THE DETECTIVE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER – make him or her a “personality” (inept, conceited, a bumbling fool, a smart under achiever, a hot rapper) which not only stands out but that the reader can LIKE, HATE, LAUGH AT or SHAKE HER HEAD AT.

AVOID the “stolen notebook” or “the missing pencil” mystery.  No one cares about these “crimes” and few will finish reading about it.  The crime MUST be compelling – the kidnapping of a beautiful child, the murder of a rich person (murder is always compelling) BUT avoid the messy crimes like incest, child abuse UNLESS you can handle it in a sensitive way.

SETTING is often overlooked but students but you know that MURDER IN THE GRAND CANYON or DEATH AND MR. LINCOLN (set at Lincoln Memorial) will draw readers in more than a mystery set in the classroom at Skyline. 

Dialogue can be great if your characters speak in everyday language, have a dialect or slang aspect to their speech, but only if they SAY something.  If they say “how are you” or “pass the mustard,” the reader will grow tired of their talk.  Use dialogue SPARINGLY and for EMPHASIS rather than to fill space. 

There is no substitute for a good, twisting plot.  Be sure you include surprises for the reader to keep him/her engaged!

Social issues.  In the background of Himes work was the social mix of Harlem.  His characters were real and represented the downtrodden and the upwardly mobile accurately.  He did not preach social justice, but he presented the issues for the reader to make up his/her mind about.  If you can do that (racial road profiling, difficulties of the poor to find justice, or the dangers of a rough neighborhood, for instance, or the vacuity of living in a dull suburb) you will not only write a better story (if you don’t preach) but you stand a better chance of winning.