MM on Monday
Until Mystery Man disappeared in 2010, he was a regular contributor to The Story Department. His very last public article was published here and it is still ranking as the most popular post on the site.
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The Art of Dialects (2)
Mystery Man left us some time before 5 June of this year. The Story Department continues to republish his best…
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The Art of Dialects (1)
I type these words from my favorite leather chair in my favorite mystery cigar store. For the “Mystery Photo” in…
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Elements of Suspense (2)
The Elements of Suspense also talked about editing in order to maximize tension, that when emotions are high, Hitchcock resorted…
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Mystery Man on Melodrama
What is melodrama and how do we avoid it? I’ve noticed that people have differing interpretations of melodrama, ranging from “sad…
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Elements of Suspense (1)
“If, in the first chapter, you say there is a gun hanging on the wall, you should make quite sure…
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Merciless Logicians …
... & The Sliding Scale of Plausibility. Okay, a question for all the scribes: Must a thriller be totally plausible…