ext_36183 ([identity profile] barberio.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] james_davis_nicoll 2008-12-28 03:42 pm (UTC)

To follow on to this...

There are two reasons that Detective novels are shorter.

The first is pacing. A detective novel is generally focused, and tightly paced, sidelines to the plot are truncated 'red herrings', sub plots tend to distract from the main 'mystery' rather than embellish so are avoided.

The second is that once the mystery you started the story with is uncovered, the story is over. It can be extended, but everything after the mystery is uncovered is going to be epilogue to the main story.

Post a comment in response:

(will be screened)
(will be screened if not validated)
If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting

If you are unable to use this captcha for any reason, please contact us by email at support@dreamwidth.org