Keep a clue notebook, without spoiling the pleasure

You can follow these steps in order or choose a single prompt. A notebook can help, but you do not need to prepare anything before beginning.

1. Divide a page into three columns: what happened, what a character says happened, and what you think it means.
2. Record an object only when the story draws your attention to it. You do not need an inventory of every room.
3. Write two possible explanations for your strongest clue. A convincing first theory can make alternatives harder to see.
4. Notice who could know each piece of information. Knowledge can be as revealing as physical access.
5. After the ending, revisit one early detail. Ask whether the answer changes its meaning, rather than merely adding a fact you could not have known.

Begin with a piece from the journal

• The envelope beneath the clock
• The umbrella that came back dry
• Suspense begins before anything frightening happens