character in the book will subtly bring up a mysterious scenario that they have encountered. After the situation has been identified, then the group of characters will discuss it. As they do so, Christie will drop hints and clues that will help solve the mystery at hand. Finally, the main character, Ms. Marple, will put all of the hints and clues together, and tell the others in the room the solution to the mystery. All of the mysteries that Christie write in this book, are not hard to solve, they just require a closer look at small details, and that is how Ms. Marple is able to do so. I personally find Christie's writing structure to be quite enjoyable, and to give off the right amount of suspense. I will try to model my short story off of her structure.