Riley Adams's Blog, page 142

The Range Of Search: A Key to Understanding (and Writing) Mystery Fiction

by Joe Benevento

In Edgar Allan Poe’s third and final story featuring C. Auguste Dupin, “The Purloined Letter,” Dupin explains to the narrator why the police were unable to find the letter in question, even  though it was left in plain sight (though somewhat disguised) on the culprit’s desk: “Had the letter been deposited within the range of their search, these fellows would, beyond a question, have found it.”   The Paris police had undertaken a ludicrously exhaustive search of the Minister D’s premises and person, always seeking the stolen letter in the most ingenious of hidden nooks or hollowed out chair legs or other “secret hiding places” of that variety.  Since they could not themselves conceive of anyone being so stupid (or, in this case, so smart) as to place the precious letter right where anyone could see it, they were almost physically and certainly mentally disabled from seeing it.  However, because he knew what kind of thinker the Minister was (both Mathematician and Poet) and because he knew the Minister comprehended how the Police would approach uncovering the letter, Dupin was able to retrieve the letter without much complication.

Poe has often been rightly acknowledged as one of the creators of the mystery genre, and especially of the detective story.  Few have acknowledged, though, that his concept of a “range of search” may be among his most important contributions.  In almost every “whodunit” worth reading, there has to be a way for the detective to shine, to outthink the rest of the people trying to solve the crime, which most often includes the police (who are often bungling, as in Poe’s first fictions) and always the readers who are trying to “match wits.”  Time and again that outshining results from the detective’s ability to have a wider range of search.   Chesterton’s Father Brown owes almost all of his charm to a range of search failure on the part of all those he outsmarts, since time and again this unassuming priest is discounted as someone incapable of being a threat to the criminal.  In “The Invisible Man,” Chesterton tries to stretch the concept as far as he can by asking us to believe no one “saw” the postman as a suspect precisely because he was too normal a part of the day’s doings to be under suspicion.  Sherlock Holmes in “A Scandal in Bohemia” (a story that borrows heavily from “The Purloined Letter”) is for once outsmarted because it isn’t within his range of search to believe a woman could be smart enough at anticipating and parrying his stratagems.   Anyone who reads detective fiction can readily find examples of the “range of search” concept in action, since without it, how can the detective gain an advantage over foe and reader alike?

The consequences for writers of mystery fiction should be obvious.  In creating a mystery and in creating a detective to manage that mystery, a writer has to come to grips with how the plot will turn on the range of search superiority his or her hero has over the others trying to solve the case.  The detective is rarely merely blessed with a higher IQ or more advanced degrees, but rather is more able to suspect a wider range of people or think in a way that others are somehow blocked from thinking, one more free of prejudice or predisposition.   And this has to extend, of course, to the writer’s consideration of his or her readers.  Most readers of mystery want to try to figure out who the criminal is, and they generally prefer if that revelation is neither too obvious nor virtually impossible to attain.  The writer of detective fiction has to configure a situation that has a solution, but one that can only be gotten to by someone who is able to “see” in a way that isn’t easy or obvious.  While many new writers of mystery fiction might think coming up with a cunning plot is first priority or the creation of a unique and compelling detective is key, I believe those two elements come together best when the author is cognizant of the need to give the detective a range of search beyond that of anyone else in the novel, and just barely within the possible ken of his or her most astute and active readers.

The best mystery writer, then, has to be aware of the normal expectations of his or her readers in order to be able to thwart them, while still being able to entertain.  Agatha Christie has numerous “range of search” issues that are tied to her readers more than to her characters.  In one novel two people who initially confess to the murders, and then are cleared and looked at sympathetically by the readers, end up being the killers after all.  In another of her books all the suspects end up being guilty, and in yet another, our benevolent, likeable narrator is the stab- his- good –friend- in- the- back killer.  These endings are so memorable because they fool us by our lack of a range of search, by our too comfortable predispositions to assume that people arrested early on can’t end up being the murderers, that only one or two suspects, certainly not all, will be the killers and, perhaps most comfortably of all, that the benevolent, witty British narrator, a virtual Watson to Hercule Poirot’s Holmes, cannot have committed the crime.

Writers of mystery should read “The Purloined Letter” with care; it creates a blueprint for what is necessary to make a detective stand out, and what may be necessary to keep a reader from uncovering the real criminal too soon.  The writer with the widest range of search has the best chance to end up with a compelling plot and just the right detective to solve it.

 Joe Benevento’s first mystery novel, and ninth book of poetry and fiction overall, The Monsignor’s Wife, came out in September of 2013 with Moonshine Cove Publishing.  For more information go to: www.AuthorJoeBenevento.com  

The post The Range Of Search: A Key to Understanding (and Writing) Mystery Fiction 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 23,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have a great week!

Tips for creating a fictional town: http://dld.bz/ddJFm @KimWattersAZ

The enduring power of the fairy tale: http://dld.bz/ddJFu @perch15

Write like a housecat: http://dld.bz/ddJFP @peterbrownhoff  @writersdigest

Find your tribe, find your voice: http://dld.bz/ddJFT @shewrites @theopnestor

Sit vs. Set: http://dld.bz/ddJFY @writing_tips

Get More Visitors to Your Site With Hashtags: http://dld.bz/ddJFZ @tonyeldridge

What 1 writer has learned in 20 years of writing: http://dld.bz/ddJGb @JTAbooks @womenwriters

4 Fun Ways to Improve Your Facebook Engagement: http://dld.bz/ddJGh @smexaminer

What to do after you blog your book: http://dld.bz/ddJG9 @NinaAmir

Tips for approaching messy 1st drafts: http://dld.bz/ddJGB

Use Seven Senses to Spark Your Writing: http://dld.bz/ddJGE @joanyedwards

Poetic Pauses in Your Writing: http://dld.bz/ddJGG @artsyletters

The Art and Artifact of Creative Nonfiction: http://dld.bz/ddJGQ @NinaAmir

Character Death Should Be Premeditated: http://dld.bz/ddJGT @RogerDColby

Franzen, Elizabeth Gilbert on how they deal with their writerly doubts — and benefit from them: http://dld.bz/dd8C9 @salon @readandbreathe

Sometimes people find symbolism that isn’t intended: http://dld.bz/dd5fJ @KenLevine

The Hero (and Heroine)’s Journey–Hero’s Journey in romance: http://dld.bz/dduW9 @JordanMcCollum

Songwriter’s Intervention: Shedding The Bad Habits That Hold Back Your Songs: http://dld.bz/dduW8 @Jess_B16

The final act of your story: http://dld.bz/dduVg @storyfix

Can You Include Song Lyrics in Your Book? http://dld.bz/dduUG @galleycat

Brand Yourself: How would you sum up your life in just 6 words? http://dld.bz/ddtHs @FirebrandTalent

An agent on 10 keys to becoming a successful writer: http://dld.bz/ddtHA @writersdigest

Writing Encouragement from ‘The Voice’: http://dld.bz/ddMCn @AudraHarders

Women Using a Male Pseudonym: http://dld.bz/ddMCp @womenwriters @RFriedmanAuthor

Blog Post Titles that Don’t Confuse Your Social Media Followers: http://dld.bz/ddMCs @EdieMelson

Description: The Basics: http://dld.bz/ddMCv

5 things that make readers leave websites: http://dld.bz/ddMC2 @BloggingTipsCom @imRahulKuntala

Tips for creating great characters: http://dld.bz/ddMC5 @amazingstories0 @AlienNextDoor

For screenwriters: 5 Questions with a Production Company Reader: http://dld.bz/ddMCB

Hyphens and Dashes: Avoid Confusing Them: http://dld.bz/ddMCK

Psychological Arcs in Groundhog Day: http://dld.bz/ddME9 @cockeyedcaravan

Writing The Spooky Scene: http://dld.bz/ddMED @mooderino

On the importance of banter and character-driven narrative: http://dld.bz/ddMEJ @KameronHurley

41 Flavors of Body Language for Writers: http://dld.bz/ddMEU @susanjmorris

Tools for Writers: Rafflecopter: http://dld.bz/ddMEX @Catrambo

Traits of the Unsuccessful Author: http://dld.bz/ddMEZ @robeagar

Consideration Of Theme In Story: http://dld.bz/ddMFa @mooderino

Faith and Fantasy: http://dld.bz/ddMFe @nkjemisin

Great Character: Linda Ash (“Mighty Aphrodite”): http://dld.bz/ddQ3j @gointothestory

Hoping to Grow Your Audience? Focus on Narratives: http://dld.bz/ddQ3m @danblank

50 tips from Wim Wenders to aspiring filmmakers: http://dld.bz/ddQ3t

Literary breakfasts: http://dld.bz/ddQ3y @guardianbooks

Tips for Writers for Creating Images & Resizing Photos: http://dld.bz/ddQ34 @maggielyons66

How 1 writer pinches from Pixar and Bad Robot to create awesome stories: http://dld.bz/ddQ3Q @guardianbooks

Tips for working with freelance editors: http://dld.bz/ddQ3U @fictorians

Dialogue is Important in Memoirs Too: http://dld.bz/ddQ4a

Bram Stoker Created a Horror Classic from the Anxieties of his Age: http://dld.bz/ddQ4k @tordotcom

Tips for effective social media posts on different platforms: http://dld.bz/ddUpS @wherewriterswin

Timeless Writing Doesn’t Have to Be Super Complicated: http://dld.bz/ddUq6 @Pro_Editor

Literary feuds of 2013: http://dld.bz/ddUqE @newyorker

The 7 Stages You Pass To Become a Writer: http://dld.bz/ddUqY @Ani_LifeProb

Maintain your NaNoWriMo momentum: http://dld.bz/ddUre @AmandaBabs1

On Immediately Trunking Manuscripts: http://dld.bz/ddUrh @ava_jae

9 Words and Phrases to Delete From Your Writing: http://dld.bz/ddUrn @Wiseink

Conflict: the Fuel of your Story: http://dld.bz/ddUr2 @bob_mayer

Holiday gift guide for writers: http://dld.bz/ddUr7 @LauraMarcella

Do You Have “As You Know, Bob…” Syndrome? http://dld.bz/ddUrB @kristenlambtx

3 Easy Steps to Turn Your Writing Insecurities into Strengths: http://dld.bz/ddUrD @LyndaRYoung @AlexJCavanaugh

How Hugh Howey Writes – Great Writers on Writing: http://dld.bz/ddUrH @SeeleyJamesAuth

How to live a great story: http://dld.bz/ddUrW @LipstickGospel

Franzen, Elizabeth Gilbert on how they deal with their writerly doubts — and benefit from them: http://dld.bz/dd8C9 @salon @readandbreathe

What marathon training taught 1 writer about writer: http://dld.bz/ddDMr @monicamclark

Past Tense or Present Tense? http://dld.bz/ddVJK @emma_darwin @womenwriters

Writer Memes: http://dld.bz/ddVJS @sara_flower

Take It Easy With the Thesaurus: http://dld.bz/ddVJZ @epbure

Hugh Howey with a different view of the recent report on what self-pubbed authors earn: http://dld.bz/ddZ4w @hughhowey

7 ways to cut a novel without losing anything important: http://dld.bz/ddZ48 @nailyournovel

How to Write Funny Novels…And Why You Shouldn’t: http://dld.bz/ddZBf @annerallen @melodiecampbell

Narrative Flow and Voice in an Action Thriller Opening : http://bit.ly/1cBK65s @Janice_Hardy

Writing rules learned from Pixar: http://dld.bz/ddZB7

A screenwriter with a tip for writers: http://dld.bz/ddZBS @kenlevine

How to Increase your SEO with Google Plus: http://dld.bz/ddZCn @jeffbullas

Etiquette with Professional Writers: http://dld.bz/ddZCv @passivevoiceblg

Everything You Need to Know About Social Media Branding: http://dld.bz/ddZCB @BloggingTipsCom

Tips for writing character descriptions: http://dld.bz/ddZCR @shalvatzis

The Self-Publishing Debate: A Social Scientist Separates Fact from Fiction: http://dld.bz/ddZCY @digibookworld @DBWeinberg

Top 10 Fantasy Writing Tips From G. R.R. Martin: http://dld.bz/deeBM

What does it mean to be a ‘professional author?’ http://dld.bz/deeCj @dearauthor

Why “Cuckoo’s Calling” Failed: http://dld.bz/ddRB8 @SeeleyJamesAuth

Crime fiction cliches that 1 avid reader would like omitted: http://dld.bz/ddUxe @mkinberg

Do Top 100 Lists Reveal Gender Bias in Publishing? http://dld.bz/ddU6K @Porter_Anderson @caitforestell

Survey on income counts self-pub losers and winners–but only trad-pub winners:  http://dld.bz/debW8 @HughHowey @Porter_Anderson @JDGsaid

Challenges of reporting self-pubbed writers’ earnings: http://dld.bz/debWP @hughhowey @Porter_Anderson

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

Setting the Scene for a Good Story

by Mike Martin 

I know you are not supposed to, but I do judge a book, at least whether I am going to buy it or not, based on the picture on the front of the book. That’s not my primary motivation to buy a book, but it can get my attention, attract me, and draw me in. I don’t think I’m alone in that. The front cover gives me an idea of where the book may be set, and sometimes that’s enough to get me to check out the blurb at the back and a little bit about the author.

Everyone has their own personal attractions, but for me and I think a lot of mystery readers we look to the front cover as a way to see inside the book. In my first two books I choose pictures from the area in which the stories take place, small fishing communities on Canada’s east coast.

Here is the cover from Book #1, The Walker on the Cape

As you can see it was a picture of the lighthouse in Grand Bank as seen, not from land, but from the ocean. We added a little fog and rays of sunshine coming through the clouds and the effect is stunning, IMHO. I had a 7 ft. banner done up with this cover on it and used it (still use it) at book signings and other promo events. Many people would come by just to look at the picture and ask where it was taken. Some of them even bought books!! For me the cover set the scene and the scenery made the sale.

But you can’t just put a picture of the ocean on the front and expect that people will rush to look at it and then buy your books. I learned this lesson from Book # 2, The Body on the T

Here is the cover from The Body on the T

 

[image error]

Another great picture, right? This time it is a boardwalk reaching out into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. But somehow it didn’t attract people to come over and talk with me. That was too bad because I had a great story to tell them about when you walk out on this boardwalk in Burin, Newfoundland. It could be sunny when you start but some days the fog rolls in and you feel like you are completely surrounded by fog in the middle of ocean. But, alas, they didn’t come over to hear my tale.

Why? Who knows? A design friend of mine says it’s because the first picture is darker and more mysterious and thereby more attractive to mystery readers. The second book, he felt, was too bright and sunny. Maybe it didn’t set the scene right for the story that I wanted to tell or the story inside the book.

Inside my books, scenery and setting are crucial to the story. I have often joked that the weather is a character all to itself and in an ocean-side setting that is often the case. There’s always a little bit or a lot of wind, and almost always the threat of some form of precipitation. The small communities also have their own personality and character. That has been true ever since Jessie Fletcher showed up in Cabot Cove!!

Certain things can only happen in certain settings, although as fiction writers we do stretch that as far as our reader’s imagination will take us. For my books, the small coastal communities are tightly knit and full of secrets. My job is to pry them loose. I also have a responsibility to portray an authentic voice for both the setting and the communities. The words and actions of my characters are visitors to their world and I have to try and allow both to interact with integrity.

The final thing I would say about setting and scenery is that I try to only use places that I have actually seen or visited. Just for me, I think it would be hard to write about a librarian in the Deep South, although I admire those who do. And I do try and use all my senses to describe the setting, what it looks like, sounds like, smells like, feels like and sometimes even tastes like.

I think my mission as a fiction, mystery writer is to create characters who can fit into a real world. I can manipulate both them and their surroundings a little bit in the cause of a good story. But at The End, I want readers to say that both were believable. The best way for me to do that is to try and describe the scenery and the setting as accurately as possible, from my memory or imagination. And if I do that, I think I’m doing okay.

Mike Martin is the author of the Windflower Mystery Series, set in small communities on the east coast of Canada. His latest book, The Body on the T, is now available in print and an e-book on Amazon.com

The post Setting the Scene for a Good Story appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Brutal Draft Revisions

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

In many ways, my children have been a blessing to me.  There are all the big reasons they are…and a smaller one: they’re nothing at all like me. They’re extroverted and involved and fascinated by Big Activities that I avoid.

I wrote poems and stories in my room when I was in middle and high school.  They ride horses and scuba dive and rock climb and enjoy parties…and one is now a cheerleader. This means that I’m exposed to all kinds of situations and people that I would ordinarily never experience.

With the cheerleading—wow. It’s quite the culture change for me. In school, I was the one who hung out with the nerdy literary crowd…literary magazine, newspaper.  So it was with some level of discomfort  that I sat with the other cheerleading moms for the first basketball game that my daughter was cheering at last Thursday.  They were certainly not hanging out with the literary nerds in high school.  And none of them had apparently brought a spiral notebook to write in before the game started.

These moms have known me for years, though—we’ve always been acquainted with each other and run in the same circles because they all volunteer at the school, like me. We small talked for a bit, but then one mom put me in a death spiral of panic. “Your daughter is so tiny. Did you have to alter her cheer uniform?” she asked.

I stared at her. “Of course—the extra-small swamped her. It would have fallen off.”

“Did you keep the extra cloth?” she asked.

I shook my head. “I’m a non-sewing mom.  I took the uniform to an alterations lady.”

She gave me a worried look. “You might not know…but the school has to reuse those uniforms for next year.”  The other moms gazed solemnly at me.

Oh gosh, I was already in trouble and we’d just started with cheerleading.  I told her I guess I’d pay to replace the uniform…and the very next time I could get hold of my daughter, I turned up the bottom of the cheer top to see that the alterations lady, bless her soul, had merely cinched the material and sewn it together.  Phew.  The extra material was still there for next basketball season’s, almost certainly larger, cheerleader.

I may have to tip my alterations lady the next time I see her.  I’m so relieved she operates the same way I do—because I always keep the cut cloth from my stories, even if I’m positive I’ll never use it.

Altering a story:

I added a subplot to the first draft on Friday—and then promptly hated the subplot.  It didn’t seem right for the characters involved.

I made a search (by one of the characters’ names, since that was primarily how the subplot was used) and pulled out all the text. I figured, if I hated it, my editor (who’d asked for a subplot involving the character) would hate it, too.

I put it in a Word file labeled “cut scenes—Savannah.”  Just in case.

I wrote out another subplot involving Savannah on a separate Word doc.  This time I wanted to plan a more interesting arc for the poor character (who hadn’t been in the last book in the series and editor wanted a proper checking-in on her).

This arc also involved Savannah’s sister and their changing relationship.  It intersected with the mystery well, too, and gave an opportunity for Savannah to learn an important clue while she was grappling with her own problems.

Then I wove the subplot into the first draft.  This isn’t rocket science—or at least it’s not the way I do it.  I’m looking for a point in the narrative where there’s a good spot for an addition—obviously, this wouldn’t be in the middle of an important scene or a bit of dialogue.  It’s usually at the end of a scene or the beginning of another one.  Now, the place where Savannah discovers a clue is important, a longer scene, and is more important to the plot—it may get its own spot in the middle of two other, important, scenes in the book.

Then I read through to make sure the addition is cohesive and doesn’t repudiate something else I’ve written.  I remember one time I did this on another book and was shocked to see that I’d written the character as being out of town in a much-previous draft.  Yeah, we have to take stuff like that out.  Having the character be out of town visiting an ailing relative and then having the character discover a clue in town isn’t cool.

For this book, my editor wants several subplots for several characters she feels readers especially respond to.  I go through this process a few times.

What’s your process for removing and adding scenes and subplots?  Do you keep the text you delete from your draft (even if you feel that you’ll never use it?)

  Image by mconnors , MorgueFile

The post Brutal Draft Revisions appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Creating an Ironic Tone in Your Fiction

Guest Post by Jack Smith

Let’s say you want to create an ironic tone in a story or novel—it’s just needed.

First off, what is tone?  On the one hand, we might say that it’s the apparent attitude of the narrator toward the characters and the world they people.  But it should also be said that everything in a fictional work relates in some way to the tone.  If every character in your story drives crazily and exceeds the speed limit, this will certainly affect the tone.  If all the clocks are off twenty minutes, this will too.

To create the right tone, you need to think about character actions, dialogue, and setting.  All of these will affect the tone of your story or novel.   But you also need to attend to matters of style. 

Being something of an iconoclast, I tend to go for irony.   An ironic tone is, of course, the right tone for satire—which is my usual medium.

And so when I’m thinking about creating an ironic tone in my work, I find myself—and this tends to happen as I write—depending on the following useful tools:

1. Diction—words that create a witty, humorous tone

2. Irony and Paradox—both deal with contradiction, the first with the gap between what you expect and what you get; the second with apparent contradiction.

3. Juxtaposition – placing two quite different things or details next to each other.  One thing is read against the other.

4. Character actions—the kind that are out of kilter with the normal, the expected

5. Plot—the outcome being at odds with the conventionally expected one

6. Dialogue—mine sometimes tends to the extreme—on the one hand, short, clipped speech; on the other, speech that’s excessive, long-winded, over the top.

Of course, it’s not like you can work from a list like this to get it all right.  It depends on the story needs. If you want to burlesque your protagonist, you will probably use dramatic irony.  If your character is an I-narrator, you will end up, most probably, with an unreliable narrator if you engage in very much dramatic irony—and with an unsympathetic character if your irony is too vicious.

Maybe you want to take a whack at a given social practice.  If you settle for a straight, serious tone, you may well come off as preachy. If you use irony, you will be much less likely to do so if you handle the irony well.

How do you handle the irony well?  Everything must work together as a piece: the style, the character, the plot, the ideas the work suggests.  Every technique in the story must achieve the level of irony that seems called for—without overdoing it.

Jack Smith is author of the novel Hog to Hog, which won the George Garrett Fiction Prize (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

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.

Smith taught full-time at North Central Missouri College for some 24 years, and  has also served as Fiction Editor for The Green Hills Literary Lantern, an online literary journal published by Truman State University, for over two decades. Learn more about Jack and his work in the November 1 edition of PIF magazine.

 

The post Creating an Ironic Tone in Your Fiction appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Twitterific

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 23,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have a great week!

Rethink your writing space–by looking at other rooms in your home: http://dld.bz/ddzjG @bryancohenbooks

4 Reasons to Celebrate Your Writing Milestones: http://dld.bz/ddz6v @LyndaRYoung @AlexJCavanaugh

The Jeff Bezos interview–the story’s big picture was more than drone delivery: http://dld.bz/dd5cS @jeffbercovici @Porter_Anderson @om

Why list posts are always popular: http://dld.bz/ddEwq @Porter_Anderson @mkonnikova

A question to ask yourself when plotting mysteries: http://dld.bz/ddGkz @CamilleLaGuire

5 Lessons Learned from Completing #NaNoWriMo: http://dld.bz/ddtHZ @StacyClaflin

Does everyone really have a novel in them? http://dld.bz/ddtJm @BBCNewsMagazine

Writing Mistakes to Avoid: http://dld.bz/ddtJr @JanuaryMagazine

10 things you might not know about novelists: http://dld.bz/ddtJE @saraleenovel1

12 little-known facts about well-known writers and books: http://dld.bz/ddtJJ @InterestingLit

Snark is a Dead Scene: Why It’s Time For Writers to Try Something New: http://dld.bz/cY5Ua @jaceycockrobin

Getting Book Reviews: The Methods Award-Winning Authors Use: http://dld.bz/cWduA @jimhbs

Ellipses Use: http://dld.bz/cUKm5 @EditorJamieC

How to Work Faster in Microsoft Word With Hidden Features: http://dld.bz/cUGvX @kingbobsley

How To Ask People for Things Via Email: An 8-Step Program: http://dld.bz/dduUD @99u @@jkglei

Script To Screen: “Toy Story”: http://dld.bz/dduUE @gointothestory

Are You In A Complicated Relationship With Your Characters? http://dld.bz/dduUZ @devinberglund

Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat plotting method: http://dld.bz/dduVp @ali_cross @JordanMcCollum

Autobiographical Novels: Instead, Tell a Whopper: http://dld.bz/dduVu @lindasclare

How to write 50,000 words in a month: http://dld.bz/dduVw @colinrobinson28

Age: a Writer’s Ally: http://dld.bz/dduV2 @ocbookblogger @womenwriters

William Shakespeare’s Top 4 Tips of Becoming a Writer: http://dld.bz/dduV4 @samuelkermis

Horror scripts: Are Your First 10 Pages Frighteningly Good? http://dld.bz/dduV8 @scriptmag @dannymanus

Freelancers: How to Get a Publication to Pay You Without Going to Small Claims Court: http://dld.bz/dduVC @10000Words

Do returns diminish on rereading and re-rereading? http://dld.bz/dduVM @guardianbooks

3-act structure in action: http://dld.bz/dduVT @JordanMcCollum

What’s Behind Amazon’s Push to be Everything: http://dld.bz/dduVX @Digiday @slarkpope

Writing and the Creative Life: One key to creativity… naps?  http://dld.bz/dduWC @gointothestory

Writing Critiques Versus Criticism: http://dld.bz/ddxdN @JanalynVoigt

After NaNoWriMo: http://dld.bz/ddxed @erchristensen

The case for negative reviews: http://dld.bz/ddxek @Kathy_Gee @washmonthly

What to do now that #NaNoWriMo is done: http://dld.bz/ddxen @rchazzchute

Structured Descriptions: http://dld.bz/dd5dX @NatRusso

Challenges of planning and executing book events: http://dld.bz/dd5eh

3 Tips for Careful Writers: http://dld.bz/dd5ez @writing_tips

Are Hardcover Books on Life Support? http://dld.bz/dd5eH @LynneCantwell

Withdrawal symptoms from unplugging from technology? http://dld.bz/dd5eS @Porter_Anderson @geminiadams @siebergd

What To Do Before Revising A Nano Novel: http://dld.bz/dd5fx @angelaackerman

Why Orwell’s 1984 is a recipe for bad fiction: http://dld.bz/dd5fE @tombarry100

Subtext in dialogue: http://dld.bz/dd5ga @nailyournovel

10 Tips For Creating a Bestselling Series: http://dld.bz/dd5gk @evepaludan

Pen names for different genres? http://dld.bz/dd5gy @goblinwriter

How to Handle Brutal Criticism: http://dld.bz/dd5gJ

Tips for writing your synopsis: http://dld.bz/dd5gU  @VictoriaLamb1

Why editing makes 1 writer neurotic: http://dld.bz/dd8BB @GraemeIng

Explaining beat sheets (with examples): http://dld.bz/dd8Dr @johnaugust

4 ways to work through a writing rut: http://dld.bz/dd8D4 @NataliaSylv

Lessons From Writing 750 Words a Day for 365 Days: http://dld.bz/dd8DA @BenNesvig

Tropes and Clichés: http://dld.bz/dd8Eq @writing_ie

What fanfic is and isn’t: http://dld.bz/dd8FT

A man who has written 276 negative Amazon reviews, mostly in verse: http://dld.bz/dd8Gz @DeathAndTaxes

Why Creative Writing Courses Need To Face Up To The Reality of Publishing: http://dld.bz/dd8Hf @TheAngelaClarke

The long route–a manifesto for the late-blooming writer: http://dld.bz/dd8HA @A_WritersStudio

9 reasons to say goodbye to your critique group: http://dld.bz/dd8HY

Why SF Readers Shouldn’t Just Cling to the Golden Age: http://dld.bz/dd8Jj @io9

A Short Late Night History of Writers and the Drink: http://dld.bz/dd8Js @MySportsComplex

How to save books: http://dld.bz/dd8Jy @hughhowey

Great Scene: “Sideways”: http://dld.bz/dd8J8 @gointothestory

Myth and Creativity: Stepping onto Platform 9 3/4: http://dld.bz/dd8JJ @allisonstieger

Grounding Readers in a Quiet Prologue: http://dld.bz/dd8JN @Janice_Hardy

When Spammers and Trolls Take Over – Authors Innovate – Facebook Groups: http://dld.bz/dd8Kg

How to Write in the Zone for a Fast Draft: http://dld.bz/dd8Ks @plotwhisperer

Facing Down the Harsh Realities of Publishing: http://dld.bz/dd8Ky @jamesscottbell

Authors: How to Run a Twitter Competition, & Why it’s a Good Idea: http://dld.bz/dd9Nf  ‏‪@TheAngelaClarke

How to Keep Writing? Take a Break: http://dld.bz/dd9Nk @DebutanteBall

3 Things Authors Overlook When Writing Fiction: http://dld.bz/ddDGU @vgrefer

5 Rules For Conquering Chaos That Every Writer Should Know: http://dld.bz/ddDHg @Claudsy1

Create a playground for your imagination with these 4 attributes: http://dld.bz/ddDHz @onewildword

Inside the Writer’s Brain: http://dld.bz/ddDH4 @Marycgottschalk

5 Gifts for the Writer In Your Life: http://dld.bz/ddDHD @AllenaT

Submitting an Unforgettable Guest Post: Tips from an Editor: http://dld.bz/ddDJx @CordeliaCallsIt

The post Twitterific appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Approaching Messy First Drafts

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

One thing that’s nice about having older children is that they can take over household tasks that we’re either not excited about, or just don’t do well.  This is the way it works for me and Christmas decorations.

My daughter put up all the decorations inside the house.  They look amazing.  My teenage son ordinarily does all the lights on the tree and outside.  Unfortunately, since he had four wisdom teeth taken out over Thanksgiving, he was knocked out of the equation.  My husband was swamped with work, so I took on the outdoor lights.

When I pulled out the box from last year’s Christmas, I just stared at the jumble on the inside.  I’d put away the lights before the New Year last year (some Southerners are superstitious about not putting away Christmas stuff by Jan. 1) and I’d thought I’d done it in an organized way.  But looking at the lights (pictured above), I wondered if I might have been on drugs when I put them away.  What on earth?  Clearly, I’d tried to do something about keeping the wires separated…but tying plastic produce bags around groups of cords?  What?  And those rubber bands floating around in the mix…they weren’t actually providing any sort of function.

It took a while to straighten them out.  And quite a bit of muttering from me.  But finally, I spread them out on the front yard, methodically untangling the wires, and then put them on the bushes.  They aren’t perfect…but they’re done.

The disastrous jumble reminded me (sadly) of my current first draft.  I also wonder as I read it if I were on drugs when I wrote it.    I suppose what I was writing made perfect sense to me the day I penned it.  I suppose.  But now it resembles just as much of a mess as the lights.  I knew from the beginning, though, that this particular first draft was one to be reckoned with.

My approach-starting out with a time-consuming revision:

Read the manuscript straight through.

As I read it, maintain a second document that lists issues that need to be worked out. Mine are very brief, usually.  Here are a couple (shouldn’t be any spoilers, if readers are here): Page 33—Mentioned that Jason had left town 5 years ago. How many years ago was it?  What made him return?  Page 47—Martha mentions John approached her after the retreat in the parking lot.  Did this happen?  Did I write this in or only plan on writing it in?

I make minor changes to the document as I read through, but I’m maintain speed because I need a really cohesive assessment of where the problems and continuity issues are—and I won’t get that if this reading through takes too long.  Most of my changes have been for improved word choice.

After reading it through and making notes, I’m going to methodically work through the list of issues.

Then I’ll read it through again to make sure it makes sense with the changes.

After that, I’ll layer in my usual late-draft additions of setting, chapter breaks, character description, etc.

More reading through (checking for things like echoes of certain words, other continuity problems, characters who seem out of character, etc.)

How do you approach revising a messy first draft?

Listing Our Accomplishments

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Writer Lynda R. Young wrote a great post for the Insecure Writers Support Group: 4 Reasons to Celebrate Your Writing Milestones.  In it, she talks about the benefits of thinking back on past accomplishments.

I love looking back on past achievements. That’s because my to-do list is frequently so scary that it gives me a sense of security to see what I’ve finished.  I read once that to-do lists help us be more productive if we keep the crossed-off items on our list instead of making new lists all the time.  I can see why—it’s motivating to see how far we’ve come, no matter if the project is writing and promoting a book or cleaning out a garage.

This is particularly important, I think, during this time of year. That’s because it’s resolution time.

I’ve gotten so that I’d rather make to-do lists for my year and plop the tasks on my calendar than come up with a list of resolutions that might be lost or forgotten. Even then, the list seems unmanageable sometimes.  I knew, for instance, at this time last year that I’d have at least four books release in 2013 (if I didn’t, I’d be paying back some advance money).  I also knew I’d promised readers to put my self-published books in print. In addition, I wanted to explore going into audiobooks.  Plus, I knew that my blog—which had issues ever since Blogger had pushed through a major update—needed to migrate to WordPress.  It was a lot to do.

But—I crossed all those tasks off my list this year.  And instead of relentlessly moving forward to the next item, I slowed it all down a bit.  I stuck most of my accomplishments up on my website’s News page.  My news page is always a bit sad, anyway, since I don’t really do readings or signings anymore. What’s more, these accomplishments help alert readers that I’ve got print books and audiobooks available for sale now.

Even if you don’t do something as public as a website list, you might want to keep a note somewhere that you can look at when you get overwhelmed by what’s ahead. You could keep it in a Word doc or your calendar, on Evernote or on a sticky note.  These could be tasks as big as finishing a first draft, or smaller, important tasks like finding a cover designer or formatter, researching agents, reviewing self-publishing options, or learning social media and how to effectively promote.

Do you track your accomplishments?  Celebrate your milestones?  What did you accomplish in 2013?

Addendum–I should also mention that I had a book release yesterday! (Not sure where my brain is with promo lately.) Quilt Trip , a Penguin NAL book, is now available.

How to Make Your Entire Home an Office

Guest Post by Bryan Cohen

When my wife and I moved into our latest apartment a few years ago, we made sure to get a place with a second bedroom. I planned to use that room as an office for my freelance and personal writing. My success rate for finishing my writing has never been 100 percent in any room anywhere, but that office tops the list efficiency-wise. As important as it is to have a dedicated writing space, I wrote my first few books in a variety of places. Wherever I wrote was my office that day, whether it was the kitchen table or the bedroom. When I feel stuck on my writing in a certain location, I’m happy to move to the next room to see if it can get me past my temporary writer’s block.

Here are a few writing locations you may not have thought of.

1. The Kitchen

I’m fortunate that my kitchen counter comes up to the perfect height for me to stand and write. Whether I’m writing by hand, using my laptop or typing on my Neo 2 electronic keyboard, the act of standing helps to get the blood flowing to my brain. When I pushed myself to the limit with a 2,500 word goal per day (in addition to my 2,000 words or so per day of freelance writing), I would find myself getting too tired or anxious to write. Standing up seemed to help that problem for at least a few hundred words.

2. The Garage

I like to think of my wife’s car like a tiny writing pod. I’ll sit in the backseat, move the front passenger seat as far ahead as it can go and relax into my personal writing area. I don’t turn the car on or anything. I simply sink into the comfortable seat and write. This location was always great for scribbling out a blog post by hand when I simply couldn’t look at a screen any longer that day.

If your garage is off limits because of odor or clutter, this is a good excuse to brainstorm your next book while taking out a few garbage bags worth of junk.

3. The Laundry Room

Our apartment complex has a joint laundry room in the basement of the next building over. I love bringing down a portable work desk with me and hammering out a few hundred words while my laundry tumbles. There’s something about doing two things at once that heightens my sense of accomplishment. “I worked on a book and I finally cleaned those sheets? I’m a rock star!”

I’ve also heard stories of multiple authors who wrote their books in their laundry rooms. Maybe the smell of dryer sheets has something to do with creative productivity.

4. The Bedroom

Now, before you tell me that writing on your bed will put you right to sleep, I have to say that I agree with you. Writing while sitting or lying on your bed is a recipe for disaster if you’re at the beginning of a writing session. If you only have 200 words left as part of your daily goal, however, the comfortable and relaxing accommodations of your bedroom may be able to loosen you up enough to complete them. You know how good ideas always come to you right when you’re about to go to bed? There’s no reason you shouldn’t harness this power during the tail end of your writing sessions. Make sure to set an alarm in case you actually do hit the hay.

5. The Porch

I live in Chicago, which could mean my porch is off-limits about eight freezing months out of the year. At least, it would mean that if I wasn’t crazy. Sometimes, you just need a little oxygen to stir the brain. If that means sitting outside when it’s 20 degrees outside in all of your coats and gloves that are thin enough to let you type, you do it. Maybe not for more than 20 minutes at a time, but it’s a perfectly viable thing to do for a crazy person a.k.a. writer.

I fully recommend a thermal top and bottom if you plan to brave the cold and your writing at the same time.

–

A daily writing routine is one of the keys to becoming a better writer. If you have a hard time meeting your daily goals and you have to stay around the home, you should pull out all the stops to reach those goals. If you feel blocked, test out one of these five primo locations to get you out of your writing funk. You are the renter or owner of your entire home. You might as well use the whole thing to create your next piece of work.

About the Author

In honor of his new book, Cohen is hosting the “1,000 Prompts, 1,000 Dollars” Writing Contest on his website. Click the link to find out how to enter!

Bryan Cohen is an author, a creativity coach and an actor. His new book, 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts, Volume 2: More Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More is now available on Amazon in digital and paperback format. His other books include 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts, The Post-College Guide to Happiness, and Ted Saves the World. He has published over 30 books, which have sold more than 20,000 copies in total. Connect with him on his website, Build Creative Writing Ideas, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Twitterific

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 23,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Are you an unpublished Crime Novelist? Enter the Emerging Writers Getaway Contest of the Whidbey Writers MFA Alumni Association. Grand prize: $300 and 5-day residency at Northwest Institute of Literary Arts MFA program (tuition and lodging only). Final judge New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni. Comments on top three entries by Laurie McLean of Foreword Literary Inc. Submissions open Feb 14-May 23, 2014. Entry fee $25. Proceeds benefit Whidbey MFA Alumni Association programs and scholarship fund. http://www.whidbeymfaalumni.org/?page_id=1154

Kobo exec @mtamblyn on the impossible task of curating 4 million titles & what should scare authors: http://dld.bz/ddsPz 

6 Tips for Writing With a Chronic Illness: http://dld.bz/cUFtD @jessbaverstock

A Man Writing Female Characters: http://dld.bz/cUFtE @JonSprunk

All the links I shared last week: http://dld.bz/cUGrJ . All the links I’ve ever shared (searchable): writerskb.com

Top Five Highs and Lows of Publishing: http://dld.bz/cUFtv @mpax1

Thoughts on beginning a novel: http://dld.bz/cUFtq @sharonksouza

5 Tips for Trying to Write When the Kids Are Home: http://dld.bz/cUGsk @WeBlogBetter

15 Common Places That Can Inspire Your Creativity: http://dld.bz/cUGsn @TheWallenWay

10 Mistakes Authors Make That Can Cost Them a Fortune (and how to avoid them): http://dld.bz/cUGsx @bookgal

On Becoming a Professional Amateur: Character Acrobatics: http://dld.bz/cUGsz @bookviewcafe

You Know You’re a Writer If…: http://dld.bz/cUGuS @sara_sans_h

Book cover archive: http://dld.bz/cUGuW @raquelbyrnes

9 Odd Stories Behind Book-Inspired Music: http://dld.bz/cUGve @kimber_regator

Poetry Profiles: Copper Canyon Press: http://dld.bz/cUGvj @nytimesarts

Freelance Editor Rates To Guide Your Work: http://dld.bz/cUGvn @galleycat

The top 3 rules of social media for authors: http://dld.bz/cUGvv @chrisrobley @bookbaby

The Effective Use of Flashbacks: http://dld.bz/cUGv8 @marygkeeley

The Highly Underrated Gravatar – Why You Need One and How to Get It: http://dld.bz/cUGv9 @writerplatform

How to Work Faster in Microsoft Word With Hidden Features: http://dld.bz/cUGvX @kingbobsley

How To Sell Books With Amazon Reviews: http://dld.bz/cUGwk @selfpubreview @cattosko

How To Summon Creative Presence: http://dld.bz/cUFt8 @OrnaRoss

Ellipses Use: http://dld.bz/cUKm5 @EditorJamieC

Tips for surviving revisions: http://dld.bz/cUKnz @AlexJCavanaugh

10 Writers Who Couldn’t Get Published Today: http://dld.bz/cVuXT

7 Time Management Hacks: http://dld.bz/cVuXZ @thebookwright

Adverb abuse: http://dld.bz/cVQMv @EditorJamieC

All about perma-free and ranking at Amazon: http://dld.bz/cVQQ4

Nonfiction writing–find your readers before writing the book: http://dld.bz/cVQQC @GLeeBurgett

Rewarding our readers—freebies for our mailing list: http://dld.bz/cVQQM @ladyanakina

Avoiding social media overwhelm: http://dld.bz/cVQQW @uriel1998

How to Find (and Compile) Proofreading Errors on a Kindle: http://dld.bz/cVQRj @byondpapr

Marketing with promo cards: http://dld.bz/cVQSm @WTDiscover

14 Ways to Tick off a Writer: http://dld.bz/cVQSv @rebeccamakkai @pshares

5 things 1 writer wishes he’d known before going indie: http://dld.bz/cVQSH

How Writers and Bloggers Can Use the Rule of 5 To Become Discoverable: http://dld.bz/cVQSS @ninaamir

Pluck Great Advice from Abundant Information by Experimenting: http://dld.bz/cVQSZ @LeslieLSanders

Should you self-publish or not? http://dld.bz/cVQUj @kristeneperron

Forget the Finish Line, Enjoy the Publishing Process: http://dld.bz/cVTpw @DIYWriting

Sudden immersion as part of a writing process: http://dld.bz/cVYqM @RichardLSutton

A Lesson About Leaving Negative Reviews: http://dld.bz/cWa8q @davastewart

Alternatives to GoodReads: Riffle, LibraryThing & BookLikes: http://dld.bz/cWdmY @CaballoFrances

How To Design and Crowd Test your Kindle Cover: http://dld.bz/cWdu6 @EBindery

Getting Book Reviews: The Methods Award-Winning Authors Use: http://dld.bz/cWduA @jimhbs

Freebie Strategies for Indie Authors: http://dld.bz/cWduU @sabsky

5 Steps to Blogging Mastery for Fiction Writers: http://dld.bz/cRdQ2 @writerplatform

Rafflecopter – An Easy Tool for Author Giveaways and Launch Parties: http://dld.bz/cWdvp @BiblioCrunch

Simple Solutions to 10 Common Writing Roadblocks: http://dld.bz/cQBYn @LeslieLSanders

47+ Places to Submit Your Free KDP Select Promotion for Your Kindle eBook: http://dld.bz/cWdww @trainingauthors

Ebook Marketing: Boxed Sets are Gaining Exposure and Sales: http://dld.bz/cWdw9 @jimhbs

Not About The Money: 10 Other Indie Author Motivations: http://dld.bz/cWdwF @EBindery

Best Unkept Book Marketing Secret of the Indie Author: http://dld.bz/cWdyw @JenniferDiaries

If fragmented is how we read now, then how should we write? http://dld.bz/cWdy6 @byondpapr

Mavens, Reviewers, Readers and Buyers: http://dld.bz/cWdyC @bookbuzzr

Manage Your Author Marketing Platform with 4 Easy Steps: http://dld.bz/cWdyF @CaballoFrances

Cover Art for Self-Publishers: http://dld.bz/cWdyP @LeslieLSanders

Emotional Barriers in Fiction: Intro to Emotional Channels: http://dld.bz/cY5TS @NakedEditor

Snark is a Dead Scene: Why It’s Time For Writers to Try Something New: http://dld.bz/cY5Ua @jaceycockrobin

Focused on Fiction: Five Storytelling Tips: http://dld.bz/cY5V5 @postaday

Are you a writer or an author? http://dld.bz/cY5V7 @ladyanakina

The Myth of Daily Word Count: http://dld.bz/cY5V9 @cerebralgrump

The most powerful marketing for a storyteller are the stories themselves: http://dld.bz/cY5VW @storyrally

Are Travel Writers Obsolete? http://dld.bz/cY5Wh @TravelandEscape

10 Tips to Staying Focused When Writing a Novel: http://dld.bz/cY5Wu

Workspace Porn: The ground they walk on: http://dld.bz/cY5W3 @MFAVN

4 Reasons Authors Should Embrace Their Writing Mistakes: http://dld.bz/cY5W7 @vgrefer

6 Keys for a Writing Retreat: http://dld.bz/cY5Yh @SandraMartini

4 Reasons to Write the Hell Out of (What’s Left of) 2013: http://dld.bz/cY5Ym @pshares @goldenthis

9 Ways Writers Can Use Pinterest: http://dld.bz/cY5Yq @pronounced_ing

Why the Writing of Breaking Bad is So Good: http://dld.bz/cY6bJ @GreenLensMedia

Why Writers Should Practice Short Fiction: http://dld.bz/cY6kN @TheIndieChicks

Are There Books Too Private to Publish? http://dld.bz/cY6kU @bookriot

3 Things You Should NOT Do with Your NaNoWriMo Novel: http://dld.bz/cY6md @changeitupedit

Famous Novelists on Symbolism in Their Work: http://dld.bz/cY6mh @neatorama

Turning the Cogs: Content Farming: http://dld.bz/cY6mt @WritersEdit

15 good reasons why we shouldn’t write for a living: http://dld.bz/cY6mz @colin_falconer

Make your blurbs count: http://dld.bz/cY6m4 @GiveMeYourTeeth

Why 1 writer is grateful that her novels failed: http://dld.bz/cY6mE @NinaBadzin

Yes, being a good writer still matters: http://dld.bz/cY6mT @bizjournalism

Tips for a better author bio: http://dld.bz/ddtAq @janefriedman @writerunboxed

Best Practices for Getting Published: http://dld.bz/ddtAr @ajfinnegan

How to choose a writing style: Social validation, creative expression, or both? (Personality test for writers): http://dld.bz/ddtAw

Brand Yourself: How would you sum up your life in just 6 words? http://dld.bz/ddtHs @FirebrandTalent

What one writer learned from carving teeth: http://dld.bz/ddtH4 @KMWeiland

Publishing industry faces serious challenges, but is hardly ‘spiraling down the drain’: http://dld.bz/cVaRc @Porter_Anderson @MikeShatzkin

Great Scene: “Shakespeare In Love”: http://dld.bz/cUPPx  @gointothestory

50 Synonyms for Control: http://dld.bz/cUPPt  @writing_tips

Why autobiography is cursed by an unreliable narrator: http://dld.bz/cUPPU  @guardianbooks

1 writer’s list of writing mistakes: http://dld.bz/cUPRJ

10 great meals in literature: http://dld.bz/cUPRX  @TelegraphBooks

Can’t Take a Research Trip? No Problem: http://dld.bz/cUPSz  @carrieturansky

4 Ways to Reveal Your Character’s Personal Boogie Man: http://dld.bz/cUPTg  @niniehammon

Top 10 Clever Google Search Tricks: http://dld.bz/cUPTH  @WhitsonGordon

Basic Instinct: http://dld.bz/cUPTX  @bang2write

Track Changes is your friend: http://dld.bz/cUPUc  @EditorJamieC

Writing When You’re Tired: http://dld.bz/cUPU5  @jamesscottbell

10 Promotion Pitfalls to Avoid: http://dld.bz/cUPU7

Build Your Own Bestseller: 3 Formulas: http://dld.bz/cUPPN  @noreenmalone

8 Rules For Writing in Bed: http://dld.bz/cUPUF  @writersdigest

POV Issues in a Romance Opening: http://dld.bz/cUPUA  @janice_hardy