Riley Adams's Blog, page 123

10 Common Fiction Problems and How to Fix Them

Guest Post by Jack Smith

When you write and revise your fiction, you deal with a host of problems.  With some novels, it’s hard to decide on the right point of view.  With others, it’s a struggle to work out the plot.  Sometimes it’s a matter of getting the language down just right.  Of course it’s one thing to spot a problem, another to fix it.  Consider the following ten rather typical problems most fiction writers face—and some possible fixes.

A dull character

Perhaps in the abstract one can sympathize or empathize with your character’s ambitions, needs, desires, plight, etc., but when it comes down to the writing itself, the character is flat-out dull, vacuous—bearing nothing distinctly human.   If this is the case, you need to individualize your character by including:

something interesting about this character’s physical appearance
an interesting, suggestive name
some personality quirks or oddities
some contradictions or inner conflicts
some unique, defining traits

If you do these things, or some of them, your character will come alive on the page and won’t be merely a textbook case.

Lack of character motivation

A story or novel might have sufficient conflict, but this conflict might lack clear anchoring (or context) in character.  What makes this conflict so important to this particular character?  Why does this character react the way he or she does?  To make sure conflict comes out of character, you need to consider the following:

The character’s particular personality and temperament
The character’s take on self and others
The character’s past (if something in the past drives the character in the present)
The character’s desires and ambitions
Motivations that follow from the above

Keep in mind too that ordinary conflicts can become important when they reveal deeper roots in your character.  You don’t have to go for life-death struggles.

Flat dialogue

If the dialogue sounds pretty ho-hum to you, you can bet it will to readers.   You can improve flat dialogue by trying out the following:

Using fragments—at least when characters are responding to each other
Using clipped, staccato sentences
Using ellipsis for pauses
Using italics or capitalization—sparingly, judiciously, though
Having characters interrupt each other
Having characters abruptly change the subject
Having characters dodge questions
Including provocative ideas (accusations, threats, statements of remorse, etc.)
Avoiding too-obvious use of dialogue as expository information (certainly characters can function as expository devices, but be subtle; if you’re not, the dialogue will get over-explanatory, and boring, in a hurry)
Making sure character personality is revealed in speech and gesture


A half-baked plot

The conflict might be there, but the character arc isn’t fully developed.  What needs to be added?  Here’s how to decide:

Sum up your plot in one sentence
Develop this one-sentence summary of plot into a paragraph
From this one paragraph summary, list key events and the causal relationship between each event in the story
For a novel, write succinct chapter summaries
Identify the missing links in the plot—what has to be included to complete the character arc?
Fill in where needed, being sure not to force things


A loose structure

When the story seems scattered, with lack of clear focus, consider doing the following:

Decide on the overall character arc
Prune out extraneous material that takes the reader off course—some of this material might be telescoped
Watch out for flashbacks that run too long, especially in a short story
Look for ways to include foreshadowing at strategic places
Look for ways to include echoes (of earlier developments) at strategic places


Authorial intrusion

When the third person—especially the omniscient narrator—“tells” too much and/or doesn’t leave the story in the hands of the characters, the story or novel will lack the feel of real life.   Avoid the following:

Manipulation of character action. Be sure the action is properly motivated by character.
Manipulation of plot. Be sure you don’t make everything come out a certain way.  Let your character reach his or level like water does.  Things may not end up quite like you imagined.  Be open to some surprises.
Authorial thought and speech. It’s okay to have in mind what a character is likely to think and say, but if it seems like these are your authorial thoughts, and not fitting to your character, again let loose the reins and see how the character changes.

Think of authorial intrusion as the puppeteer author standing outside the characters, pulling their strings, making them perform and telling about them instead of being inside the characters, revealing their innermost lives.

A story or novel opening that lacks flair

The first paragraph of your story or novel needs to pull the reader in.  If it doesn’t, you might try a different approach.   Here are some things to try out:

Try all four fictional modes—exposition, description, narrative summary, and scene—and choose the opening which grabs your reader’s attention the most.
Try cutting the first few paragraphs, or even a page or more, and see if the work gets off to a more interesting start.
Start with conflict, suspense, something that provokes thought.


A dull ending

A dull ending can result from at least two problems—no surprises and lack of flair.

No surprises: Leave some questions for your reader. Don’t introduce entirely new characters and conflicts, but leave some room for interpretation in terms of character, plot, and ideas, which you’ve been developing all along.
Lack of flair: Choose the narrative mode that gives the most punch to the writing. Study short story endings and novel endings.  Remember, this is the final impression you leave with your reader.  It needs to stir the reader’s emotions and thought.


A clunky prose style

If the language of your story or novel sounds amateurish, it can be fixed.  To fix it, make sure the language itself has some surprises:

Work in some twists and turns—surprises at the sentence level.
Work in some interesting metaphors, similes, or analogies, avoiding clichés. Let your imagination run. Don’t force it, but be open to clever figurative comparisons.
Choose the word with the most punch. Don’t use a thesaurus, unless you check usage in a dictionary.


Lack of editing

This comes down to typos, spelling errors, mechanics gone awry like faulty punctuation, sentence logic problems, and poor word choice.  Read your short story or novel over carefully.  Get someone else to read it over.  Check a handbook.

A Final word or two

The above just scratches the surface when it comes to dealing with the many problems one faces in writing good fiction.  And sometimes it’s really hard to spot exactly what the problem is.  If several readers are finding a common problem, then that tells you something.  And then it’s a matter of fixing things to your own satisfaction.  Don’t rely too much on others; it’s got to work for you.

Jack Smith is author of the novel Hog to Hog, which won the George Garrett FictionPrize (Texas Review Press. 2008), and is also the author of Write and Revise for Publication: A 6-Month Plan for Crafting an Exceptional Novel and Other Works of Fiction, published earlier this year by Writer’s Digest. His novel ICON  was published in June 2014 by Serving House Book

Over the years, Smith’s short stories have appeared in North American Review, Night Train, Texas Review, and Southern Review, to name a few. He has also written some 20 articles for Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market, as well as a dozen or so pieces for The Writer. He has published reviews in numerous literary journals, including Ploughshares, Georgia Review, Missouri Review, Prairie Schooner, American Review, Mid-American Review, and the Iowa Review.

The post 10 Common Fiction Problems and How to Fix Them appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

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.

8 Tips to Liven Up An Author Webinar:  http://ow.ly/H7Inh @wordsprof

What Does Strong Mean to You?  http://ow.ly/H7Ini  @tracythewriter

How to outline a short story for beginners:  http://ow.ly/H7I0K @writers_write

Checking Out: A Writer Reboots in Mid-Life:  http://ow.ly/H7Inj @jenpastiloff.       

The Shady Side of New Publishing Opportunities http://ow.ly/H7IaP @SharonBially

Evaluating Publishing Contracts: 6 Ways You May Be Sabotaging Yourself http://ow.ly/H7Ink @victoriastrauss

Writing ‘Authentic’ Characters of Color in 1st Person:  http://ow.ly/H7Inm from Mod Colette

Create emotionally effective scenes:  how musical theater handles key story elements:  http://ow.ly/H7Inn @AlexSokoloff

10 Ways To Turn Your Real Life Experiences Into Science Fiction:  http://ow.ly/H7Ino @io9

Query question: repurposing a short story http://ow.ly/H7cG9 @Janet_Reid

Audiobooks, Author Earnings, Global Focus And More:  http://ow.ly/H7Inq @thecreativepenn @hughmcguire

13 Female Nobel Laureates In Literature:  http://ow.ly/H7Inr @writers_write

Elements of Modern Storytelling––Characters:  http://ow.ly/Hao8F @Alfreda89

How to Use a Scheduling Tool With Your Social Media: http://ow.ly/Hao8J @Catrambo

On Being Empty: When A Writer Isn’t Writing:  http://ow.ly/Hao8L @robin_black

Novel Writing: Lessons Learned:  http://ow.ly/Hao8O @gabrielle_h

The Need for Factual Fiction:  http://ow.ly/Hao8S @altongansky

5 fast ways to write an ebook:  http://ow.ly/Hao8X from WriteWorld

Should You Write a Memoir?  http://ow.ly/H6SKk @alanasaltz

Tips for Creating a Genderless Character:  http://ow.ly/H6SKj @JordanDane

Establishing Your Unique Author Brand :  http://ow.ly/H6SKg @marygkeeley

How to Make, Meet, and Exceed Your 2015 Writing Goals: http://ow.ly/H6SKe @PenandMuse

The Importance of a Great Author Headshot:  http://ow.ly/H6SKd from Sara Chambers

Query question: asking to resubmit a manuscript: http://ow.ly/H6SK9 @Janet_Reid

Writing More Diverse Characters-The TCI:  http://ow.ly/H6SK8

Rising above negative reviews:  http://ow.ly/H6SK6 @writetodone

Bad Writing Habits to Avoid: http://ow.ly/H6SK4

Tips for Balancing Work, Life, and Writing:  http://ow.ly/Hqgby @buddhapuss @mkinberg

3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Writing an Author Business Plan: http://ow.ly/H6SK3 @MarcyKennedy

The Final Showdown: Writing Fight Scenes:  http://ow.ly/H6SK2 @raynehall

Don’t Make Resolutions. Set Goals:  http://ow.ly/HqcFE @authorterryo

Filling in Story Detail and Benefits of Editing:  http://ow.ly/HqbVA

Flog a Pro: would you turn this bestselling author’s first page? http://ow.ly/H6SKb @rayrhamey

Results of studies on kids and ebooks and personalization of books for kids:  http://ow.ly/HmIXp @Porter_Anderson

Writing to Draw Readers in Emotionally:  http://ow.ly/H503n @NanciPanuccio

Post apocalyptic cliches to avoid: http://ow.ly/H503i from Writing Questions Answered

Creating Unforgettable Characters:  http://ow.ly/H503d @KAMcCleary

Tips for writing in multiple points of view:  http://ow.ly/H503a @glencstrathy

10 Ways to Write Your Way Around the World:  http://ow.ly/H5035  @wherewriterswin

Writing for Kids: Even Villains Have Mothers:  http://ow.ly/H5031 @pubhub_blog

The Central Question:  http://ow.ly/H502Y  @Diana_Hurwitz

32 Facebook Groups for Authors:  http://ow.ly/H502W @ericaverrillo

Strong sales in the children’s book market:  http://ow.ly/Hnwod @Porter_Anderson  #DBW15

Freelancers: 6 Strategies for a Powerful About Page:  http://ow.ly/H502T @menwithpens

5 Steps for Crafting the Perfect Book Review Pitch:  http://ow.ly/H502P @bookgal

6 Steps for Self-Marketing your eBook:  http://ow.ly/H502N  @novelpublicity

Can ‘Lone Ranger’ writers succeed? http://ow.ly/H502L  @rachellegardner

Authors discuss the worth of crowdfunding:  http://ow.ly/Hjbz0 @Porter_Anderson

Painting Characters into Corners:  http://ow.ly/GZbnX @NancyFulda

How Characters Can Become Stories – by Erika Wassall:  http://ow.ly/GZbnU

Why Soundtracks For Books Are Great For Readers And Authors:  http://ow.ly/GZbnS @pccameron

When to Cut That Scene:  http://ow.ly/GZbnQ from Chris Winkle and @Mythcreants

5 Ways to Reveal Backstory When Writing A Novel:  http://ow.ly/GZbnL @rogerdcolby

Describing a character’s scent:  http://ow.ly/GZbnK from Writeworld

6 Ways to Make Characters Stand Out in a Crowd:  http://ow.ly/GZbnG @jodyhedlund

3 tips to amp up your writing:  http://ow.ly/GZbnD @SueColetta1

Using Control Most Effectively Pre and Post Contract:  http://ow.ly/HjavF @MartinaABoone via @alexjcavanaugh

Revision Checklist: Exposition:  http://ow.ly/GZbnz from Fix Your Writing Habits

How to be a Better Writer: Talk about Your Projects:  http://ow.ly/GZbnw @ErinMFeldman

A tip for condensing your writing:  http://ow.ly/GZbnu

Looking Under Your World’s Skin:  http://ow.ly/GZbnI  from Brandon Kier

Character Development Checklist – 13 Points To Consider:  http://ow.ly/GXuAW @writers_write

How to Find and Keep Readers for Your Blog:  http://ow.ly/GXuAT @JanetKGrant

Writing Poverty in YA:  http://ow.ly/GXtMH @KateBrauning

Rewriting: Something has to happen:  http://ow.ly/GXuAP  @AlexSokoloff

Noun Clauses:  http://ow.ly/GXuAO @writing_tips

Can Your Character Survive Multiple Attackers? Info for Writers:  http://ow.ly/GXuAL @PaulRockHiggins

Top 5 Twitter Pitch Mistakes:  http://ow.ly/GXuAJ @ava_jae

Conscious vs. Unconscious Action:  http://ow.ly/GXuAG @Kid_Lit

3 Simple and Efficient eBook Marketing Tips:  http://ow.ly/GXuAE @ChatEbooks

The omniscient narrator:  http://ow.ly/GXuAA @monicamclark

The @DigiBookWorld conference is being live-tweeted by @Porter_Anderson at #DBW15

3 Stages of a Query Letter http://ow.ly/GXuAx from Amy B at @PubHub_blog

Minimalism When Writing Fiction:  http://ow.ly/GXuAv  @jan_ohara

10 Tips on Writing from Joyce Carol Oates:  http://ow.ly/GShZe @brainpicker

15 Tips for Aspiring Writers from 5 Successful Authors:  http://ow.ly/GShZ6 @SimoneHCollins

Genre Novels That Should be Classics:  http://ow.ly/GShZ0 @flavorwire

Indie Authors: Dealing with Reviews, the Good and Bad:  http://ow.ly/GShYS @sabsky

A New Architecture Of Algorithms: Trajectory and Discoverability:  http://ow.ly/HcGlK @Porter_Anderson @trajectory

Blogging for Authors: How to Create a Blog that Can Grow With Your Career: http://ow.ly/GShYP @annerallen

Creating an Anthology:  http://ow.ly/GShYL from Jodi Webb

5 Tips for Writing Action-Packed Fight Scenes:  http://ow.ly/GShYH from Cut Scene Addict

6 tips for writing historical fiction:  http://ow.ly/GShYC  @DinahJefferies @womenwriters

Getting Started With Scrivener:  http://ow.ly/GSem1 @jamesscottbell

Reedsy-a Marketplace for Indie Writers:  http://ow.ly/HarBm @ReedsyHQ

Tips for writing spies/spying:  http://ow.ly/GShYv from A Lighter With Love

Facebook for Authors: Getting Started Guide:  http://ow.ly/GSeLr @Janefriedman

The Lonely Writer:  http://ow.ly/GShYq @wordsxo

Elevators/lifts in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/Haghm @mkinberg

Music For Writers: Martin Bresnick And The Terrible Beauty Of Sorrow: http://ow.ly/H7Gpw @Porter_Anderson

How Not to Query an Agent:  http://ow.ly/GQq7W @C_Herringshaw

Tips for Writing an Autistic Character:  http://ow.ly/GQq7V from Fix Your Writing Habits

Dealing with Pacing Problems:  http://ow.ly/GQq7T @jakedfw

If We Write It, We Have to Own It – and So Does Our Publisher:  http://ow.ly/GQq7S @behlerpublish

How Image Boards Help Your Writing: http://ow.ly/GQq7Q @writeabook

How Facebook Changes for 2015 Could Affect Authors:  http://ow.ly/GQq7O @ediemelson

The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Filling in Detail and Benefits of Editing

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Detail and description is, I think, a little tricky.  Two of my series require a lot of it because of the nature of the subgenre.  The quilting mysteries and the Memphis barbeque series are both cozy series with a series hook (crafting and cuisine).  My editors for those series have mentioned to me many times that readers of these series really appreciate a good deal of description in terms of the hook.  My most current editorial letter asks me for more detail on the quilts the characters are working on, for instance.

On the other hand, my self-published Myrtle Clover mysteries don’t have a series hook (I’ve wondered before if this were a reason the series was dropped by the publisher years ago).  The descriptions I use for the characters and settings are sketchier—more of the types of descriptions I like as a reader.  I like to get just enough so that I can mentally say, “Oh, okay.  So that character sort of resembles my Uncle Joe. Got it.”

Here are examples of the kinds of detail my editor wanted elaborated in the book that will release later this year:

More detail on the festival described in the book.  Where is it held in the town? How many acres does it take up?  Could I describe the bluegrass musicians?

Describe the new quilters that are at a workshop that’s being sponsored at the quilt shop.  Show readers what they’re working on.

Since one character is a professional florist, what does her yard look like?

More description on a character who is a suspect in the book.  Since this character is also marrying a recurring series character, my editor also wanted a bit of backstory fit into dialogue: how did these characters meet?  When were they engaged?

In addition, sometimes I’m too quick to end a scene that isn’t directly tied into the mystery or that might further develop a relationship.

Some examples from my edit letter:

Show more of the bonding of my protagonist and another important character.

How does the constant canceling by the protagonist’s boyfriend bother the protagonist?

Show the protagonist’s daughter comforting her mother following a frightening event.

Show the protagonist and her boyfriend finally enjoying a lunch together…their conversations.

Show more of the hour the protagonist and her boyfriend spend together at the festival.

Instead of saying that the protagonist’s daughter and the protagonist shared a nice dinner, show the dinner happening and what was said.

It seems that I’d rather tell instead of show when:

The scene doesn’t have direct relevance to the mystery
It covers something I feel I’m not particularly adept at writing…romance, for instance, or description.

I know that I’m a writer who likes to stay on-task and on-topic and who is especially focused on the story’s mystery. Although I know these things to be true about myself (because, really, of the last six years of reading edit letters and comments from editors in Track Changes), it’s still hard sometimes to gauge where elaboration would be useful versus where it would just bog down the story.  My personal preference is for very little description, but then I read customer reviews where the readers rave about ‘feeling as if they were there.’  That wouldn’t have happened if my editors hadn’t pushed me to fill in more of the detail.

The more I write detail and, yes, the more I write the romantic subplot, the better I get.  As with anything.  I clearly shouldn’t just avoid it if I’m insecure about it. It’s an opportunity to learn and develop as a writer.

I know now that one of the reasons the readers are buying the crafting cozies and the culinary cozies are for those descriptions. They want to feel the texture of the fabrics and taste the barbeque.  This was just something I didn’t completely understand about the subgenre that I write. It’s not all about the mystery.

So…I’m thinking this applies to other genres too. Obviously we all need description in our books. And sometimes we need to veer off the main plot to expand on relationships in our stories. Maybe there’s a horrible virus that’s wiping out the planet…but expounding on the relationships or alliances formed during the race for survival will flesh the characters out and make them real to readers. And make readers care more about the outcome.  Keep them reading.

The amount that’s required may vary, according to our genre or subgenre.  Whatever it takes to hook our readers, to make our world and our characters real to them…that’s what we’ve got to deliver.  And an editor who’s very familiar with our genre can help us figure out what level that is.  Readers help with this, as well…I’m one for monitoring the customer reviews on Amazon for research.

How much detail, background, and relationship-oriented scenes do you offer readers?  How do you gauge whether you’re on-target?

Image from Death to the Stock Photo: Seattle

The post Filling in Detail and Benefits of Editing appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Reedsy: a Marketplace for Indie Writers

Note from Elizabeth: Several years ago, when I took the self-publishing plunge, the scariest part of the process for me was making an investment in my writing without the promise of a payout.  What’s more, at the time, it was a sort of wild west of providers. Connecting with a cover designer or a freelance editor or a solid formatter was a word-of-mouth process…and if someone had good word-of-mouth, they were totally booked.

Ricardo Fayet reached out to me last July about what he called a “curated self-publishing marketplace” and wanted to know if I’d chat with him on the phone about his start-up and a little on my thoughts of what self-publishing authors would find useful.

Reedsy is now available to authors as a tool to find professionals for our books.   What’s more, it’s currently free for authors.  (And, as a note, I’m not associated with Reedsy in any way aside from a beta view of the marketplace.)

Presenting Reedsy: where authors meet the best publishing professionals

by Ricardo Fayet, @RicardoFayet, @ReedsyHQ

“The fast-growing self-publishing environment is attracting all kinds of start-ups and companies that intend to serve authors. However, most of them seem to aim at the periphery of what authors really need, which in my opinion, is primarily editors and cover designers.” – Joanna Penn

Joanna absolutely hit the nail on the head, and I started Reedsy to properly and completely address this gap in today’s self-publishing marketplace.

The seismic shift in our industry toward indie book production means that some of the best editors and designers around are now working freelance. These professionals are approaching the business of books with sky-high standards and, in some cases, industry experience that first-time authors will find invaluable. The best editors and designers out there do not struggle to find work, and they certainly don’t dignify bargain-basement bidding marketplaces like Elance or Odesk with their presence.

In so many ways, these professionals are the unsung heroes of the self-publishing revolution. They’re the ones who transform “this thing you’ve kinda been working on” into a bona fide novel. And now that indies are “running with the big dogs”, this kind of work is practically invaluable.

So how is an indie author meant to find the kind of high-level freelancers she needs to make her book spectacular?

Enter Reedsy.

We’ve assembled a tightly curated marketplace of the best editors, proofreaders, illustrators and designers in the world. From over 3000 applications received since last year, we have hand-picked about 200 of them to create a Reedsy profile, where they list their genre specialisation, work experience, portfolio, etc. Authors can browse the marketplace according to their needs and genre, then select up to 5 freelancers to ask for a sample (for editing) and a quote.

We at Reedsy like to think of ourselves as much more than a marketplace or intermediary. We are a technology company at heart (take a look at our gorgeous interface, and you’ll see what I mean). We’re using our tech resources to make authors’ and freelancers’ lives easier. We’re adding value to collaborations through a built-in a set of cloud-based project management tools that range in purpose from the aforementioned quoting/sampling system to messaging, file-sharing and versioning, and multi-currency payment capacities. All of that in one place, designed with intuitive use in mind.

As vetted freelancers keep joining our network on a daily basis, we’re preparing some nice surprises for the next few months: we’ll be adding publicists, and vetting them incredibly carefully. We’ll also be releasing some exciting author profiles (aggregating Amazon, Goodreads and blogging platform information). Finally, we’re working on a brand new writing and editing tool that we’re confident will dramatically improve the way authors and editors work together.

So that’s Reedsy–quite simply, the best place for authors to meet freelance publishing professionals. Oh, and one last thing: for now, Reedsy is 100% free to authors.

Check us out here and let us know if you have any questions here.

Ricardo is an avid reader and startup enthusiast who has been studying the publishing industry with curious eyes for several years. He co-founded Reedsy with the ambition to make a difference in the publishing world.

The post Reedsy: a Marketplace for Indie Writers appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

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.

5 Key Plot Points:  http://ow.ly/GKiuY  @shauntagrimes

3 Things that Surprised an Agent About Publishing:  http://ow.ly/GKiv0 @RachelLKent

Most Common Writing Mistakes: Describing Character Movements:  http://ow.ly/GKiv5 @KMWeiland

Make 2015 your year to write:  http://ow.ly/GKiv7 @jennaavery       

ScriptLab: 1st 10 pages of Jaws: http://ow.ly/GKiva

You Can Boost Your Creativity By Looking At Art:  http://ow.ly/GK6vg  @SFGate

ISBNs: CreateSpace freebie or own ISBN? Pros and cons:  http://ow.ly/GKivd @Roz_Morris

Verb Mistakes: Irregular Verbs Bind, Grind, Find:  http://ow.ly/GLTAq @writing_tips

How to Make Good Grammar Part of Our Daily Life :  http://ow.ly/GLSZa @WritingForward

Why spunky heroines need to fight back. http://ow.ly/GLTAt @raynehall

Overcome Your Book Doubts By Asking Why: http://ow.ly/GLTAv  @jennienash

Top 10 writing duos:  http://ow.ly/GLTAw @guardianbooks

11 Ways to Become a Better Writer (Without Writing):  http://ow.ly/GLTAx @rachellegardner

Writing Your Main Character – Have You Seen This Man? http://ow.ly/GLTAA @drewyanno

10 Thoughts: Writing About Sex in YA Fiction & Otherwise:  http://ow.ly/GLTAD @CarrieMesrobian

Online Presence: Pros, Perils and Possibilities:  http://ow.ly/GLTAE @AngelaSlatter @thewritplatform

How to Nail Your Character’s Personality:  http://ow.ly/GLTAK @MaryVeeWriter

After launching a book:  http://ow.ly/GLTAN  @writerplatform

Four Tips on What NOT to Say (or Pitch or Do) to Get Your Book Reviewed:  http://ow.ly/GLTAQ @bookgal

Creating the visual world of your story:  http://ow.ly/GQq7A @ToniMcGeeCausey

Whose for Inanimate Objects? http://ow.ly/GQq7B @epbure

4 Hidden Habit Skills:  http://ow.ly/GQq7E  @sfwa

Past Tense v. Present Tense:  http://ow.ly/GQq7H @lindasclare

The best SF right now is happening in comics:  http://ow.ly/GQq7K @verge @A_Webster

Haven’t Finished Reading that Bestseller? You’re Not Alone:  http://ow.ly/GQq7L @pubperspectives

Writing A Critique: Reading Critically:  http://ow.ly/GKiuW @woodwardkaren

Writers and Editors on their Literary Resolutions:  http://ow.ly/GKiuU @ElectricLit

12-Steps to Self-Editing:  http://ow.ly/GKiuS @AnthonyEhlers

Mark Coker’s (Smashwords) Publishing Predictions for 2015:  http://ow.ly/GKiuP @markcoker

5 Ways to Move a Story Forward in Time:  http://ow.ly/GKiuN @UncommonYA

How To Tighten Up Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/GHeDh  @murdertakestime

General Tips and Resources for Writing and Publishing Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/GHeDf @bookbuzzr

Worksheets for Writers :  http://ow.ly/GHeDa @jamigold

3 Secrets of Transmitting Naked Emotions:  http://ow.ly/GHeD8 @writetodone

Tips for Managing Time as a Writer:  http://ow.ly/GHeD4  @Kariss_Lynch

Using Sensory Details to Enrich Your Story:  http://ow.ly/GHeD0 @brandedkristen

Openings, Hooks, and Breaking Rules:  http://ow.ly/GHeCW  @DavidBCoe

11 Shades Of Evil:  http://ow.ly/GHeCS from Mark Rigney

Dealing with Burnout:  http://ow.ly/GHeCN @AuthorKeller

Are Dark characters unlikable? http://ow.ly/GHeCM from Uchiha Sasuke

5 Literary Agents Who Blog About Query Writing:  http://ow.ly/GHeCJ @ShariLopatin

Not All Royalties Are Treated Equally:  http://ow.ly/GHeCG @author_sullivan

Ring Out the Old: Self Publishing Trends in 2014:  http://ow.ly/GHeCC @OrnaRoss

A closer look at crowdfunding:  http://ow.ly/GZf4l @Porter_Anderson @futurebook

How to make Wattpad work for you as an author:  http://ow.ly/GG7KN from The Indie Writer’s Guide

For newbies–how to become a novelist:  http://ow.ly/GG7KL @Katiewriting

Tone: Is your Romance Sensual or Intellectual? http://ow.ly/GG7KK @fictionnotes

7 “Be”-Attitudes of Finding Your Agent:  http://ow.ly/GG7KJ @jennybent

Can Being Tired Make Us Better Writers?  http://ow.ly/GG7KH @kristenlambtx

30 Writing eBooks for 99 Cents Each:  http://ow.ly/GXhPf @JanetBoyer

Writing for a blog vs writing for a book:  http://ow.ly/GG7KF @Roz_Morris

The New World of Writing: Pulp Speed:  http://ow.ly/GG7KE @deanwesleysmith

The elements of setting:  http://ow.ly/GG7KD @nownovel

Using Google Plus to rank higher on Google search:  http://ow.ly/GG7KC @Derek_Haines

Real Life Diagnostics: Does This Wake Up Scene Work? http://ow.ly/GG7KB @janice_hardy

1st Wed. of Each Month: Insecure Writer’s Support Group:  http://ow.ly/GVA27 . Resources for writers. @alexjcavanaugh

How to Use a Blog Editorial Calendar:  http://ow.ly/GG7Kz  @sueannedunlevie

What Not To Write: –10 Things To Avoid:  http://ow.ly/GG7KG @selfpubreview

The Inside-Out Character Development Model: http://ow.ly/GEvFD @DaxMacGregor

500 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing:  http://ow.ly/GEvFB @mhgonchar @nytimeslearning

Thoughts On 500 Consecutive Days of Writing:  http://ow.ly/GEvFz @jamietr

What does an editor cost? http://ow.ly/GEvFx  @blogbooktours

Do good characters inevitably make for bad fiction?  http://ow.ly/GEvFw @guardianbooks and Stuart Kelly

Need to Get Over It? Write about It:  http://ow.ly/GEvFv @writeabook

Tips for decluttering and backing up work:  http://ow.ly/GEvFt @annerallen

Behind Book Categories on Amazon: http://ow.ly/GEvFs @bookgal

15 Reading and Writing Communities to  Boost Your Platform:  http://ow.ly/GEvFr @ericaverrillo

Improve Your Promo Through Peer Collaboration:  http://ow.ly/GEvFo @storyrally

Bling, Cra-cra, Swag: Banished Words:  http://ow.ly/GSdC1 @Porter_Anderson @ThoughtCatalog

How Can Stillness Help Writers?  http://ow.ly/GEvFh @TEDTalks @galleycat

An Answer to the Novel’s Detractors:  http://ow.ly/GEvFE @adellewaldman @newyorker

Hashtag Dos and Don’ts:  http://ow.ly/GEvFk @bookgal

Transmedia Storytelling: ‘Inanimate Alice’,Kate Pullinger’s digital novel, is still young  http://ow.ly/GLenZ @Porter_Anderson

20 Ways to Become a More Productive Writer:  http://ow.ly/GxIwU @ninaamir

Adjectives with a different masculine and feminine form in English:  http://ow.ly/GxIwO from The Virtual Linguist

Observations from Years of Curating Content for Writers:  http://ow.ly/GQqei

General tips for writing a synopsis:  http://ow.ly/GxIwK from Jessica Faust

Tips For The Unknown Screenwriter:  http://ow.ly/GxIwE and http://ow.ly/GxIwF @scriptgods

Midlife crises in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/GxIwD @mkinberg

Paying it Forward and Asking for Help:   http://ow.ly/GxIww from Laurie Calkhoven

Alternative Endings as inspiration:  http://ow.ly/GxIws @NJFarmScribe

Books and blogs to help authors maintain a business mindset:  http://ow.ly/GxIwq @rachellegardner

Stop Perfectionism with MVPs:  http://ow.ly/GxIwm @99u @AllisonStadd

Readers Prefer Books Written by Authors of Their Own Gender: http://ow.ly/GxIwg  @passivevoiceblg

Great Writing Is Humble:  http://ow.ly/GxIw9 @theatlantic @joefassler

Blurb: a self-pub dream team? http://ow.ly/GLegI @Porter_Anderson

Making a fresh start–in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/GNEIj @mkinberg

12 Ways to Create a Mailing List That Will Sell Books:  http://ow.ly/GxIw6 @bookgal

Music For Writers: Florent Ghys and ‘Télévision’: http://ow.ly/GLdZ2 @Porter_Anderson

Writing a Protagonist Both Unique and Universal: http://ow.ly/GuecF @KMWeiland

6 Tips for Beating Post-Partum Book Depression: http://ow.ly/Gudci @MartinaABoone

3 Steps for Making Copy Edits Less Dramatic: http://ow.ly/Guecz @Michelleule

Work With Your Strengths, Not Against Them:  http://ow.ly/Guecw @TheBizIntrovert

Conquering 6 enemies of deep POV:  http://ow.ly/Guecu from ZoeyRPH

The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Tracking Trivia by Using a Series Bible

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

It’s trivia that trips me up in my series…seemingly trivial throwaway lines that I make in books and then promptly forget.

The more books we have in a series, the more important tracking the trivia becomes.  It’s easy to lose track of tiny details when your mind is on the big picture of your plot.

It’s the kind of detail that you use to fill a character or a setting in a little bit.  A recurring character has nice teeth.  Drives a Buick.  Is allergic to cats.  Lost his mother in his twenties.

One character’s glasses have been a disaster. The character started out looking, in my head, like Donald Rumsfield with his rimless glasses.  Those glasses at some point transformed to wire-rimmed glasses in the series.  When I noticed this, I just kept it consistent with the most recent mention of the glasses and thought to myself that if a reader noticed, I’d tell her the character had gotten a different pair.  No one has contacted me about the detail.

However, a reader wrote me on Wattpad recently to ask about my protagonist’s grandson’s age. This is that reader I’ve written about before who knows my characters very well.  In one book, this grandson has no teeth and is eating baby food.  In another, he speaks two-word sentences. So which is it?  I told the reader that I’d aged Jack but kept the other characters about the same age (because I have no plans on aging my octogenarian sleuth).  And then I got out my series bible and made some more notes.

I think it’s the readers who binge-read who catch these things the most.  The ones who just finished  book three a week ago, book four a couple of days ago, and are now reading your book five.

It’s not only the self-pubbed books, either. It’s the trad pubbed ones. The occasional very slight inaccuracy that wasn’t caught by an editor.  But the kind of thing that can yank a reader out of our story.

For the self-pubbed books, if I catch a problem, I’ll go back into the document, correct it, and then republish.  For the trad-published…I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that I’m the only one who notices. And cringe a little.

These are my personal best practices for preventing the problem:

Reread any books written before a series bible was created.  Make notes on any recurring character or setting or any continuing plotline on a master document for the series.

Divide the notes up by characters, setting, and subplot to make referencing easier.

Add notes as I go to the master document for every new book I write.  If I make any changes in the edits, change them on the master doc.

Document the source of the reference.  I abbreviate the book titles where the reference appears.  [Crazy Dan poked his grizzled head out the door, a scowl on his leathery, stubble-covered features.  “You again!”  (DS).  A wild, mangy beard and shaggy gray hair.  (PDD)]

Make any style notes, as well, to add to the document.  So it’s the Bradley Bugle newspaper, not The Bradley Bugle.

Make changes to the text of anything I’ve self-pubbed that displays inconsistencies.

Make a copy of the master document to have in the same folder as the new work-in-progress for the series. Keep a copy on the cloud, as well (for me, this is Google Drive, which I can access on my phone), in case I’m working on paper somewhere and need the file as reference.

Things I  track:

Setting details.  The color of a house, the name of the character’s street, the favorite hangout for the characters, what type of food their favorite restaurant serves, the character’s living room. Population of the town.

Character habits or details:  Early riser.  Kills houseplants.  Subscribes to the newspaper.  Peanut allergy.  Cries at weddings.  Scrapbooks.  Reads nonfiction only.  Likes jazz.  Attends church. Exercises daily. Eats junk food. Smokes. Drives a minivan.

Character description:  Wears glasses (and type/color of frame), never wears flats, blue eyes, gray hair, fondness for bowties, age, height.

Character beliefs:  Political leanings, spiritual beliefs, attitudes toward family or spouse.

Continuing subplots: A character’s health issue, a character’s relationship with another character, a character’s issues with his work or his family.

Another nice thing about these series bibles–it helps me see where I need to fill in a character a little more.  Am I using the same words or details to describe a character for each book?  This is one way I can spot this problem.

These little details can really get out of control over the course of a series.  Do you use a series bible?  What kinds of things do you track?

The post Tracking Trivia by Using a Series Bible appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Observations from Years of Curating Content for Writers

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Since 2009, I’ve been adding blogs to my RSS reader and curating and sharing the best content that I could find for writers. That content resides on the Writers Knowledge Base (which is a free and searchable resource for writers with over 30,000 links on it).

In that time, I’ve seen a lot of blog posts. A lot of things have puzzled me, delighted me, and frustrated me. Some of this is random but I’m sharing it in the hopes that it can help some writers here or that maybe I could hear y’all’s take on these things too. Am I the only one who’s seen or experienced this stuff?

White letters and black backgrounds hurt middle aged eyes. The number of sites…even professional publishing sites and highly-regarded authors…that use this theme is extraordinary.   Unfortunately, fellow mystery writers are especially fond of white on black. For some, though, white letters on black isn’t mysterious…it’s painful. Because one blog’s content is ordinarily sound, I take the time to copy-paste it onto Word docs so that I can read it before curating it. But I regret the extra time it takes out of my day.

Tumblr posts aren’t fun to share. I have both a profound respect for the content on Tumblr and a profound dislike of Tumblr’s interface and platform. I can list a dozen examples of anonymous or semi-anonymous (first name only) writers there. This makes attributing credit for the writers’ work difficult… actually, I dislike LiveJournal for the same reasons.  Hootlet doesn’t pick up blog titles there and I use Hootlet as a tool to share links. Google + won’t show any of Tumblr’s images because of some formatting glitch.  It’s difficult to navigate within a site there. It would be wonderful if all these excellent writers would move to a more professional, better-formatted platform…perhaps one that showcases them, their writing, their names, and their covers.

Twitter traffic picks up over the holidays.  I always schedule heavily during Easter, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas, in particular.  Are people lonely?  Stressed from family visits?  It seems they tend to turn to apps. This makes me a little sad. One year (2010 maybe?) I scheduled a break for myself on Twitter for much of December. My announcement was met by angry emails and DMs on Twitter… and not from folks who simply didn’t celebrate the holidays…from people who somehow relied on links as an important part of their day. The realization of the number of people who needed some form of distraction around that time of year has made me change my approach.  Now I tweet more during the holidays.

Partial RSS feeds make reading blog posts much more time consuming and frustrating. And RSS feeds with poor titles and poor lead sentences mean that I don’t click over. Basically, if a reader is interested enough in our blog to subscribe to its feed, they’re saying that they’d like to read our content and would prefer to read it through an RSS feed reader (like Feedly). Creating an extra step is inconvenient for subscribers. If the worth of the content isn’t obvious, it’s too much of a time gamble to open it to skim it.  Summary/partial views can be changed to full view through the WordPress admin window under settings/reading or through Feedburner).  The only reason I can think of why a blogger might want a partial is if their site contains ads (because RSS means decreased page views).  If we really want RSS subscribers to visit our site, we could give them incentives in our posts to drop by—by linking to other content on our site, for instance.  Some people seem concerned that full views mean their content will be scraped by pirate sites.  This may happen. But, to me, it’s worth the risk instead of potentially alienating subscribers. If you want the best of both worlds,  “Partial RSS Feed vs. Full Feed”  on the Blog Maven blog by Jeni Elliott has helpful suggestions at the end of the post.

Group bloggers and attribution. Many group bloggers may have no idea how they’re cheating themselves out of recognition or potential sales.  Every week I’ll see a post on a group blog that has no byline and no link to the author’s online home base.

Repetitive Titles. Most popular title for blog posts I’ve seen: “What’s in a Name?”  I’m trying to come up with an estimate and I want to say that I’ve seen at least a hundred or more blog posts with that title (all, obviously, on naming characters).  Many blog post titles, in general, don’t adequately hook potential readers or hint at worthy content to follow.

Self pub may rule, but trad pub draws more eyeballs. Most popular tweets of the year…they’re always on agents. No matter what’s changed, no matter how independent the author population has become…agents still apparently have the power to fascinate somehow. I know that whenever I schedule a tweet with the word “agent” in it, the tweet will have the most click-through traffic for the day.

Blogs without author names are surprisingly frequent. There are many sites where the authors don’t provide their last names.  To me, this seems to indicate the insecurity of so many writers.  How will they sell their books when the time comes to sell?  Maybe it’s best to pick a pen name and then have the full pen name on the site. After all, blogging is branding, ultimately, for many of us.

Disappearing blogs. An oddly recurring event—when a writer suddenly moves to another website or changes the design of their existing website…the site frequently goes dormant in two months. So exhausted with dealing with design or so intimidated by the professional appearance of their site that they can’t produce content for it any longer?

Some takeaways:

When creating a blog, consider readability as a factor for its design.

Consider the blogging platform itself and whether sharing content is easy for our readers.  Consider whether attribution is even possible (is our name or pen name prominently displayed?  Can a reader easily find us online…Twitter? Facebook? An email address?)

Consider allowing our RSS feed to include the entire text of the post instead of a portion. Or, if we only allow a portion to show, make sure our titles and the first couple of post sentences are stellar.

This, to me, is so important that I’m going to say it again, even though I’m repeating myself. If the purpose of the blog is for branding or as a platform, make sure your name or your pen name is easy to locate. A full name. Or a full pseudonym. Some sort of name.

When participating in a group blog or as a guest poster, make sure our contributions count.  Put a short bio with links in the post footer or at least make sure we have a byline under the post title.

Consider using titles that accurately describe our content.

Have you noticed any of these issues online…or do you notice them but they don’t bother you much?  Have you done any checkups on your blog to see if you could improve it in basic ways (blog titles, your bio, etc?)

The post Observations from Years of Curating Content for Writers appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

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 to Amp Up Tension and Drama:  http://ow.ly/GoiSr @writersdigest

More New Year’s Resolutions for Writers:  http://ow.ly/GoiSu  @KeithCronin

Track Changes – Advanced:  http://ow.ly/GoiSx  @Savage_Woman    

For writers with disabilities: chrome extensions:  http://ow.ly/GoiSB from Fix Your Writing Habits

What Your Writer’s Resume Says About Your Chances for Recognition:  http://ow.ly/GoiSE  @SharonBially

On Trunking Novels:  http://ow.ly/GoiSI @ava_jae

10 Things to Consider Before Writing a Novel:  http://ow.ly/GoiSM @rogerdcolby

Writing Dystopian Fiction: 7 Tips:  http://ow.ly/GoiSR @R_D_Vincent

Crime Fiction: Fingerprinting in Adverse Conditions:  http://ow.ly/GoiSV from Dick Warrington

Do You Need an MFA? 3 Important Elements to Replicate On Your Own:  http://ow.ly/GoiDO @inkhat

Pros/Cons of Writing NA Contemporary Romance:  http://ow.ly/GoiSX @ava_jae

5 Ways to Help Writers Show and Not Tell:  http://ow.ly/GoiT0 @writers_write

Myth:  I Have To Sell Books Quickly | http://ow.ly/Guece @deanwesleysmith

8 “Moments” to Deliver to Your Readers… And 1 to Hope For: http://ow.ly/Guech @storyfix

10 Anti-Screenwriting Tips for Beginners:  http://ow.ly/Guecj @TheScriptLab

Helpful writing tools: http://ow.ly/Guecl @angelaackerman

10 Ways to Promote Your Book on Your Blog:  http://ow.ly/Guecn @writetodone

Integrating Libraries and Bookstores:  http://ow.ly/Guecr @deminlit

3 Simple Steps to Becoming a Writer:  http://ow.ly/Gl0l4 @joebunting

A publicist answers questions for writers:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kZ @McKinneyPR

5 Writing Lessons from a Vocal Coach:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kV  @kcraftwriter

Strategic Daydreaming in 3 Easy Steps:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kR @pepperbasham

8 Words to Seek and Destroy in Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kN from Late Night Novel Writing

Crime writing: all about sealed files:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kK @writingpiazza @FionaQuinnBooks

Tricky Prepositions:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kG @writers_write

Talents and Skills Thesaurus Entry: Knowledge of Explosives:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kB @beccapuglisi

5 Ways To Improve Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kz from LuAnn Schindler

Words that describe a voice: http://ow.ly/Gl0ku @writers_write

What Dungeons and Dragons Teaches About Story Conflict:  http://ow.ly/Gl0ks @lanceschaubert

Why We Should Read Our Work Out Loud:  http://ow.ly/Gl0ko @womenonwriting from Sue Bradford Edwards

5 Writing Resolutions to Avoid in 2015:  http://ow.ly/Gl5WC @NathanielTower

The 2 Most Common Templates for Developing Characters:  http://ow.ly/Gl5Wx @plotwhisperer

Do an End of Year Wrap Up:  http://ow.ly/Gl5Ws @djeanquarles

Self-Pub Books Can Create Multiple Streams of Revenue:  http://ow.ly/Gl5Wm @kathleengage

Imagining Your Finished Book:  http://ow.ly/Gl5Wg @writeabook

Principles of Story Structure using “Gone Girl” as a Lab: http://ow.ly/Gl5W8 @storyfix

The graying of mystery readers and connecting with a younger demographic:  http://ow.ly/GFMnD @Porter_Anderson @thoughtcatalog

7 Questions to Transform Your Writing in the New Year:  http://ow.ly/Gl5W2 @jennienash

The Lost Art of Free Time: http://ow.ly/Gl5eG @RealLifeE

47 percent of mystery readers are 55 and older: http://ow.ly/GFu6j @ThoughtCatalog @Porter_Anderson

6 Ways to Resuscitate Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/Gl5VV @ZZoccolante

Why We Shouldn’t Bother with Resolutions This Year:  http://ow.ly/Gl5VG @jeffgoins

How to reach readers via your library:  http://ow.ly/Gl5VA @IndieAuthorALLi

Music For Writers: Donnacha Dennehys New Chapbook: http://ow.ly/GvoLJ @Porter_Anderson

Simplify the New Year’s Resolution Process: Reflect, Select, Remove: http://ow.ly/Gl5VM @jkglei

If Strangers Talked to Everybody like They Talk to Writers: http://ow.ly/GdWgz @ElectricLit @TheLincoln #TopTweets2014

Presence on the Page: What It Is, and What It Isn’t: http://ow.ly/GdWgy @manzanitafire #TopTweets2014

Top 10 Storytelling Cliches Writers Should Stop Using: http://ow.ly/GdWgu @robwhart #TopTweets2014

36 writing tips from Stephen King: http://ow.ly/GdWgt @whynotbooks #TopTweets2014

5 Ways to Create Conflict in Your Story: http://ow.ly/GdWgs @screencrafting #TopTweets2014

10 rules for writers: http://ow.ly/GdWgp @latimes #TopTweets2014

Listen to Your Readers: http://ow.ly/GdWgl @birgitte_rasine #TopTweets2014

How to Fail at Being a Writer http://ow.ly/GdWgk @Kelsye #TopTweets2014

10 Things You Don’t Need (To Be A Writer): http://ow.ly/GdWgi @DelilahSDawson #TopTweets2014

Ebook Pricing: Why 99 Cents Might Be a Mistake: http://ow.ly/GdWgh @GoblinWriter #TopTweets2014

7 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Self-Publishing Company: http://ow.ly/GdWga @HelenSedwick #TopTweets2014

5 Essential Questions to Ask When Writing Your Protagonist: http://ow.ly/GdWg6 @bridgetmcnulty #TopTweets2014

How To Tell Readers What Characters Don’t Want To Show:  http://ow.ly/GdWgf  @angelaackerman #TopTweets2014

Cheat Sheets for Writing Body Language: http://ow.ly/GdVAY @Writers_Write #TopTweets2014

How 1 Agent Reads Slush: 3 Lessons for Writers: http://ow.ly/GdVAX @carlywatters #TopTweets2014

7 Lessons Learned from Half a Year of Writing Every Day: http://ow.ly/GdVAV @jamietr #TopTweets2014

10 Famous Writers Who Hated Writing: http://ow.ly/GdVAT @huffpost #TopTweets2014

Plotting With Yes or No Questions: http://ow.ly/GdVAR @Janice_Hardy #TopTweets2014

5 Tips for Running a Writers’ Circle: http://ow.ly/GdVAQ @standoutbooks @btmargins #TopTweets2014

Writing a Strong Book Description: http://ow.ly/GdVAN @sabsky #TopTweets2014

What Do Agents Like to See When They Google Writers? http://ow.ly/GdVAK @carlywatters #TopTweets2014

8 Most Common Editing Errors In Self-Published Books: http://ow.ly/GdVAD @selfpubreview #TopTweets2014

How to Write a Novel Synopsis: 5 Tips: http://ow.ly/GdVyt@ChuckSambuchino #TopTweets2014

Scriptwriting–Christopher Nolan on Memento: http://ow.ly/GdVAy @LaFamiliaFilm #TopTweets2014

Michael Crichton’s Method for Plotting Out a Story: http://ow.ly/GdVAF #TopTweets2014

What If Literary Agents Don’t Want Your Novel? http://ow.ly/GdVys @EmilyWenstrom #TopTweets2014

#FutureChat recap: 2015 Digital Publishing Predictions:  http://ow.ly/Gug1C @Porter_Anderson @TheFutureBook

How to Make Book Reviews Work Harder:  http://ow.ly/Ghrj1 @wherewriterswin

Write What You’re Willing To Learn:  http://ow.ly/GhriU @TamaraGirardi

100 Words for Facial Expressions:  http://ow.ly/GhriP @writing_tips

Persistence in Selling Your Manuscript:  http://ow.ly/GhriL @carynmcgill

9 Must-Haves for a High-Performing Book Launch Page: http://ow.ly/GhriG @writerplatform

Connect with Your Creative Writer:  http://ow.ly/GhriA @thinksimplenow

How to Scare the Heck Out of Your Readers:  http://ow.ly/Ghriu @PhilAthans

Personal essays–what the ‘personal’ should be:  http://ow.ly/Ghriq @MeredithResnick

The role of supporting characters:  http://ow.ly/GhoTM @writers_write

The Art of Writing Snappy Dialogue:  http://ow.ly/GhpCj @raynehall

Self-Promotion: About As Fun As Bathing In Hot Wax:  http://ow.ly/Ghrij @ChristaDesir

How to Avoid Writing an Unnecessary Scene:  http://ow.ly/Ghrie @KMWeiland

HarperCollins’ Holiday Pop-Up Bookstore: An Innovation-Driven Environment  http://ow.ly/Gug0K @Porter_Anderson

Tailoring Your Cast of Characters To Your Protagonist:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5B @woodwardkaren

11 Things To Do As A Writer In 2015:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5z @bang2write

Plotting the Non-Plot-Driven Novel:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5y  @DonMaass

The 12 Question Fiction Writing Conflict Test:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5x @writers_write

Character Writing Prompts:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5u  @Margo_L_Dill

The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Creating a Production Plan for the Year—Some Thoughts

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Happy 2015!  Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays.  I’m back into the swing of things and have been working on this year’s production plan for my books.

I’m not so much a fan of resolutions.  I’d rather see my goals laid out on a to-do list or on a calendar as deadlines. That’s why I use a very simple production plan each year. If you’d like to do the same, here are my tips for getting started or for honing your list.

Keep the plan visible.  I use the free Google calendar for my plan.  That means that it’s on my phone, which, as a mom, is always on my person.  My calendar is set up to email me my daily agenda.  Not only will I have the item itself on the calendar (deadline for finishing mystery, e.g.), but I’ll also have the rest of the year’s deadlines in the event description so that I can always see the big picture. Not be overwhelmed by the big picture, though, because I know it’s all meted out on the calendar.

Output: First of all, I keep my yearly goal attainable.  There’s nothing like setting the bar too high.  So know yourself, know your output. If it’s completely reasonable to expect yourself to write a page a day, then set your goal for a finished book in 2015.  If it’s reasonable to expect several pages a day, set it higher.

Know your abilities. Know what you want or need to outsource. I completely understand the desire to keep costs down for a self-published project.  But it’s also important to know our limitations.  Do we have a design background and can learn how to make great covers that will help sell our books?  Great. But if we don’t, that research time might be better spent in finding a good cover designer. Which leads me to…

Know what you need to learn.  If you need to research book designers or formatters (I do maintain a free list, if you need help getting started), or website design, or even research extensively for the book you’re writing…add those things onto your calendar.  Break tasks into smaller steps to make them less intimidating.

Know your order of events for production.  Mine runs like this:  Contact book designer and have a date for a cover conference (this is first because my cover artist gets booked very quickly). Write book by X deadline. Write cover copy, in case the book designer conference date is prior to my completion of the book.   Edit.  Send book to beta reader while I’m editing.   Make sure I’m on freelance editor’s calendar, if it’s a self-pub book.  Edit using revision suggestions from beta and editor.  Contact formatter and send him text file and cover files and book extras.  Your order of events might need to be slightly different.  Maybe it’s your editor who is hard to book and you need to reserve him or her before you even finish your first draft.  Maybe you have several beta readers or you format your own copy.

Know what you want to do/have time to do for promo.  I used to be on every platform there was (although I never really could get the hang of Tumblr…).  Now I’ve realized that it’s best to limit myself to the platforms I enjoy most so that I’ll actually stay engaged.  Whatever you want or feel you need to do for promo, stick it on your production schedule in manageable bites.  This might be have a Goodreads giveaway or this might be send out a newsletter when book launches.

The production plan helps me in three ways.  One, it reminds me that this is a business.  I have a plan and I’m sticking to it as much as I can.  Second, it keeps me from being completely overwhelmed by the upcoming year.  Third, it keeps me from forgetting any part of the process…and believe me, I’ve forgotten parts before.  If you forget, for instance, to contact your cover designer, your launch could be delayed by a month or more, if your designer stays booked.

The point of a production plan is definitely not to create more stress.  This would be primarily for writers who feel the need to impose more order and possibly more personal accountability, into the process.  It’s really to make the goals manageable and actionable by its simplicity. It has the added benefit of making us plan and figure out what we want from ourselves and our writing for the year.

Have you thought about your goals for 2015?  Do you ever write up production plans?

The post Creating a Production Plan for the Year—Some Thoughts appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

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.

Hope everyone has enjoyed their holidays so far.  I know I said I wouldn’t be blogging, but I couldn’t resist posting the last Twitterific for 2014.  See you again in 2015. 

How To Keep Pace After NaNo:  http://ow.ly/GdiSD @novelpublicity

Reactive and proactive protagonists:  http://ow.ly/GdiSF from Fix Your Writing Habits

7 Ways to Write Better (That Have Nothing to Do With Writing):  http://ow.ly/GdiSH @NanciPanuccio

Unwrap The Truth For Your Creative Loved Ones:  http://ow.ly/GufPP @Porter_Anderson @ThoughtCatalog

Tips for Critiquing Other Writers’ Work:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5l @WritingForward

Amazon’s No. 1 reviewer:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5o  @billy_baker

Developing a Writing Plan:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5p @writersdigest

5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Writing Time: http://ow.ly/GdZ5s @kellyjamesenger

Farther versus Further:  http://ow.ly/GdYLk  @Savage_Woman

4 Fatal Flaws of a Romantic Hero:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5t @jassydejong

Character Development in Storytelling:  http://ow.ly/GdiSB @scriptmag  @paulalandry

How To Choose A Main Character:  http://ow.ly/GdiSy @HeatherJacksonW

Preview up the upcoming #DBW15 conference:  http://ow.ly/Gugeh @Porter_Anderson

Nonfiction Writing: How to Make More Money: http://ow.ly/GdiSw @ninaamir

Things Writers Do to Irritate Readers:  http://ow.ly/GdiSt @brrbach

Dialogue practice and revision:  http://ow.ly/GdiSq from the Commander Scribbles blog

The Melodrama Dilemma:  http://ow.ly/GdiSm @kid_lit

Is 3rd-Person the Right Point of View for You? http://ow.ly/GdiSk @monicamclark

Tips for Catching Typos in Your Own Work:  http://ow.ly/GdiSi @JodieRennerEd

Social Media the Second Time Around: Tips:  http://ow.ly/GdiSg @jaelmchenry

Character Skills and Talents: Organization:  http://ow.ly/Gco92 @angelaackerman

22 Commonly Confused Adjectives:  http://ow.ly/Gco8W @writers_write

Cool Tools for Writers:  http://ow.ly/Gco8U  @Diana_Hurwitz

Tropes Vs. Cliches: A Storyteller’s Guide:  http://ow.ly/Gco8S @bang2write

How to Start in the Middle:  http://ow.ly/GcnNB @lindasclare

Taking responsibility for knowing language well:  http://ow.ly/Gco8O @Porter_Anderson

How To Use The Senses To Show And Not Tell:  http://ow.ly/Gco8M @writers_write

Must Your Hero Have A Story-Level Goal? http://ow.ly/Gco8J @scriptmag  @IvoRaza

7 Effective Ways to Grow Your Email List: http://ow.ly/Gco8G @blogherald

Want to Launch Your Book With a Bang?  You Need This. http://ow.ly/Gco8E  @writerplatform

How to Write an Amazing Short Story:  http://ow.ly/Gco8C

8 Ways to Mentally Squash Rejection Letters:  http://ow.ly/Gco8y @lekicn

4 Secrets Writers Won’t Tell You About Themselves:  http://ow.ly/Gco8Z @LoriHatcher2

The art of the metaphor:  http://ow.ly/GaaL5 @TED_ED and Jane Hirshfield

6 ways to create satisfying scene endings:  http://ow.ly/GaaX7 @writers_write

Writing or Wrestling?  http://ow.ly/GaaX5  @BigChiefTablet

Build Your Author Platform: 7 Ways to Start From Scratch:  http://ow.ly/Ga8Qu @brooke_warner

Creative prompts and other tips to help start a story:  http://ow.ly/GaaX3 from WriteWorld

Can you write scenes that feel the fear?  http://ow.ly/GaaX2  @RayneHall

Protagonist’s Personality Considerations:  http://ow.ly/GaaX1 @glencstrathy

Characters of Color and Urban Fantasy Roles:  http://ow.ly/GaaWY from Writing With Color

15 Things Successful Writers Never Say:  http://ow.ly/GaaWW @EdieMelson

How to Get 90% of Your Work Done Before Lunch:  http://ow.ly/GaaWV @99u @AllisonStadd

Should a pantser really outline a novel?  http://ow.ly/GaaWT @JoelDCanfield @SueColetta1

The One Twitter List You Should Be Keeping: http://ow.ly/GaaWQ @Catrambo

Never Visited a Place? You Can Still Write About It:  http://ow.ly/G8fJO @fictionnotes

Tools for writing: Microsoft Surface Pro 3 first impressions:  http://ow.ly/G8fJK @mstibbe

3 Ways to Turn Email Subscribers Into Social Fans: http://ow.ly/G8fJI @smexaminer

7 Email Marketing Secrets Every Fiction Writer Should Know:  http://ow.ly/G8fJG @storyrally

Midwifing A Story: The Trusted Reader:  http://ow.ly/G8fJC @DeborahJRoss

Benefits to outlining:  http://ow.ly/G8fJw @KMWeiland

Essentials For the Writer’s Skill-Toolbox:  http://ow.ly/G8fJs  @MaryVeeWriter

3 anti-social skills to improve your writing (TED Talk):  http://ow.ly/G8fJp

11 steps to writing a scene:  http://ow.ly/G8fJn from WriteWorld

7 Essentials Every Author Needs to Know About Twitter: http://ow.ly/G8fJg @kristenlambtx

Edit Your Self-Published Book In 8 Steps:  http://ow.ly/G8fJd  @selfpubreview

Author Skype Visit: What 1 Writer Learned, What She’d Do Differently Next Time:  http://ow.ly/G8fJk @inkyelbows

Using OneNote Like It Was 1987:  http://ow.ly/G84sr @JennyHansenCA

When The Action Goes Too Far:  http://ow.ly/G84sm  @Peculiar

Book Cover Design And Entrepreneurship: http://ow.ly/G84sj  @creativindie

7 ways to write a plot outline:  http://ow.ly/G84sh @nownovel

10 Dollar Store Gift Ideas for The Writer on Your List:  http://ow.ly/G84sf  @AineGreaney

Using the Novel Journal for Writing Breakthroughs:  http://ow.ly/G84sc @jamesscottbell

Bring the Hero’s Journey / Monomyth to Life with these Storyboards: http://ow.ly/G84sa  @StoryboardThat

Small Publishers: 3 Steps to Finding the Perfect One For You:  http://ow.ly/G84s6 @JulieMusil

3 simple ways to market your published fiction: http://ow.ly/G84s4 @netraptor01

3 Tricks to Surviving a Public Speaking Event:  http://ow.ly/G84rY  @RachelAmphlett

7 Practical Gifts for the Starving Artist:  http://ow.ly/Gl0oZ @HeatherJacksonW

What To Do Once The Screenplay Is Written:  http://ow.ly/G84rU @raindance

A Writer’s Guide To Holiday Travel:  http://ow.ly/G84rQ  @SarahAllenBooks

“…the book and the web page are converging.”  http://ow.ly/GhdVo @Porter_Anderson @MirabilisDave  and  Sherisse Hawkins”

Character Development Checklist – 13 Points To Consider:  http://ow.ly/G4oxj @writers_write

Why Amazon Reviews Just Aren’t Enough:  http://ow.ly/G4oxf @selfpubreview

Preparing for Release Month:  http://ow.ly/G4ox9 @KateBrauning

5 Tips for Editing Literary Works in Translation:  http://ow.ly/G4ox5 @pubperspectives

22 Tricks That Can Make Anyone A Keyboard Ninja http://ow.ly/G4owZ from Lifehack

How Good is Your Story’s Title? http://ow.ly/G4owU @shalvatzis

How To Write A Compelling Underdog in Your Screenplay:  http://ow.ly/G4owP @TheScriptLab

How’s your blog doing? Top 5 things to measure and why:  http://ow.ly/GhowR @RobinHoughton

How to Remain True to the Art of Writing and Still Be in the Business: http://ow.ly/G2kgK @MarthaRCarr

Holiday treats should be handled with caution in the world of crime fiction: http://ow.ly/GhdIZ @mkinberg

Create Interest on Your Website With a Protagonist Resume: http://ow.ly/G4owt  @SouthrnWritrMag

5 Ways to Vet a Publication: http://ow.ly/G4owE  @AineGreaney

Living the stuff of novels: the ghostwriter’s lot:  http://ow.ly/G4owL @Roz_Morris

What Makes a Story’s Black Moment a Black Moment?  http://ow.ly/G4owz @jamigold

When Writing Doesn’t Make You Bleed:  http://ow.ly/FZtfx @Laura_the_Wise

How Authors Can Work Together to Achieve Success:  http://ow.ly/FZtfu @MarcyKennedy

5 Tips for Editing Literary Works in Translation:  http://ow.ly/FZtfo @pubperspectives

Use Daily Rewards to Break Creative Blocks:  http://ow.ly/FZtfg @99u

Broaden your Color Vocabulary: http://ow.ly/FZtf7 @ingridsundberg @yapip19

Twitter Etiquette:  http://ow.ly/FZtf1 @sueannedunlevie

The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.