In a recent Instagram Live with Julie Hennrikus, radio journalist and mystery author Kathleen Marple Kalb shared newswriting skills that come in handy when writing mysteries:

• Know Your Lead, and Don’t Bury It: Boil your story down to one main fact line and build from there. Start in the right place and keep your focus.
• Hook ’em with a Good Headline: Grab your reader with a strong opening, and they’ll ride with you.
• No Matter How Important it is, it Has to be Interesting: Your story is important to you. Maybe it’s even important to the world at large. But if you don’t tell it in an interesting way, nobody’s going to read it.
• Write it Clear, Tight, and Grabbing the First Time: Train yourself to think in clean, crisp writing, even if you’re not working on half-hour deadlines. Revisions are much easier with a good base.
• Revisions and Changes Are NOT Personal: When the facts change, you change the copy. It’s not an insult to you or your work. Take edits for what they are: a shared effort to make the work better.

Watch the full Instagram Live here:

And be sure to join SinC Worldwide every Tuesday afternoon at 1pm ET for a live discussion of craft, marketing, and other important topics in the writing world. Whatever the platform, or the format, SinC is Where Writers Belong!