Riley Adams's Blog, page 113
October 10, 2015
Twitterific Writing Links
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine
(developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.
Stop sweating the synopsis and write it: http://ow.ly/T7oW8 @hollyrob1
The Evolving Literary Agent: What Savvy Writers Need to Know: http://ow.ly/T7oQS @JaneFriedman
5 Books About Imaginary Religions: http://ow.ly/T7pyy @tordotcom by Michael W. Clune
Weaving a Tapestry of Page-Turning Story: http://ow.ly/T7oXH @Saboviec
On Trying Something New: http://ow.ly/T7pje @ava_jae
The Legal Side of Writing for Anthologies: http://ow.ly/T7ohM @susanspann
Hanging in the Back Matter: Indents Are the Rule: http://ow.ly/Ta2O7 @JFBookman
A 12-Month Strategic Plan for Marketing Your Book before Release: http://ow.ly/Ta2xQ @instntpublisher
The Secret to a Powerful Author Brand: http://ow.ly/Ta1u8 @kristenlambtx
Pay-What-You-Want Pricing: Does it work for books? http://ow.ly/Ta1oW @payhip
Promo efforts that worked best for one bestselling author: http://ow.ly/Ta2Bq @VirginiaGraybks
Toy Story Shows the Key to Subtle Character Development: http://ow.ly/T7omg @KMWeiland
Manuscript to Ebook: A Cleaning Guide: http://ow.ly/T7owE @dkudler
6 Tips for Finding a Cover Artist: http://ow.ly/T7oBP @jamigold
Literary Style: 15 Writers and Their Bedrooms: http://ow.ly/T7pp6 @writers_write
5 Reasons Writers Should be on Social Media Networks: http://ow.ly/T7pCw @garyjmclaren
How to Write About Anything: 5 Steps for Researching a New Topic: http://ow.ly/T7odC @chanawrites
Establishing Your Writing Fallback Point: http://ow.ly/T7pdK @SuzanneBrazil
BookBub Interview, Pt 1: http://ow.ly/T7oG1 and part 2: http://ow.ly/T7oGo @ThereseWalsh
7 Fatal Flaws That Told 1 Writer Her Novel Wasn’t Ready to Pitch: http://ow.ly/T4XQp @StephofLegends
Writing and the Creative Life: The Creative Personality: http://ow.ly/T4Y4E @gointothestory
4 Essential Tips On Writing Young Adult Fiction: http://ow.ly/T4XC4 @RuthanneReid
Simple Tips for Smarter Self Promotion: http://ow.ly/T4Yaf @artofstoriesAB
Rewrite: Revisit the Story: http://ow.ly/T4YNn @seanbhood
What is the 1st Act? http://ow.ly/T4YEX @seanbhood
So You Want to Write YA Thrillers? http://ow.ly/T4Xhe @ava_jae
8 Things to Cut When You Kill Your Darlings: http://ow.ly/T4XZ9 @shesnovel
Deep editing: http://ow.ly/T4Xmx @MargieLawson @erniewords
A 4-draft writing process: http://ow.ly/T4XGt @kseniaanske
8 Ways the Military Deals With Magical Powers: http://ow.ly/T4YmI @tordotcom by Chris Lough
Should We Keep Writing the Same Characters for Years? http://ow.ly/T4X1k @RobinGunn
Post Conference To Do List: http://ow.ly/T2eKR @SLeesmithAuthor
A great question to ask about your protagonist: http://ow.ly/T2eef @gointothestory
Simple Instagram Tips For Authors: http://ow.ly/T2ewG @shelleyhitz
Are Major, Traumatic Events Off Limits? http://ow.ly/T2dMW @sarahrcallender
Hide your story’s structure with emotion: http://ow.ly/T2dA6 @shalvatzis
5 Steps to Creating Your Writing Ritual: http://ow.ly/T2dDS @Cara_Putman
Blog Your Book to Build Author Platform: http://ow.ly/T2eqZ @NinaAmir
Writing Mental Illness in Your Novel: http://ow.ly/T2emK @AmberSkyeF
6 P’s to Success in Your Writing Life: http://ow.ly/T2dIH @OrlyKonigLopez
Following Through After a Conference: http://ow.ly/T2eTQ @bethany_house
5 Books About Inconvenient (Unlikable) Women: http://ow.ly/T2e44 @zenaldehyde
5 Observations on the Evolution of Author Business Models: http://ow.ly/T9bVg @JaneFriedman
4 Puzzle Pieces to Hook Your Readers: http://ow.ly/SYu1B @jeancogdell
Script Analysis: “Looper”: Scene By Scene Breakdown: http://ow.ly/SYu8t @gointothestory
Pitching on Twitter: How to Circumvent the Slush: http://ow.ly/SYu5V @s_lovett @DIYMFA
A Case Study on Family as a Literary Theme: http://ow.ly/SYu74 @SaraL_Writer @DIYMFA
Taking the Standing Desk to the Next Level: http://ow.ly/SYtRn @KeithCronin
Picking the Right Viewpoint Character for Your Scene: http://ow.ly/SYuaw @septcfawkes
10 Poses To Show Character Development Through Body Language: http://ow.ly/SYtVC @MiaJouBotha
What to Expect from Editors: http://ow.ly/SYu9E @lindasclare
Confidence. If You Don’t Have This, You Might As Well Forget It: http://ow.ly/SYtyC @10minnovelist
Is It Okay To End A Sentence With A Preposition? http://ow.ly/SYu4j @epbure
Podcasts for Authors: 5 author marketing podcasts: http://ow.ly/SYtT7 @wherewriterswin
The Fundamentals of Writing a Scene: http://ow.ly/SYtNu @plotwhisperer
Tracking dysfunctional sleuths in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/T1nl6 @mkinberg
Stephen King: Can a Novelist Be Too Productive? http://ow.ly/SVRlD @StephenKing
How Authors and Editors Can Work Better Together: http://ow.ly/SVREu @andylowe99 @ReedsyHQ
Quit Your Day Job: http://ow.ly/SVRBo @jaelmchenry
On the Lack of Chronic Illness Rep in YA: http://ow.ly/SVRq7 @ava_jae
Beta-Readers and Editors: Diversity is Strength : http://ow.ly/SVReb by Diane Fraser @womenwriters
Create characters with the Enneagram Personalisty model: http://ow.ly/SVRHt @nicholesevern
How to Let Your Characters Move The Story Forward: http://ow.ly/SVRu4 @stephmorrill
2 Stammer Verbs to Avoid in Your Fiction: http://ow.ly/SVR9o @JRHwords
What should you do when you don’t want to write anymore? http://ow.ly/SVRiV @calebpirtle
Voice recognition Software: http://ow.ly/SVRxy @PBRWriter
How Setting Affects Our Characters: http://ow.ly/SVR38 @writers_write
Strengthen Your Story Concept with Story Generators: http://ow.ly/SVRNb @artofstoriesAB
Query Boot Camp: Unsuccessful Query Letters are Analyzed: http://ow.ly/T1o1n @ReedsyHQ and @RFaithEditorial
Inspiration for Indie Authors Going Global: #NINC15 Conference Report: http://ow.ly/T2juI @OrnaRoss
Will I ever feel like a Real Writer? http://ow.ly/T1yqO by @Alison_Stone
Takeaways from the #NINC15 conference: http://ow.ly/T1e66
Quests in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/T1dBn @mkinberg
Focusing On The Premise: http://ow.ly/SSXGO @RachelHauck
When to give up on a story: http://ow.ly/SSXwF from Writing Questions Answered
Don’t hide being a writer: http://ow.ly/SSXaB @angiedicken
Make the Thing That Scares You: http://ow.ly/SSWHz @artistthink
Where to market or publish your poetry and resources for poets: http://ow.ly/SSXhL @booklaunchdemon
Trope Spotlight: The MacGuffin: http://ow.ly/SSX0Y @enderawiggin
Ebook Covers: Create Cover Images Which Sell: http://ow.ly/SSWSo @angee
Obsession, Delusion, and Writing: http://ow.ly/SSXPX @kristinerusch
5 Excuses to Protect Your Writing Time: http://ow.ly/SSX7F @HeatherJacksonW
7 Ways Self-Publishing Can Save Your Career: http://ow.ly/SSWWk @courtneyromano
Tips for Character Development: http://ow.ly/SSXMJ
The Obsessive Worldbuilder Quiz: http://ow.ly/SSXtv @Philip_Overby
How a Character’s Choice of Clothing Benefits the Story: http://ow.ly/SMQdc
3 Things Learned About Writing from Analyzing Stephen King’s IT: http://ow.ly/SMPZH @hannah_haney
Searching for Tim Cook’s Energy Bar: http://ow.ly/SLpCr @DanBlank @99u
When to start physically describing characters? http://ow.ly/SMQQ1 from FYCD
6 Tips for Switching Genres: http://ow.ly/SMRK8 @JulietBlackwell
Track Changes: The Essential Tool for Writers and Editors: http://ow.ly/SMQ8P @daveBricker
The Pros and Cons of Audiobook Publishing: http://ow.ly/SMRGE @RogerDColby
How to Overcome the Fear of Putting Yourself Out There: http://ow.ly/SMQVS @susancain
12 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Magic System: http://ow.ly/SMQxD @metteharrison
Emotional Wound Thesaurus: Being in the Shadow of a Successful Sibling: http://ow.ly/SMQo2 @beccapuglisi
The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
October 8, 2015
Writing the Cozy Mystery–Common Pitfalls
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
If you’re just joining us, I’ve been running a series on writing cozy mysteries. (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Today I thought I’d cover a few problem areas that we might run into when writing a cozy mystery.
Slow pace, story seems weighed down. Is the story too basic and formulaic? What’s going on with your sleuth in her personal life? What background can we discover about the suspects? Is there a subplot we can develop that sheds light on one of the recurring story characters? Are there recurring story characters (they are common in cozies). Can we tie in the subplot with the mystery somehow?
The issue could be mechanical, too. Try for shorter sentences, more dialogue, and shorter chapters. Try changing the sentence structure around a little.
The story is confusing. Review the number of suspects and supporting characters. Eliminate any that don’t contribute or at least offer a brief reintroduction of the character if he’s been offstage for a while.
Is the mystery too complex? Sometimes too much complexity can make the story unbelievable. We can still make a simple mystery with very basic motives (this is better for a cozy mystery, anyway) and surprise the reader at the end. Remember, the sleuth is also learning more about each suspect and how they related to the victim—it’s not all about clues to the killer. It’s about clues to the suspects’ character, too.
Our beta readers figure out whodunit…way too early. Or, they’re not surprised at the killer at the end of the story.
If readers are figuring out clues to the killer too early in the story, we need to distract from the clues with very noisy red herrings. An argument, another body, something that appears to be an important clue. An alibi that’s disproven. Anything that we can input to make it look as though the red herring is more important than the actual clue.
If readers aren’t surprised when the killer is revealed, we need to redirect them better. I like to pick a suspect who seems very likely to have done it and throw a last minute red herring out there in a very subtle way. So the reader thinks they’re picking up on a hidden clue. Instead, we close down the story quickly after that and unveil the actual murderer. In the wrap-up, we can address any loose ends.
Series hook seems clunky when inserted in the text instead of woven in more seamlessly.
If the series hook is quilting, for instance, we could create the murder around a quilting event…a guild meeting or a quilt show, etc. Or we could stage it at the local quilt shop. Or the quilt shop could function as a sort of town hub or hangout for characters to facilitate suspect questioning.
In my culinary series, I’ve had murders take place at barbeque festivals and functions the barbeque restaurant was catering.
Editors have stressed to me time and time again that readers of mysteries with craft hooks like a good deal of detail on fabric, texture, etc., in addition to quilting activity. This also goes for culinary mysteries and other crafting mysteries. If we’re looking to query a trade press, then that’s the direction we’re going to want to go in. It doesn’t come naturally to me so I have to work it in (usually in a pass during draft two).
Are there any other trouble areas you can think of in a cozy mystery? What have I missed? The saggy middle is easy for mysteries…insert another body. :)
Tips for overcoming common pitfalls in writing the cozy mystery:
Click To Tweet
Image: MorgueFile: Earl53
The post Writing the Cozy Mystery–Common Pitfalls appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
October 5, 2015
The NINC Conference—Interesting Points
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
The Novelists, Inc. or NINC, conference in St. Pete Beach, Florida, was chock-full of interesting speakers and takeaways. Looking around the conference rooms, nearly everyone was jotting down notes on paper or their laptops. And…the weather was wonderful there. I was happy to escape the dismal weather North Carolina has had lately.
A few takeaways I wanted to share (these are from sessions I attended, but you can hear from others if you go to @Porter_Anderson or @JaneFriedman’s #NINC15 tweets on Twitter:
International markets:
In the interesting First Word session of the conference (a day-long session of industry thinkers), I was interested to hear that Germany is the third largest ebook market after the US and the UK (this from Matthias Matting, who is a German author and publisher).
However, interesting point, Amazon can’t compete on price in Germany because price-fixing laws. Books must cost the same whether they’re for sale in a store or online.
But Amazon is still popular there. Amazon and the German Tolino dominate the market there. If you go solely through Amazon, though, you will miss 40% of the market.
Scott Beatty and Jim Bryant, co-founders of Trajectory, spoke on their work in the Chinese market. Self-publishing there is called “online literature” and is driven, similarly to Wattpad here, by mobilization and story serialization. Writers there have their work licensed as video games, film, and television.
There are 294 million readers there and 1.4 billion consumers. It’s the second largest publishing market with a 16 billion dollar valuation.
And…according to Scott, the size of the English-speaking market in China is the same as the US population.
Unfortunately, the books Trajectory submits to the Chinese book market has to be approved by government censors. This includes each format of every book, even if one format (print) has already been approved by censors. They’re particularly looking for what Scott called “the three Ts”: Tibet, Tiananmen, Taiwan.
Digital publishing analyst Thad McIlroy emphasized the size of the English market…enormous. It’s not just the native speakers or second-language speakers, it’s also those learning English. One in five people, worldwide, speak English as a native, second, or foreign language.
Pricing and Selling tips:
Gareth Cuddy, CEO of Vearsa recommended averaging together the top 20 or top 100 titles in your genre/subgenre and then check in on and change prices frequently.
He also recommends selling ebooks directly using Gumroad, Aerbook, and Payhip.
Draft2Digital‘s Dan Wood and Joshua Unruh provided data indicating that series with the first book free generated over three times the revenue of those that didn’t.
Draft2Digital can set-up pre-orders (even without a manuscript) for books at retailers Tolino, Nook, Apple, and Kobo. They recommend Apple as having the most profitable results from pre-orders. You can set them up there even a year in advance and they will boost a book’s ranking during both the pre-order and the release day.
At #NINC: Also-boughts are social-driven, @trajectory recommends books by content. @InfoJedi
— Elizabeth S Craig (@elizabethscraig) October 2, 2015
Innovation:
The audience also heard about Trajectory’s work in mapping books. Book recommendations are getting smarter. Trajectory’s Scott Beatty and Jim Bryant use algorithms that map books to show patterns of intensity and sentiment . Where Also-boughts are social-driven, Trajectory recommends books by content.
Draft2Digital uses a tool that will generate back-matter buy links for our ebooks and automatically changes them when we have new releases.
Author Asst. @AuthorRx : Time-saving tip: create a file with interview Qs and As. Tweak answers for new interview requests. #ninc15
— Elizabeth S Craig (@elizabethscraig) October 3, 2015
Metadata:
I am geeky enough to have really gotten into this informative session from Lori Bennett who is the digital liaison for Nelson Literary Agency. Her tips:
Make sure your book description includes elements from your bio (“bestselling author” is a good one) as well as a quote from a blurb.
Consistency is very important, especially with series metadata. We want readers to be able to find the other books in our series. The title of our series needs to be exactly the same from book to book and retailer to retailer. (Is it The My YA Series, or is it just My YA Series?)
If a retailer or distributor doesn’t give us a tags or keywords field, we can fake it by adding these keywords into our book descriptions.
Another best practice Lori mentioned is to use the most specific BISAC codes we can. We should avoid the throwaway category of Fiction/our genre/general. Enter as many codes as possible: three is good, five is better.
Metadata:Lori Bennett of NLA Digital:Synchronize series titles:Is it "*The* My YA Series" or "My YA Series?"Consistency is key. #NINC15
— Elizabeth S Craig (@elizabethscraig) October 3, 2015
I’m a member of ALLi (the Alliance of Independent Authors) and am sometimes asked if it makes sense for US writers to join or if it’s more UK centric. Founder Orna Ross stressed that they’re committed to being an international organization and are now working toward offering MeetUps for members.
ALLi is a "bridge between good services and members," providing info for writers around the globe. #ninc15 @OrnaRoss http://t.co/0jHZDoXfpV
— Elizabeth S Craig (@elizabethscraig) October 4, 2015
Information:
Since publishing news changes rapidly, Porter Anderson and Jane Friedman have developed The Hot Sheet: a subscription newsletter to keep writers and industry observers informed.
Those are the notes that I took. As I mentioned, it was a great conference and full of very useful information. Any questions on anything here (if I can’t answer them, I can always try to find the answers)?
Takeaways from the #NINC15 conference:
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The post The NINC Conference—Interesting Points appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
October 3, 2015
Twitterific Writing Links
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.
7 Of The Worst Tropes About Creativity: http://ow.ly/SAvlH @Jonwestenberg
13 Ways to Be a Successful Guest Post Author: http://ow.ly/SAvDy @ShelleySturgeon
Script To Screen: “Alien”: http://ow.ly/SAven @gointothestory
Is New York publishing: a dream or the big lie? http://ow.ly/SAv5M @calebpirtle
Word Count: How Many Words In a Novel? http://ow.ly/SAvI2 @joebunting
Active Practice vs. Passive Learning: http://ow.ly/SAvPZ @CarolAnneMalone
How to Become a Bestselling, Full-Time Novelist: It’s SO Easy! http://ow.ly/SAv7S @DanBlank
10 Tips for Coming Up With Story Ideas: http://ow.ly/SAvLJ @ink_and_quills
Struggling to Get Published? You’re Not Alone. http://ow.ly/SAvuC @readjennymartin
Writing Better Characters: http://ow.ly/SAvbD @PBRWriter
7 Steps to Creating a Flexible Outline for Any Story: http://ow.ly/SAvhT @KMWeiland
What is Theme? Deconstructing an Elusive Concept: http://ow.ly/SAvyD @ink_and_quills
What Makes a Good Ending? http://ow.ly/SEBaH from Not so Classically Trained Writer
How to Write About Your Pets: http://ow.ly/SEAKe by Anne Kaier @writersdigest
6 tips on writing characters: http://ow.ly/SEB0j @DinahJefferies
Writing the YA Contemporary: http://ow.ly/SEAXJ @ava_jae
Quick Fix Revision: Plugging Plot Holes: http://ow.ly/SEBcA @lindasclare
3 Literary Devices to Use in Our Writing: http://ow.ly/SEAF9 @EmilyWenstrom
10 Ways To Stand Out With A Unique Writing Style: http://ow.ly/SEB4N @bookrangerkath
Using Short Stories to Promote Our Novels: http://ow.ly/SEB2i @raynehall
Writing In a Foreign Language: Like English: http://ow.ly/SEB8c by Nils Ödlund
Rewrite: Revisit The Story: http://ow.ly/SEARG @seanbhood
Pushing the Boundaries of Literature: http://ow.ly/SEAWR @artofstoriesAB
5 Things Every Antagonist Needs: http://ow.ly/SEAU2 @larin20 @writedivas
5 Publishing Tips Learned From Working at Amazon: http://ow.ly/SHElg @Lexirad
100+ Places to Market Your Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian Book: http://ow.ly/SHEFs @booklaunchdemon
Getting Over the Hump of the Blank Page: http://ow.ly/SHE7e @kristanhoffman
How 1 Writer Revises in Passes (video): http://ow.ly/SHEKO @ava_jae
What Makes Good Creative Non-Fiction? http://ow.ly/SHEgZ @lawz_m
How to Typeset a Novel in Microsoft Word: http://ow.ly/SHEaZ @JillWilliamson @Goteenwriters
The Art of Making It: Rekindling Your Motivation: http://ow.ly/SHEAe @VaughnRoycroft
On Repetition in Writing: http://ow.ly/SHE5L @ava_jae
Avoiding Distractions: http://ow.ly/SHEnc @MaryVeeWriter
Characters of Color, Constant Abuse, and Racism as a Theme: http://ow.ly/SHEec from Writing With Color
7 Tips for Negotiating Your Mystery Movie Deal: http://ow.ly/SHE55 @CarmenConnects
Screenwriting: Creative Career Failures (And Why You Will Succeed): http://ow.ly/SHECf @ozzywood
Understanding Screenwriting (With Films as Examples): http://ow.ly/SHEwh by Tom Stempel
4 Reasons to Never Write Alone: http://ow.ly/SIist @McgannKellie
It’s Not A Story Until Something Goes Wrong: http://ow.ly/SIisT @AnthonyEhlers
Why 1 Writer Hates Wattpad (And Then: Why She Doesn’t): http://ow.ly/SIio0 @EmilyFRussell
8 Ways to Take Control of Social Media: http://ow.ly/SIiDa @timgrahl
3 Ways To Make Your Stories Credible: http://ow.ly/SIiLH @authorterryo
The 4 Steps to Sustained Creativity: http://ow.ly/SIiv1 @gingermoran
Scientific Tips to Improve Our Writing: http://ow.ly/SIiND @passivevoiceblg @FuturityNews
Self Publishing a Book? Advice we shouldn’t follow: http://ow.ly/SIiVR @Nick_Stephenson
The Overwhelmed Writer: http://ow.ly/SIiT1 @kristinerusch
4 Women-in-Fantasy Tropes That Are Getting Old: http://ow.ly/SIiaa @EmilyFRussell
1st Person Or 3rd? How To Choose What’s Right For Our Story: http://ow.ly/SIiJI @CathyStucker
Sell More Books at the Back of the Room: http://ow.ly/SIiEM @CathyStucker
Story Glue: 3 Examples: http://ow.ly/SJWcr @anna_elliott
Getting an Author Domain Name When YourName.com Is Taken: http://ow.ly/SJULd @michaelkeshen @wherewriterswin
When love causes conflict in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/SJVTC @mkinberg
Time Management for Writers: http://ow.ly/SJWVl @jenroland @FinishedPages
A Writing Life and Motherhood: http://ow.ly/SJWIP @Nina_Schuyler @FinishedPages
The Evolving Literary Agent: What Savvy Writers Need to Know: http://ow.ly/SJVjh @JaneFriedman @writersdigest
How Not to Miss Your Editor’s Suggestions: http://ow.ly/SJUQM @ckmacleodwriter
Self-Publishing for Author-Illustrators: http://ow.ly/SJXuX @Skipper_Bay
5 Overlooked Marketing Channels to Promote Your Books: http://ow.ly/SJWwr by Kevin J. Wood
New ways to murder your characters: http://ow.ly/SJW0T @SueColetta1
Avoiding Common Punctuation Errors: Adjectives and Commas: http://ow.ly/SJXc0 by Melinda Brasher
How to Edit Like a Pro: http://ow.ly/SJVpu @RuthanneReid
When to start physically describing characters? http://ow.ly/SMQQ1 from FYCD
From Setting to Inciting Incident: http://ow.ly/SMQJ8 @ShanDitty
Searching for Tim Cook’s Energy Bar: http://ow.ly/SLpCr @DanBlank @99u
3 Things Learned About Writing from Analyzing Stephen King’s IT: http://ow.ly/SMPZH @hannah_haney
How a Character’s Choice of Clothing Benefits the Story: http://ow.ly/SMQdc
Are you guilty of taking shortcuts with your writing? http://ow.ly/SMQsR @stephenwoodfin
Emotional Wound Thesaurus: Being in the Shadow of a Successful Sibling: http://ow.ly/SMQo2 @beccapuglisi
12 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Magic System: http://ow.ly/SMQxD @metteharrison
How to Overcome the Fear of Putting Yourself Out There: http://ow.ly/SMQVS @susancain
The Pros and Cons of Audiobook Publishing: http://ow.ly/SMRGE @RogerDColby
Track Changes: The Essential Tool for Writers and Editors: http://ow.ly/SMQ8P @daveBricker
6 Tips for Switching Genres: http://ow.ly/SMRK8 @JulietBlackwell
4 Steps to Querying a Small Press: http://ow.ly/SJP1E @KarenGowen
You Haven’t Failed Until You’ve Quit Trying: http://ow.ly/SyXpH from the Writer’s Society
Field trips featured in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/SJJ9b @mkinberg
A Characterization Study on Little Women: http://ow.ly/SyXej @JillWilliamson
5 Things 1 Writer Wishes She’d Have Known Before Self-Publishing: http://ow.ly/SyX2o @dela_52
New Writers: Balancing Personal Life and Writing Career: http://ow.ly/SyXD7 by Kathleen Moulton
Preparing the Perfect Pitch: http://ow.ly/SyXyq @writerashley
10 Rules of Writing a Novel: http://ow.ly/SyWRc @BettyDraper
9 Famous Anti-Social Fictional Characters: http://ow.ly/SyXnh @writers_write
Avoid Common Ebook Marketing Mistakes in 6 Steps: http://ow.ly/SyWY5 by Edward Warner
How to Switch Gears from Writing to Editing: http://ow.ly/SyWTD @MudpieWriting
10 Tricks to Cut Your Word Count: http://ow.ly/SyXLV @karenmarston
How to be a Better Writer: Be Precise: http://ow.ly/SyXjV @ErinMFeldman
Pulling Your Hero Into the Magical Realm: http://ow.ly/SyX84 @mythcreants by Chris Winkle
7 Ways to Build a Business Around Our Nonfiction Book: http://ow.ly/Swmcn @NinaAmir
How to Be a Successful Writer: Stop Comparing Ourselves to Others: http://ow.ly/Swl02 @sara_crawford
Should We Delete That Conflict Scene? A 3-Question Quiz: http://ow.ly/SwkWJ @Write_Tomorrow
15 Tips for Achieving Our Creative Goals Every Day: http://ow.ly/Swmgu @WriterJoMalby
7 Things to Do Before We Get Published: http://ow.ly/SwlrC @MadelineMMartin
30 Marketing Questions that Self-Published Authors Must Answer: http://ow.ly/Swm5H by Jason Walberg
3 mistakes we’re making on Goodreads: http://ow.ly/SwlyU @sandrabeckwith
3 Ways to Explore Your Own Imagination: http://ow.ly/SwlQJ @PerigeeBooks
State by state list of libraries and their contact info: http://ow.ly/SwlFA @wherewriterswin
The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
October 1, 2015
Writing the Cozy Mystery–Whodunit?
By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
One of the most important aspects of the cozy mystery is the puzzle itself. Aside from character development, the puzzle is the most important part of the mystery. Mystery readers tend to be avid readers who are practiced at looking for clues to the killer. Here are some thoughts about how to make sure the readers don’t solve our puzzle before we want them to.
Red herrings: To keep readers guessing, we need to provide some false leads for our sleuth. These leads frequently come from other suspects, but they can come from some of the physical (usually not forensic in a cozy) evidence surrounding the crime (something out of place, something missing, something there that shouldn’t be there).
To make it more difficult for our sleuth and readers, the sleuth can try to sort through suspects’ information and find out what’s true, what’s a lie, and what’s just someone being an unreliable witness.
I think it’s less frustrating when there’s a limit for each red herring—when they don’t last the entire length of the book. If we’ve led our readers to believe that it’s all about an inheritance for the whole story and then we change the motive at the very end, if we don’t handle that well and lay a couple of clues for that motive somewhere earlier in the story, readers may feel cheated.
Clues can point to motive and suspects. To be very fair to the reader, it’s probably best to have a few subtle clues scattered throughout the story. Clues can be verbal—something that contradicts a suspect’s alibi or that points to a possible motive for murder. Clues can be physical—a suitcase in the back room. Clues can even result from insights our sleuth gets into the suspects’ characters. That’s one reason why our investigation isn’t just about the crime—it’s about the people who might be involved.
It’s very tricky to use our sleight of hand with mystery readers. They’re extremely savvy readers who usually read a lot of mysteries each month. They’ll frequently believe any extraneous detail must be a clue (which is why we need to be careful about wrapping up anything that seems like a loose end or a Chekhov’s gun at the end of the book).
I’ve found the best ways to slip clues under the radar are to lay them near the beginning of the story and then introduce things that seem more interesting (the victim’s body, perhaps), and then continue laying them out throughout the book but being very careful to distract from them (maybe with an argument between two suspects, etc.). It also helps to have an especially well-thought-out red herring near the end of the story to lead the sleuth and reader in an entirely different direction.
This probably goes without saying, but the puzzle has to be fair. Modern mystery readers won’t be happy if the killer is someone who was introduced at the very end of our story, etc. The modern mystery reader expects to be able to solve the mystery alongside the sleuth—it’s an almost interactive experience, or it needs to be.
The murderer: Occasionally, I’ve come to the end of my book and realized that I didn’t care for my choice of killer. Occasionally, I’ve come to the end of my book, sent it off to my trad pub editor, and she didn’t like my choice of killer. The good news is that this is relatively easy to change. Even better, because we set the story to point to one particular suspect, a change (if we leave in the original clues, which are now red herrings) can mean the mystery is harder for readers to solve.
Any tips that I’ve missed for making a good puzzle in our cozy mystery?
Tips for creating a good puzzle for our cozy mystery:
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September 27, 2015
Overcoming Snags and Blocks. And a Few Updates
By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
A favorite blog topic among writers is writer’s block. I can’t im
agine how many articles I’ve seen on the topic…from the debate over whether it actually exists, to how to combat it if it does.
I believe that sometimes I’m experiencing more of writer’s hesitation than a writer’s block. My hesitation usually results from one of a couple of reasons.
One common reason for my hesitation is that my story has hit a snag of some kind. I’m reluctant to work on the story because there’s something wrong with it. Since I don’t allow myself to avoid writing, it means I have to immediately diagnose what’s wrong. Usually I’m finding the scene boring or redundant in some way, or else I realize something is off with my character motivations. During first drafts, I don’t fix problems. So I flag the part in the story where I’ve realized things were going wrong, make a note of the change(s) that I’m making going forward, and pick up with the story as if the problem had been fixed in the previous pages.
The other common reason for my hesitation is that I need to hit the reset button with my writing life. I’m very routine driven…I wake up, get ready, go downstairs, and start writing at about 5 a.m. If any part of this equation changes in the slightest (if it’s summer and no one is getting up early for school and I sleep a little later, if we have houseguests staying with us and I need to be quiet and write somewhere else, if someone is sick, if the school bells schedule changes), it has the ability to mess me up. I know that makes the whole routine (and me?) appear very fragile, but it really can make a difference. If the change is creating a problem, the sooner I figure out a workaround, the better I am. Should I go back to waking up at 4:30? Should I work on paper for a while? Should I just outline in the morning and then leave the house altogether to write at the library or a coffeehouse later on? The solution has been each of these things before. Unless I stop the cycle, figure out what’s wrong, and brainstorm solutions, I either don’t hit my goals, I write sluggishly, or else the story comes out all wrong.
A few updates:
There are a few interesting things that I’ve noticed from my sales reports lately. For one, sales are slightly down on all my platforms—this is pretty normal for me in late-summer, early-fall. I think part of this is that sales are down for most of us. Part of it is due to the fact that it’s a busy time of the year for me and I’m paying less attention to my sales. Whenever I pay less attention, sales fall because I don’t run any freebies or discounts since I’m not aware of the problem. I should know this by now. I’ve rectified the issue (once again).
Nook sales are way down. Wow. By at least 25%.
What’s gone way up, though? Bizarrely enough, my Amazon India sales. I went from having no sales from India on Amazon to having about $180 from them in the last 30 days. This stunned me at first, but once I thought it through, it made more sense. I’ve done a couple of different things. For one, I’m on Wattpad and my demographics map shows me that 11% of my readers on Wattpad are from India. I put calls to action to buy the rest of my series at the end of each chapter. The other thing I did was to take Joanna Penn’s advice: I went into my KDP bookshelf, unchecked the box that said “Set IN price automatically based on US price” and instead put in 150 rupees, which is roughly the same as $2.27 US dollars. When I had it based on my US price of $3.99 or $4.99, my books weren’t competitive in the Indian market.
Joanna also recommended unchecking the automatic pricing for other markets, Mexico and Brazil among them. If we Google “Indian currency exchange rate,” (or Mexico, Brazil, etc.) a handy calculator comes up to help us out.
So…that’s got to be it. Wattpad and my pricing. I’ve done nothing else.
In other news, I’m going to be at the NINC conference this Wednesday through Sunday in St. Petersburg, FL. I’ll be talking about Wattpad for writers and also cozy mysteries and how to introduce them to a broader audience. I’m also looking forward to Florida weather after an uncharacteristically gloomy last week in NC.
That’s what’s going on here with me. What are you working on? Do you ever hit writer’s block or writer’s hesitation? :)
Dealing with writer's block and Amazon India surprises:
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September 26, 2015
Twitterific Writing Links
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.
Searching for a Better Way to Write The End: http://ow.ly/Srig6 @calebpirtle
Explore the Layers of Conflict in Your Story: http://ow.ly/SrikI @piperbayard
Is print triumphing over the “digital threat”?: http://ow.ly/SEtcg @philipdsjones @Porter_Anderson
TV Series Binge Watching: A Study in Character Development: http://ow.ly/Srilr @SurfCityJames
100+ Places to Market Your Children’s Fiction: http://ow.ly/Srih0 @booklaunchdemon
On Conjunctions: http://ow.ly/Sriol @Jen_328 @writedivas
Tips for cozy mystery settings and sidekicks: http://ow.ly/SEtGv
Counter Perfection’s 7 Most Common Lies: http://ow.ly/SrieI @cherylrwrites
Crime fiction: investigating the victim’s identity: http://ow.ly/SFVWh @mkinberg
7 Tricks To Differentiating Dialogue: http://ow.ly/Sriem @geofflepard
Writing the Middle of Your Book: http://ow.ly/Sriil @stephmorrill
3 Reasons Novel Writing is Like Building a Start Up: http://ow.ly/SripK @monicamclark
Want to Be a Writer? It’s Time to Act Like a Writer: http://ow.ly/SriqG by Noelle Sterne
Why There’s So Much Conflicting Advice About Social Media: http://ow.ly/Sriju @JaneFriedman
Quick Fix: Make Your Scenes Count: http://ow.ly/St1fH @lindasclare
Writers on the craft: Theme: http://ow.ly/St0ZO @gointothestory
Don’t Go Exclusive. Build A Long Term Career As An Author On Multiple Platforms: http://ow.ly/St1Lt @thecreativepenn @Liliana_Hart
The Importance of Psychological Development in Character Growth: http://ow.ly/St0Yd @beccapuglisi
Ebook Pricing: 3 Tips For Today: http://ow.ly/St0OD @angee
Why Writers Need to Fail on a Regular Basis: http://ow.ly/St0Bz @colleen_m_story
How to Self-Publish Your Book: http://ow.ly/St1iJ , http://ow.ly/St1l9 , http://ow.ly/St1ms @MsBessieBell
Indie author bookstore success: http://ow.ly/St1TE @ChrisLongmuir
3 Important Things To Remember About The Dramatic Question: http://ow.ly/St1cn @writers_write
Hollywood or Bust: Tips for Pitch-Ready Loglines: http://ow.ly/St0Mj @aBookPublicist
How To Write Your Book Sales Description: http://ow.ly/St1ry @thecreativepenn @bryancohenbooks
On Descriptive Writing: http://ow.ly/St0Q1 @writingforward
First Draft Checklist: http://ow.ly/Swl5i @MiaJouBotha
7 Things to Do Before We Get Published: http://ow.ly/SwlrC @MadelineMMartin
15 Tips for Achieving Our Creative Goals Every Day: http://ow.ly/Swmgu @WriterJoMalby
Writing Hands-Free: http://ow.ly/SwlZZ @robinrwrites
Publishing Industry Etiquette: http://ow.ly/Swlh5 @hmacgierhart
Should We Delete That Conflict Scene? A 3-Question Quiz: http://ow.ly/SwkWJ @Write_Tomorrow
Creative Fatigue? Don’t Worry. It’s Not About You: http://ow.ly/Srinj @ozzywood
A prison term inspired one writer: http://ow.ly/SqDHu @Peggy_Riley
10 Ways To Turn Your Real Life Experiences Into Science Fiction http://ow.ly/SqEik @charliejane
Coffeehouses and Concentration: http://ow.ly/SqDoX @WriterDiaries
Creating sympathy for the bad guy in our story: http://ow.ly/SqEgJ from Writing Questions Answered
Character Likability and Subtext: http://ow.ly/SqDU2 @jamigold
3 1/2 Tips for Fixing an Unlikable Character: http://ow.ly/SqDVf @jamigold
Great Character: Bree Daniels (“Klute”): http://ow.ly/SqDlY @gointothestory
5 Reasons to Track Questions and Answers in Your Novel: http://ow.ly/SqDXl @HeatherJacksonW
How to Write Vivid Descriptions: http://ow.ly/SqDvv @dice_carver
5 Bestselling Fiction Tips: Start With Heart http://ow.ly/SqDuH @angee
The Best Email Service Providers for Writers: http://ow.ly/SqDte @GaryJMcLaren
Writing tip: men and women characters should have different POVs: http://ow.ly/SqDxp @raynehall
A closer look at the success of A.A. Milne’s Pooh tales: http://ow.ly/Sz2AB @tordotcom @mari_ness
Essentials of a Pitch: http://ow.ly/SosBL @ava_jae
How to Find and Fix Your Novel’s Plot Holes: http://ow.ly/SosnU @shesnovel
How To Become a Better Writer Faster: http://ow.ly/SotBf @joebunting
Crowd-funding for self-publishing authors: http://ow.ly/Sosf5 @novelexperienc3
Cut Down on Wrist Pain with a Vertical Mouse: http://ow.ly/SoueY @jenn_mattern
Crime Writing: Exceptions to Search Warrants: http://ow.ly/Sou73 @SueColetta1
6 Reasons to Push Yourself Outside a Comfort Zone With Creative Side Projects: http://ow.ly/SotEV @DanBlank
Pseudonyms for indie authors: http://ow.ly/Soump @denisebarnesuk
Does Paid Marketing Work for Authors? http://ow.ly/Sour3 @OrnaRoss
Police and Fed Terminology for Crime Writers: http://ow.ly/Soubk @SueColetta1
10 Common Writing Errors: http://ow.ly/SosIc @JHUSarah
The 10 Secrets Of Resilient Characters: http://ow.ly/SosxO @writers_write
How to Become a Columnist: The Importance of Persistence and Practice: http://ow.ly/Soss4 @LuukKoelman
One Secret to Write a Classic Children’s Book: http://ow.ly/Skly7 @hodgeswriter
Why we shouldn’t dismiss adverbs: http://ow.ly/Sklds by Barbara Baig
How to Use Your Research Without Annoying Readers: http://ow.ly/SknEQ @hollyrob1
Beware Groupthink: 10 Red Flags When Choosing a Crit Group: http://ow.ly/SklLX @annerallen
The Magic Number: Why Witches Come in Threes: http://ow.ly/SkoJb @Paul_Cornell
Don’t Be Afraid To Break Our Story: http://ow.ly/Skls0 @_JennyMoyer
Deadlines: Helpful or Harmful? http://ow.ly/Skm24 @HeatherJacksonW
When our publisher declares bankruptcy: http://ow.ly/SklPB @Janet_Reid
How should you credit your editor? Advice from a former publisher: http://ow.ly/Skm3o @Roz_Morris
4 Ways Being a Writer Teaches You to be a Better Person: http://ow.ly/SkmeN @booktrib @KMWeiland
Writers, stay true to your standards: http://ow.ly/SklIm @Roz_Morris
2 writers, 1 voice: writing partners: http://ow.ly/SkliU @thewordmavens
Communicating Indirectly With Readers: http://ow.ly/StWk4
The State of the Publishing Industry in 5 Charts: http://ow.ly/SsZr4 @JaneFriedman
Age, Surveys, And Income: The Authors Guild€™s View: http://ow.ly/SsSjZ @Porter_Anderson @mariraz
Riddles in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/SsRzZ @mkinberg
Got a Pen Name? Here’s How to Market Your Books: http://ow.ly/Sh4Zu @CaballoFrances
Tips for Picking Up the Pace: http://ow.ly/SsNpR @SusanKelley
5 Tips for Success as a Self-Published Author: http://ow.ly/Sh55r @susankayequinn
5 Out-of-the-Box Writing Prompt Sources: http://ow.ly/Sh4Fp @EmilyWenstrom
The Problem of Advice: http://ow.ly/Sh4RO @CarrieMesrobian
Outlining using a 6 stage plot structure: http://ow.ly/Sh4L3 from Nova Zero Writing
On creating characters: http://ow.ly/Sh4AY @gointothestory
Take Your Writing Outdoors: 9 Tips for Successfully Working Outside: http://ow.ly/Sh52R @Kristen_E_Pope
5 Things We Can Do To Improve Our Writing: http://ow.ly/Sh4vs @Savage_Woman
Quick Fix: Tips for Self-editing: http://ow.ly/Sh4Im @lindasclare
Writing for Kids: The Low-Down on Lexile Levels: http://ow.ly/Sh4lb @AmyBearce
Screenwriting Basics: Story’s Holy Trinity: http://ow.ly/Sh4oQ @ozzywood
How to Break the Rules: Never Start With Backstory: http://ow.ly/Sh4O4 @notjustanyboggs
Worldbuilding: Using Taboos in a Culture: http://ow.ly/Se8nW @cinehead
How Authors Can Use Listopia to Promote Their Book: http://ow.ly/Sea77 @aBookPublicist
When to Keep Secrets and When to Tell Truths : http://ow.ly/Se7wZ @bstarknemon
Deconstructing Back Cover Copy: http://ow.ly/Se7YY @betternovelproj
How to use Google analytics as an author: http://ow.ly/Se83F @nicholesevern
Using Dreams in Literature: http://ow.ly/Se7FE @kelsieengen
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September 24, 2015
Writing the Cozy Mystery: the Setting and the Sidekick
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
This is the fourth part in my series on writing cozy mysteries. Today, I’m covering two important elements of our story: the setting and our sidekick.
Most cozy mysteries shoot for a very closed environment and a closed group of suspects from which to choose from.
You can still maintain a closed environment in a large city or bigger town (I did in my Memphis series), but it’s a little harder, I think. Although I’ve got a city as a backdrop for the story, I center much of the story action around a barbeque restaurant. This doesn’t mean we can’t stray from these central locations, but they serve to make the setting seem more intimate (yes, cozy) and create a home base for the sleuths. Sleuths can interview suspects from there, use it as a place to discuss the case with their sidekicks, and generally interact with the other characters.
In fact, even if you’re writing a small town cozy, it still helps to have a home base for the story, especially if you’re trying to sell the mystery to a traditional press. This is why I have the quilt shop in the Southern Quilting mysteries. It’s a good way to incorporate the series hook (cuisine, crafts, etc.), which are still (from what I can see) pretty vital to selling our book to trade presses.
Having written both types of settings, I do think that writing a cozy set in a small town is easier. That’s because you already have your ready-made closed setting: the small town itself. You also have the chance of an easier “in” with the police since your sleuth is dealing with a smaller police department instead of the NYPD. And you can easily produce both red herrings and clues in small towns through gossip. Everyone knows everyone in a small town. And people are eager/desperate to hide their secrets. If they can.
Readers typically like an armchair visit to the area we’re writing about. Writing setting is never my favorite thing, but I like to help readers experience the South (my setting) through food, choice in diction, and cultural customs.
Another important consideration is our sleuth’s sidekick. Sidekicks helps prevent endless internal dialogue for the sleuth. It’s not good for our story’s pace to keep our sleuth too much in her own head. Much better to have her discuss the case’s ins and outs with her loyal sidekick and let them act as a sounding board.
It’s also good for story pace and conflict if our sidekick acts as a foil for our sleuth. Sometimes they can provide push-back or maybe they have their own ideas as to the murderer’s identity.
It can be helpful (and more realistic) if your sidekick has a gift or talent of some kind that can complement the sleuth’s abilities.
How the sidekick interacts with the sleuth can also be revealing. Do they build the sleuth up? Do they help to ground the sleuth and knock her ego down to size if it threatens to get too big?
They can provide humor or can act as a straight man for our sleuth.
What other considerations for setting and sidekick should we consider…what have I missed?
Tips for cozy mystery settings and sidekicks:
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Image: MorgueFile: Jade
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September 20, 2015
Communicating Indirectly With Readers
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
At the very start of this blog back in 2008, I tried to figure out who I was writing for. I’d read a lot of advice at the time that blogging was a good way to connect to readers.
Instead, I decided to stay in my comfort zone and make my blog writer-focused.
I took a class on building a social media platform. It recommended interfacing with readers instead of writers.
Instead, I decided to stay in my comfort zone and focus on connecting with writers on social media.
Despite my complete disregard of all the excellent advice that I’d gone searching for, this reader avoidance on my part worked really well. I built a large platform online. Readers could easily find me because of good SEO. They’d message me on Facebook or email me if they wanted to connect and communicated directly with me. I care a lot about my readers and I answer their messages promptly. But I was very shy about seeking them out.
It’s been a couple of years now that I finally started thinking about ways to connect with my readers.
I originally went about it the wrong way. I asked “where are my readers?” and then set out to join them.
The problem with this is that the last thing I wanted to do was to chase down my readers. I certainly didn’t want them to think that I was following them around the internet, trying to badger them to buy my books. The thought was completely horrifying to me and felt like author intrusion of the worst kind.
I knew my readers were on Pinterest and Facebook. These are two platforms that I don’t actually enjoy. I tried to interact more on Facebook through a group I was in…a trad published email loop type thing. But I was uncomfortable. And Pinterest I just didn’t get. So I started avoiding those sites.
Clearly, that approach wasn’t going to work. I’ve seen other cozy mystery writers doing a bang-up job on those platforms. They don’t badger their readers at all. They post recipes, what they’re eating for supper, cute pet photos, ask questions like “what was your favorite lunchbox when you were a kid?” I just wasn’t up to the task. Even with the computer to hide behind, I’m simply too introverted to interact that way.
I’m likely one of the last authors to jump on the newsletter bandwagon. I’d heard from day one about the importance of building our list of subscribers. Even if Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon all somehow went down in flames, we’d still have our list. We could contact those readers directly and let them know of our new releases. But, since this was me, I didn’t start doing this on day one because I didn’t want to bother my readers by popping up in their email inboxes.
Fortunately, I finally came around to see sense in this one area. Although I don’t send newsletters often, they have become my most important way of connecting with my readers.
Other ways of indirect communication (broadcasting) that are important marketing tools for writers:
Author notes at the ends of our books. We can talk about how we came up with our ideas or characters or what our writing process is like. It doesn’t really matter what we’re talking about–it’s the fact that we’re communicating with our readers in ways separate from our fiction.
Our Amazon Author Central page. Are we making the most of it? Could we film a short video on our phone and upload it to our Amazon page–speaking directly to our readers?
Audio. If we’re not comfortable with video (I wasn’t comfortable with it, but…I did it), then could we put an audio clip up on our website? Again, talking directly to our readers. Here’s my post on how I used SoundCloud (free) to put an audio clip on my site.
If you’re an author who feels a lot more comfortable networking and connecting with other writers, don’t think that you have to chase your readers down. There are other effective and less time-consuming ways of making ourselves available to our readers.
How do you connect with readers?
Tips for indirect communication with readers:
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Image: MorgueFile: Jppi
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September 19, 2015
Twitterific Writing Links
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.
How Not to Collaborate on a Story: http://ow.ly/SaMmm @davey_beauchamp
How to Be a Better Writer: Turn Struggle Into Success: http://ow.ly/SaIAI @hughosmith
Great Character: Karl Childers (Sling Blade”): http://ow.ly/SaKPa @gointothestory”
Introducing Characters in a Scene: http://ow.ly/SaMBg @Janice_Hardy
How to Create a Remarkable Villain (Beyond the Clichés: ) http://ow.ly/Se7N6 by David Villalva @betternovelproj
On Story Prep: http://ow.ly/Se7Ip @gointothestory
How to Write a Bio to Turbocharge Our Guest Posts: http://ow.ly/Se898 @RidethePen
Plane Crashes and Writing: 6 Sources of Common Ground: http://ow.ly/Sea0g @jan_ohara
Is our crit partner worth the stress? http://ow.ly/Seaj7 @nicholesevern
Effective Ways to Make Characters More Memorable: http://ow.ly/Se9ES @DeanElphick
4 Benefits of Pre-Writing: http://ow.ly/SaIK3 @ink_and_quills @shesnovel
Negotiate Contracts Like a Pro: http://ow.ly/SaHMh @susanspann
Symbolism in our writing: http://ow.ly/SaI4B @SonjaYoerg
10 Bad Writing Habits to Break: http://ow.ly/SaKvn @WritersCoach
11 Problems All Writers Face: http://ow.ly/SaLV7 @cheryljmuir
The Dos and Don’ts of Character Bios: http://ow.ly/SaJP4 @ink_and_quills
100 Writing Practice Lessons & Exercises: http://ow.ly/SaLu2 @write_practice
3 Steps for Creating Realistic Fantasy Races and Creatures: http://ow.ly/SaJjX @ink_and_quills
Find an Extra Hour Every Day With a 5-Minute List: http://ow.ly/SnvFN @jenn_mattern
On author surveys: #FutureChat 4pBST / 11aET (now) @Porter_Anderson
A look at recent author surveys: http://ow.ly/Snvu0 @Porter_Anderson @futurebook
What does it take to be a successful indie writer? http://ow.ly/S8Qkr @ShawnInmon
The appeal of the traditional mystery: http://ow.ly/Sny5Z @mkinberg
3 Tips for Writing More Concisely: http://ow.ly/S8PQp @AnneGreenawalt
26 Creative Ways to Publish Social Media Updates: http://ow.ly/S8PVs @smexaminer @aliventures
Why Change Your Book Cover Artwork? http://ow.ly/S8QhC @RachelAmphlett @mollygreene
5 Hacks to Create a Good Writing Habit: http://ow.ly/S8Qbm @joebunting
How to Plot a Romance Novel: http://ow.ly/S8Q53 @nownovel
6 ways to work past blogger’s block: http://ow.ly/S8PYY @the writersasst
5 Absolute Dimensions of Character Personality: http://ow.ly/S8PSU @writingeekery
Legality of pseudonyms: http://ow.ly/S8Qsh @Janet_Reid
The Second Draft: http://ow.ly/S8PPw @mbtinsley
Tips for Building A Winning Social Media Marketing Strategy: http://ow.ly/S8Q39 by Elna Cain
Tips for starting a newsletter: http://ow.ly/S8Qeu @bookgal
How To Get Back Into Writing (Once You’’ve Lost Your Groove): http://ow.ly/S6AXa @MudpieWriting
The Authors Guild Survey’s Self-Selected Sample: More Fuel On The Fire? http://ow.ly/Sk2XU @Porter_Anderson @barryeisler
Writing Strong Scenes: 5 Tips http://ow.ly/S6BAX @angee
Writing Your Book’s Back-Cover Copy: http://ow.ly/S6BPr @JRHwords
5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Writing Workshop: http://ow.ly/S6Bx7 @BernadetteMung
How to Set Readers Up For Success: http://ow.ly/S6AAU @denisedrespling
Growing your vocabulary by using etymology: http://ow.ly/S6BNc @kseniaanske
8 Things to Know (From a Former Journalist): http://ow.ly/S6AKe by R.G. Belsky
17 Screenwriting Scenes To Use In Your Novel: http://ow.ly/S6Bmy @writers_write
What Writers Can Do When Writing Advice Conflicts: http://ow.ly/S6BIL @MandyCorine
Use Facebook to Sell Books: http://ow.ly/S6zPS @pbackwriter
5 Things Productive Writers Do Differently: http://ow.ly/S6Bse @joebunting
How to Choose Amazon Keywords: http://ow.ly/S6Ahy @davidpenny_
AuthorEarnings: With a Dose of Hype: http://ow.ly/Sheyt @Porter_Anderson @ThoughtCatalog
4 Key Ways to Ramp Up Tension and Pacing in Our Fiction: http://ow.ly/S1EK5 @CSLakin
Which are the Best Email Service Providers for Writers? http://ow.ly/S1F44 @GaryJMcLaren
Worldbuilding for Urban Fantasy: http://ow.ly/S1Go2 @howtobeamazing
7 Ways to Become a Better Writer in 7 Days: http://ow.ly/S1H9A @marcykennedy
Should Indie Authors Worry About Piracy? http://ow.ly/S1F6U @BookWorksNYC @stapilus
Villains: The Real Stars: http://ow.ly/S1GVU @willvanstonejr @K8Tilton
18 steps to a successful book marketing campaign: http://ow.ly/S1FhN @WesJThomas
Where Indie Authors Should Sell Their Books: 7 Retailers: http://ow.ly/S1FXH @MSaintGermain
21 Writing Quotes on Getting Started: http://ow.ly/S1EST @GaryJMcLaren
Self-Publishing for Author/Illustrators: http://ow.ly/S1GKJ @Skipper_Bay
5 Reasons Authors Need Goodreads: http://ow.ly/S1FPN @terrywhalin
Growing Our Character Relationships to Grow Our Character: http://ow.ly/S1Gxk @Saboviec
Soundtracks For Books: How One Novelist Is Using Booktrack: http://ow.ly/S0pgn @ADStarrling @thecreativepenn
Is it Time to Say Goodbye to Microsoft Word? http://ow.ly/S0p1u @GaryJMcLaren
How to Write 5,000 Words a Day: http://ow.ly/S0bVF by Bamidele Onibalusi
No time to Write? A 3-Step Solution. http://ow.ly/S0bJM @RuthanneReid
The Fairy Tale Formula: How To Write A Case Study In 3 Easy Steps: http://ow.ly/S0bN4 @AnthonyEhlers
15 Compelling Reasons to be a Writer: http://ow.ly/S0oMc @GaryJMcLaren
Quirky Sources to Make Your Story a Winner: http://ow.ly/S0bsu @diannmills
A-Z Social Media Prompt: http://ow.ly/S0olt @JayArtale
Does an Author Really Need a Website? http://ow.ly/S0osF from Fix My Story
A Book Promo Cheat Sheet: http://ow.ly/S0bzR @JBennett111
How To Think about Multiple Points of View: http://ow.ly/S0c5s @patverducci
Scrivener: Re-outline, Reorder, Rewrite: http://ow.ly/S0oAw @YK_Greene
Fast Writers and Slow Writers: http://ow.ly/ScQiV
Why Scene Making is a Great Idea: http://ow.ly/RVe3f @lindasclare
Do You Still Need a Website as the Core of Your Online Platform? http://ow.ly/RYlch @karencv
The Socially Awkward Writer: http://ow.ly/RYl7Q @sarahcallender
Issues with the Audiobook Market: http://ow.ly/RYlJ6 @inkbitspixels
AI assesses the tone of our writing: http://ow.ly/RYlSo @bookworksnyc @roncallari
22 Ways a Blog Can Sell Books: http://ow.ly/RYm2n @JFBookman
How to Tackle List Building: http://ow.ly/RYlzw @KathleenGage
Remember that what you’re linking to on Twitter needs to be professional: http://ow.ly/RYlfT @booklaunchdemon
Define and Attract Your Target Audience: http://ow.ly/RYkQx @writerplatform
Should You Hire a Professional Book Cover Designer? http://ow.ly/RYl1W @ericaverrillo
4 Reasons Readers Don’t Buy Our Books: http://ow.ly/RYmae @Nick_Stephenson
The Harsh Truth Behind Print Sales: http://ow.ly/RYkMZ @lgoconnor1
7 Reasons Twitter is Great for Writers: http://ow.ly/RYmeZ @CaballoFrances
The links I shared last week: http://ow.ly/S8T39 .All the links (30K+) I’ve ever shared, free and searchable: writerskb.com
Not every indie writer finds success: looking for truth in time of hype: http://ow.ly/S8MME @Porter_Anderson @writerunboxed
What to Avoid in Our Cover Copy: http://ow.ly/RVf3d @ceciliaedits
The Hot Sheet: industry newsletter for authors (30 day free trial): http://ow.ly/S8KyU from @Porter_Anderson & @JaneFriedman”
10 Tools to Keep Writers Out of the Doctor’s Office: http://ow.ly/RVeSy @colleen_m_story
Writing mistakes to avoid: http://ow.ly/RVfoc @rxena77
14 Points To Consider Before Writing The Ending: http://ow.ly/RVdRf @writers_write
7 Things Learned about Day Jobs and Writing: http://ow.ly/RVeX8 @MRansomBooks
4 Reasons to Write Non-visual Description: http://ow.ly/RVeI3 @mrJRPatterson @thePenleak
29 Plot Templates: http://ow.ly/RVehy @fictionnotes
Last week's top writing links on Twitterific:
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