Genre-Mystery-Crime How to Craft Your Mystery Short Story with Steve Shrott

Steve's class was awesome and so much fun. I learned a lot and am excited to take the techniques he taught and apply them to my own writing. Definitely five stars! ️️️️️

Great class. Gave us the most important elements for plotting a thriller, which was very helpful. Steve also took a lot of time with the critiques and suggestions, all of which will make our stories stronger.

Great class with lots of details and hands on help from the presenter! I really enjoyed this class.

Steve Shrott's How to Craft a Mystery Short Story was fabulous. Steve's step-by-step material was well-written and extremely informative. I loved the huge amount of links he supplied for recommended resources and places to seek publication for Mystery Short Stories. I will definitely be re-reading and referring back to his course content and resources in the future. What a great bundle of information to keep forever.

At the end of each Lecture, Steve offered assignments. I was blown away by the time and effort he put into reviewing each student's submission. He even gave me live examples of how to improve upon each of my assignments. When I was stuck on how to proceed with one of them, he gave me solid examples and advice on how to move past my blockage.

I would thoroughly recommend Steve's classes.

I really enjoyed Steve Shrott’s class! It was one of the best classes that I’ve ever taken. It was very informative and interesting. I enjoyed reading the lectures. What I loved the most were the opportunities to practice the lessons with excellent feedback by Steve. He was very encouraging with his comments, and I agreed with every suggestion, which made my writing “shine.” I would definitely recommend that everybody take one of Steve Shrott’s classes. I definitely plan to take future classes!!!

Steve is a fantastic instructor who always takes time to interact and provide valuable feedback. I have taken several of his classes and will continue to do so.

Steve clearly explained the information. There were many good examples. He responded to my questions with answers, and in some cases examples. What more could I ask?

Steve’s input, like his feedback, is clear, relevant with a touch of humour and sized to the requirements of the assignments and the skills of the writer.

All his assignments give me a chance to learn even if I haven't written a novel or even a half a novel. Although you do get a chance to refer to your own writing.

Even more important is that reading the assignment encouraged me to write. I knew I could accomplish something and actually completed every single exercise. (a rare occurrence)

His course “Pace & Tension” is a game changer for the certified pantster in me. I experienced first hand how a strong logline *before* writing, sparks off ideas for spicy plot points that in turn get my creative juices flowing for all the good stuff in between.

This is my second class with Steve. It won't be my last. Great class material. I'm overwhelmed with a work project and didn't get to participate in the last couple of lessons but still learned from the lectures, class interaction, and the fantastic feedback he always provides to everyone. His thorough feedback alone enhances the class experience beyond five stars. Steve is an excellent instructor and I recommend him to everyone.

Steve is positive and energetic and welcoming...a really good teacher! And I loved the readings, the examples he gave and the assignments. They boiled down the most salient features of novel writing into 6 succinct parts that will serve as a great guide for structuring novels. The only think I would suggest to improve the class to make the class the same number of lectures/assignments but spread them out a bit more....like over 3 weeks instead of 2 weeks...or even 4 weeks. I didn't have time to do all the assignments so I missed getting the feedback which I saw for others was excellent. Also, once I got into my plot points for my own novel, I felt the urge to continue on with my own novel to devise plot points 2 and 3 for the rest of my novel, rather than using his examples, although I could see why he chose to do that. I'm sure he (being such an open person) would have given me comments on my own novel's work in progress, but I didn't have time to work up those last few assignments. But, all in all, great course....and thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback.

Steve went out of his way to answer everyone's questions. Also, he helped me to understand the full value of a longline.

Steve Shrott's Mystery Short Story Class was extremely helpful. His homework assignments were focused, took the lecture and offered an opportunity to practice. Found the information accessible, practical, not vague or esoteric. The posts from the other classmates and the suggestions made to them are part of the learning experience. I would recommend this class to anyone. Thank you, Steve.

I have now taken 3 of Steve's classes and I am amazed at the knowledge he shares with us . He is the best.
Georgina Sellwood

First, I must admit that I did not get through the entire class. I tried, but this was the fastest course I've taken through Savvy Authors I've attempted. The course has six modules and three modules were released a week, which was just entirely too much (especially in early December during the Holiday season. Personally, I wish the course was longer. I would either stretch it out over three weeks (two modules per week) or just stretch it out over six weeks with only one course released per week. Honestly, between my day job, the holidays, and my existing writing schedule, I just ran out of time and only complete the activities for the first few modules before I was so far behind I just kind of quit the activities. I did read the lectures and plan to go back through them when I have time.

Second, I would recommend double checking links at the beginning of the course. I found a couple of dead links, which happens. That's always a problem when you're running any kind of course that uses links. I don't consider this anyone's fault, because link rot happens.

Third, as for the instructor, I think Steve did a really good job with the lectures and providing feedback. I would like to have seen video lectures over reading ones, but I know this isn't how SavvyAuthors does their short courses... yet. I would definitely not be hesitant to take a course from Steve.

Lastly, I gave the course a four star review primarily because of how fast the course was and the overwhelming feeling of getting behind to the point it was impossible to get caught up.

Great introduction to writing Thrillers. I especially liked having writing homework assignments. I feel they students learn the best.

SavvyAuthors has a lot of wonderful instructors, but Steve Shortt is on my top five list for sure. I always learn a ton from his lectures and insights. He's particularly strong with timely, personalized feedback. I hope he'll continue teaching with SavvyAuthors for many years!!

Steve Shrott takes the craft of writing to another level. I've taken many courses on writing, but his extra insights and additional twists on the regular information about story structure make this class exceptional. I can now add realistic ways to improve my storylines and cohesive arcs from beginning to end. His focus on the Middle of the story as a pivotal key to propelling the storyline forward (as a contrast to many who suggest the middle is filler and often sags) strengthened my understanding of the various aspects of storytelling. This class has reinvigorated my hunger to tell a story and make it sizzle and sing.

Another excellent class from Steve Shrott. Using case studies to illustrate how various authors hooked the reader initially and kept his/her interest throughout was very helpful as were all the other examples from various genres. Steve's wonderful sense of humor made the learning process fun. And his feedback on assignments was invaluable. I recommend this class to anyone writing a novel. The information provided is helpful for writing short stories as well!

I've taken four other classes with Steve Shrott, so I was wondering what more he could teach me. The answer is: A LOT! The focus of this class was different, but in addition to that, Steve personalizes his responses to your assignments and you learn as much from that as you do the lessons. It isn't a "canned" response to the lesson plan. I highly suggest you take any of his classes, and when you do, that you participate and complete the assignments. You'll learn tons!

Another great class taught by Steve Shrott! This is the fourth class of Steve's that I've taken, and I've signed up for his upcoming SciFi class as well. The lectures are substantive and the writing exercises are a terrific way to explore a genre you've never considered or improve your writing in a genre you want to master. Plus, the feedback is exemplary -- quite detailed and spot on.