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Joined: 1/16/2013
Posts: 6
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To Colleen, I hope this thread is in the right area.
I have been lurking in the corners of BC and reading and I want to thank everyone here for their topics of discussion. I can't wait to learn more...
Having said that, I have seen the term "red herrings" in the Mystery area in the same sentence as "clues" Can someone explain to me just what "red herrings" are in the Mystery world?
Thanks ahead of time.
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Joined: 6/28/2011
Posts: 188
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I think this would be better as a thread directly under the Mystery category.
That said, a red herring is anything in the story that serves to make the reader suspect someone other than the true perpetrator, or causes the reader to formulate a hypothesis other than the actual events behind the crime.
A shadowy figure was seen running from the scene of a murder shortly after gunshots were heard. As the figure ran off, it dropped something -- a rare coin. The coin might somehow lead investigators to the figure's identity, and help prove that he (or she) is the murderer. In that case, both the observation of the figure and the coin are clues. But if the figure turns out to be the victim's mistress, who fled only because she was terrified of having her infidelity revealed, then she's a red herring. If it turns out the victim gave her the coin as a present, and the murderer was trying to get the coin, then the coin remains a clue, not a red herring.
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Joined: 1/16/2013
Posts: 6
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Thank you for the reply.
I will see if I can change the If I understand you, the red herrings are there to throw the reader off track? Make the reader think the figure in the dark could be the murderer?
Okay so in that case, red herrings could morph into clues as the reader reads on, or change from a clue to a red herring. Is that a fair statement?
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Joined: 6/28/2011
Posts: 188
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Whether something is a red herring or a clue is based on whether it actually has a bearing on whodunnit. All red herrings initially seem to be clues; the protagonist has to figure out which ones are genuinely clues and which are red herrings. If you're clever with it, an actual clue can temporarily seem to be a red herring.
In brief: clues lead you to the solution, and red herrings distract you from it. (Where "you" can be either the reader or the investigator.)
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