Writer’s Name:_________________________________________________________________________________

Starting a Murder Mystery Inspired by The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Instructions: Today you will be writing a three-paragraph scene in which a detective discovers a murder scene. If you like what you write, you might create the entire story of the murder being solved. First, you will describe the setting and the detective discovering a murder victim. Then you will describe the detective discovering and examining the murder weapon. Finally, the detective will discover a clue that will lead him/her to the mystery’s first suspect. First come up with your murder victim, the murder weapon, and a guilty suspect. Following that, decide on your story’s setting and your detective’s name. Then use this handout to compose an organized, three-paragraph scene that might launch an entire mystery story. Remember, a good paragraph contains many sentences about the same idea, and it makes use of great words. Write your paragraphs in the boxes below, and use the suggestions to help keep your paragraph focused.

Who gets murdered? With what weapon? Who might be a suspect?

What’s your detective’s name? Where is the body discovered?

Rough draft your first paragraph below. Use additional paper if necessary.

You

r firs

t par

agra

ph w

ill la

unch

you

r rea

der i

nto

the

mys

tery

. In

this

par

agra

ph y

ou

will

need

to in

trodu

ce u

s to

you

r det

ectiv

e ch

arac

ter b

y sh

owin

g hi

m/h

er d

isco

verin

g a

body

. Tr

y fo

cusi

ng m

ore

on d

escr

ibin

g th

e de

tect

ive

and

less

on

the

gore

of t

he

crim

e sc

ene.

©2007 Northern Nevada Writing Project. All rights reserved. Found on-line at http://writingfix.org

Teachers may reprint for classroom use. All others, please visit our website to request permission: (http://nnwp.org)

Hey! Make sure you introduce your detective’s name in this paragraph!

Rough draft your second paragraph below. Use additional paper if necessary.

©2007 Northern Nevada Writing Project. All rights reserved. Found on-line at http://writingfix.org

Teachers may reprint for classroom use. All others, please visit our website to request permission: (http://nnwp.org)

Yo

ur s

econ

d pa

ragr

aph

will

show

you

r det

ectiv

e fin

ding

the

mur

der

wea

pon

in th

e sa

me

setti

ng.

Use

lots

of g

ood

deta

ils a

nd s

ever

al

sent

ence

s to

pai

nt a

real

ly g

ood

pict

ure

of th

is d

isco

very

.

Hey! Use some powerful verbs in this paragraph

Rough draft your third paragraph below. Use additional paper if necessary.

You

r thi

rd p

arag

raph

will

sho

w y

our d

etec

tive

findi

ng a

clu

e in

the

sam

e se

tting

. Th

is c

lue

need

s to

mak

e yo

ur d

etec

tive

deci

de w

ho

the

first

sus

pect

that

he/

she

shou

ld q

uest

ion

is.

Exa

min

e th

e cl

ue

slow

ly in

this

par

agra

ph…

just

like

a d

etec

tive

wou

ld.

Hey! Use some powerful adjectives in this paragraph!

If you like your finished three-paragraph scene, why not turn it into an even longer story?