Discussion of Mystery Stories and Mystery Writing at NEIU

Working-class, mystery writer Tim Sheard visited Northeastern Illinois University to share thoughts on publishing and storytelling. Teachers and students enjoyed an evening with him on October 19 in the Golden Eagles room.

Timothy Libretti, Professor of English and Women's Studies and also the host of the evening, introduced Sheard to the audience. Libretti talked shortly about Sheard's biography and said that he is a working class novelist, who has a range of experiences and can give a good advice to writers who may be looking to be published. Sheard thanked Libretti and the audience for inviting him and said, "It's an encouraging experience when somebody reads your work and is inspired by it." He started by discussing the subject of where the story comes from. Sheard said that mystery stories are special and they don't come from recipes. They come from a hidden place, deep inside our hearts. In order to discover and develop the mystery story, we have to listen to our characters, "like they are talking to you," Sheard said.

He explained that bonding with our characters is important, and in that way we [the writers] make them feel real. Once we've achieved it comes the moment when, for instance, we cry if a character dies. And this is the mysterious part of a story. Not only the readers, but also the writers have to cry. "If there are no tears in the writing, there are no tears in the reading," said Sheard.

Sheard noted that we ourselves develop our personas and create our images out of a story. He said that we too are characters, who learn from their fictional heroes.

He elaborated on the point that what is satisfying and fun about mystery stories is when we discover that people are deeper than we thought, "People are much more, or much less, and we forget that everyday," he said. He said that mystery reminds us again of these depths. Sheard talked us about the important social role that writing plays in our lives, and about literature as a mechanism that teaches us justice.However, he said that sometimes we have to make compromises in what we are writing.

He continued by providing the audience with some valuable advice on publishing and how the publishing industry operates today. He said that many publishing houses lose money or break even. Hence, publishing is a big gambling sometimes. Today though, Sheard said that digital publishing makes things easier and cheaper. A publishing house can print a book whenever and only if they need it. You can order a book and they can printed it the same day. He said that it is very common, when a few writers come together, to create a publishing house, and start  publishing their work. They don't even have to worry about the distribution because most retailers will take care of it. He gave a great example with Amazon.com. He said that Amazon does printing for as low as $75 a book. The only thing an author has to do is the design of the book.

Following this very satisfying for the audience discussion, Sheard read a excerpt from each of his books and enthusiastically opened the floor for questions and comments.