Resource: How to Outline a Cozy Mystery: Workbook

This is a new series for Cozying Up that focuses on various resources available for writers. Some will be focused on cozy mysteries and some of them will cover more general topics related to writing.

Two of the cozy mystery series I've read are from the imagination of author Sara Rosett. There's the 1920s High Society Lady Detective Olive Belgrave, with her country house mysteries, and the Murder on Location series, which focuses on Kate Sharp, a location scout and Jane Austen devotee. Rosett has three other series that don't appeal to me as much as these two do. She also has two non-fiction books on writing: How to Outline a Cozy Mystery: Workbook and How to Write a Series: A Guide to Series Types and Structure plus Troubleshooting Tips and Marketing Tactics.

The How to Outline workbook is based on the online course that Rosett offered in the past via a learning management system called Teachable.com. In the workbook, she ends each chapter with questions to consider to help you write your own cozy mystery. For example, Chapter 1 - Outlining vs “Pantsing” asks these three questions:

1. Which types of outlining methods have you used before? (Not necessarily for writing, but in any area of your life)
2. Which type of outlining method listed (in the book) resonates with you?
3. How do you organize your daily tasks, either as work or home, and how could you apply that method to planning your novel?

Other chapters cover topics like how a mystery is different from a thriller, the expectations of a mystery reader, then the parts of a cozy mystery like protagonist, setting, antagonist, and so on.

Working your way through the questions are helpful for organizing your thoughts, but there is the missing element of the instructor and the lack of assignment due dates to add some urgency to completing your answers. Because this is workbook, there is also seems to be some missing background and information. It’s like having only the instructor’s brief lecture notes or presentation slides and then trying to fill in the blanks. It’s a shame that the course is no longer available.

How to Outline a Cozy Mystery: Outline is available on Kindle Unlimited or you can purchase the paperback version for $11.99 or the Kindle version for $4.99. A quick check of the local Cincinnati area libraries turns up nothing, but your local independent bookstore would be happy to order it for you!