Elliot Kessler

Worldbuilding is fun. From forging massive galaxies with infinite possibilities to creating a small town off the beaten path. It’s always a great time and helps to exercise one’s imagination. The locations and settings in mystery stories are almost like characters through the roles they play. If you want proof, look at the way Gotham City is portrayed in “The Batman” or future LA in “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” (or “Blade Runner”). The cities in these stories play a very large role. They tell stories themselves. They have distinct personalities.

It’s a challenge to try and make a city feel alive. To give a city, an inanimate entity, personality is one of the most complex parts of writing a mystery, but it helps elevate the story significantly. Let me prove that.

When I mention Sherlock Holmes, do you imagine a brilliant detective with a funny hat and a pipe? Or do you imagine a Victorian-era London in the dead of night, covered in fog, with horse-drawn carriages making their way down gas-lit streets? When I mention Batman, do you imagine a dark, masked vigilante with a tragic backstory? Or do you imagine a dark, urban city with criminals running free, causing chaos and pain? I don’t know about you guys, but when I hear these characters mentioned, I don’t think of the characters. I think of the settings for their stories.

Worldbuilding is a tricky thing. You can’t simply give a line at the beginning of your story, such as, “New York was a wretched hive of scum and villainy,” and then move on. You have to show the scum and villainy. Instead of opening with a line like that, maybe show your detective catching yet another criminal or an innocent civilian getting assaulted in the streets and robbed.

The “Show, don’t tell” rule applies significantly to worldbuilding, and worldbuilding goes hand-in-hand with exposition. Use your city to tell a story. Have events around the main character throughout your story to show what kind of a city this is, and double down on those events and descriptions in the beginning. Describe the city as your character moves through it. Explore the architecture and the environment. Show the people around your character going about their daily lives.

Always have events happening around the city. Don’t only describe what your protagonist is doing. What’s happening down the street? What sounds can your character hear? The city doesn’t revolve around your protagonist. It’s not a stage with cardboard props. It’s a living, breathing world filled with other people who are just as human as your main character. The city should not feel like a movie set. It should feel like a city.

I have read some stories where the world around the characters feels very flat, and it misses out on the potential of having a more exciting environment. Worldbuilding does not only apply to sci-fi and fantasy. It applies to all stories. Make sure your city, train, boat, or wherever your mystery story takes place is not simply a backdrop for your story but a character that plays a role in it.

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.